9 gay people are projected backinto the past, must be adapted or reformulated before they boldly proposed that there is no single they can function in the study of same-sex nature of homosexuality that is stable behavior. Moreover, Marxist concepts across time. It has been shown that the seem more suited to posingquestions than broader attempt to derive this demolition to providing firm answers. The greatest of the whole idea of human nature from weakness of the Marxist approach is the the writings of Marx and Engels them- difficulty in correlating the changes in selves is shaky, and that it really belongs to homosexual behavior and the attitudes the thought of Georg Lukacs and the toward it with the technological and eco- "Marxist-humanist" trend of revisionism nomic determinism that is the very heart that succeeded him. Also, it proved diffi- of Marxism, not to speak of the inability cult to find a "historical materialist" (or better refusal) of Marxian thinkers to grounding for the changing concepts of incorporate the biological dimension of homoerotic behavior, an accommodation human existence into their reasoning. All to the well-known Marxist sequence of the same, the Marxist contribution, slave-owning, feudal, capitalist, and so- whether direct or indirect, has served to cialist societies. What caused the shifts in broaden horizons and to strengthen the same-sex paradigms remained mysterious. trend to supplant the present-mindedness Moreover, this attack on the unchanging and provincialism of the gay movement nature of homosexuality-on "essential- and gay studies on 1950s lines with a new ism," as the assumption of uniformity has outlook that is potentially subtle, critical, been called-was not restricted to Marx- and multicultural. ists. The Social Constructionists, as the opponents of "essentialism" styled them- BIBLIOGRAPHY. David Fembach, The Spiral Path: A Gay Contribution to selves, included symbolic interactionists, Human Survival, Boston: Alyson, 198 1; pragmatists, and nominalists. Still, when Gay Left Collective, Homosexuality: all is said and done, academic Marxism l'ower and Politics, London: Allison and deserves credit for bringing into question Busby, 1980; Hubert Kennedy, "J. B. von assumptions of the historical uniformity Schweitzer, the Faggot Marx Loved to Hate," Fag Rag, 19 (1977),6-8. of homosexual identities and relationships, Wayne R. Dynes and for asking scholars to seek an under- standing of the place which these occupy within the larger framework of social MASQUERADE change. See Mardi Gras and MaskedBalls. Finally, Marxism has made a contribution in an unexpected quarter-in MASTURBATION therealm of theology. The 1960s and 1970s Broadly defined, masturbation is saw the rise in Latin America of "libera- tactile sexual stimulation obtained by tion theology," strongly influenced by the means other than intercourse. Marxist critique of oppression. Some schol- Techniques. Masturbation is ars have sought to adapt this perspective to harmless, legal, and carries no risk of dis- the emerging theology of the gay churches, ease. Typical masturbation, involving where it may well serve as a useful correc- pleasurable stroking, caressing, or massag- tive to traditionalism and liturgical preoc- ing of the genitals and other parts of the cupations. body, is healthy fun and cannot be over- As this last aspect shows, the done. Soreness or chafing heals easily if Marxist influence on homosexuality has treated gently, and use of a lubricant re- often been indirect, mediated by femi- duces irritation. For men an oil, including nism, by the New Left, or by liberation household oils (Crisco, cooking oil, baby theology. It seems that Marxist theories oil)and some hand lotions, will workwell; 9. MASTURBATION for women a water-based lubricant in- masturbation rituals have been part of tended for genital lubrication, such as K-Y male coming-of-age ceremonies since or Astroglide, will give better results. prehistoric times. Temporary abstention Through experimentation with different from sexual activity, including masturba- strokes and caresses, not just on the geni- tion, may be presumed to have been a tals but all over the body, each person can common means to summon extra physi- discover what, for him or her, is most cal performance (as today in the advice of pleasurable. Some find the use of avibrator some athletic coaches), and abstention helpful, and a variety of gadgets, store- from and indulgence in masturbation have bought or homemade, are used to assist in been part of the worship of the generative providing the desired sensations. How- powers. ever, a good masturbation machine for Civilizations have been indiffer- male use has yet to be developed.Thoughts ent or hostile to adult masturbation ac- or pictures of stimulating scenes, whether cording to the fertility which they desired. provided by individual fantasies or acquired (Masturbation by children has usually been , can increase one's excite- treated more leniently.] In bellicose socie- ment. If desired, masturbation can be ties, those trying to populate new land, prolonged, and the intensity of orgasm and those subject to heavy losses from a enhanced, by stopping just before orgasm, hostile environment, there was pressure to begin again when excitement has some- to direct sex toward reproduction, although what subsided. masturbation's simplicity no doubt made Masturbation with friends, a it impossible to suppress. In more urban common male experience of adolescence, and pacifist cultures, in which population is becoming an adult practice as well. Pairs pressures were felt, reproduction then or groups can either masturbate separately became a problem rather than a necessity. while watching and talking to each other, In such settings masturbation could be or partners can masturbate each other, tolerated, along with prostitution and either simultaneously or taking turns. homosexuality, all of which were prefer- Masturbation while talking over the tele- able to the infanticide whichwas common phone () has been a spreading in parts of the ancient Mediterranean world. practice in the 1980s. In classical antiquity masturba- Masters and Johnsonreported that tion was called a "natural sexual prac- many find masturbation produces more tice," and physicians recommended it as intense orgasms than intercourse, and it preferable to harmful continence, and as a also avoids the discomfort that anal pene- treatment for impotence. Indeed to be tration produces in many men. It is also masturbated was recognized as a delicacy, reported that masturbation by a partner and masseurs, prostitutes, and especially produces more intense orgasms, for some, slaves provided this service. Anal mastur- than masturbating alone. If free of guilt, bation using fingers, , and eggs is re- masturbation is said to have a positive ported, as is auto-fellatio. The Greek Cynic effect on the personality. Masturbation, Diogenes, and others followinghim, openly alone or with a partner, can be part of a masturbated, saying that experience re- spiritual experience. vealed masturbation to be the easiest and History, Men. Masturbation in best sexualpractice,that it wasnot shame- males is nearly universal. It is engaged in ful and did not need to be concealed, and spontaneously by infants and children, and that masturbation could have prevented is found in many mammalian species, the Trojan War. Masturbation's mythical although no animal other than man mas- inventor was said to have been Hermes, turbates to orgasm on a regular basis. who taught it to his son Pan. Anthropological evidence suggests that MASTURBATION 6

Among the extensive sexological many others. Masturbation waseven called literature of Islam is the first treatise on "humanity's worst vice." Means employed masturbation, by the ninth-century Al- to control masturbation included circum- Saymari (Encyclopedia of Islam, article cision, pharmaceuticals, mechanical de- "Djins"); it is today unavailable or lost. vices, and foods (Graham crackers and Classical Islamic culture was supportive Kellogg breakfast cereals). Inasmuch as of partnered sex, and masturbation, espe- physicians based themselves solely on cially in solitude, was mildly condemned. anecdotal (unsystematic)observations, and In part this was because one was not sup- emission of semen is healthful rather than posed to touch the "unclean" genitals; a threat to health, this medical "break- handless masturbation through use of a through" may confidently be attributed to melon, though, is widely known in Arabic puritanism. folklore. In the modern Islamic world it is In the twentieth century opposi- sometimes considered morereprehensible tion to sexuality has been deflected else- than sodomy and bestiality. Classical where, and masturbation is no longer Chineseculture encouraged masturbation condemned in Western culture, except by without orgasm; emission of semen was the Catholic church and a small minority only supposed to take place during inter- of conservatives. The influential Kinsey course with a woman. surveys (1948, men; 1953, women), docu- Early Christian writers paid little mented how widespread masturbation is. attention to masturbation and fantasy. In Physicians have admitted that masturba- the fourth and fifth centuries, with the tion is harmless, and masturbation is an spread of clerical celibacy and monasti- important part of sex therapy. Enlightened cism, masturbation and nocturnal emis- advice books recommend to parents that sion appear as concerns, though in the they allow their children privacy to mas- hierarchy of sexual offenses these were turbate. That adolescents need to mastur- among the mildest. Handbooks to assist bate to become fully functioning sexual priests in hearing confessions, including a adults is recognized, although the point is treatise of Jean Gerson (1363-1429) on not made, in the , in sex taking the confession of masturbators, education materials directed to youth. reveal that Catholics masturbated just like (Masturbation is presented as harmless everyone else. Concern within Catholi- but optional; instruction in masturbation cism reached a peak after the Council of is only given informally, usually by peers.) Trent (1545-63), when masturbation was There are no figures by which to check, but seen as a more serious social problem than it seems likely that over the past genera- fornication or even adultery. Masturba- tion there has been more masturbation tion and sodomy were seen as related and less guilt about it. The recent boom in expressions of thesame allegedly perverted pornography is itself evidence of a similar sexual instinct, and the former was be- increase in masturbation. It remains a lieved to lead to the latter. socially suspect practice, however, and is In the eighteenth century the often viewed as a poor alternative to inter- medical profession proclaimed loss of course. Inmost of theThird Worldmastur- semen a serious threat to health, and bation is still condemned. condemned above all the voluntary and History, Women. As with all unprocreative "wasting" of semen with aspects of women's sexuality, the history masturbation. During the nineteenth of female masturbation is much less known century concern over masturbation rose to than is that of men; since it did not involve hysteria, and it was said to cause homo- semen, it was seldom discussed by moral- sexuality as well as diseases: insanity, ists. Furthermore, what glimpses one has epilepsy, heart disease, impotence, and of female masturbation aremostly through + MASTURBATION the eyes of male writers and artists, and it big change in national attitude. Dodson is likely that in large part they observed has organizedmasturbation workshops and what women found it profitable to show parties. In San Francisco, St. Priapus them, i.e., what they wanted to see. The Church has made group male masturba- vagina was believed to be the focus of tion a worship ceremony. However, the women's sexual pleasure, and thus mas- group masturbation movement, while turbation was seen as focused there. Mas- growing, remains surprisingly small. turbation with dildos made of leather and Politics. As it is the only sex prac- other materials was known in both West- tice available to an unpartnered person, em antiquity and the Renaissance, and masturbation has often been associated evidence for its existence is found in the with loneliness. While apparently there prohibition of it by medieval Christian have always been a number of cognoscenti writers. In Islamic culture the use of both who preferred it, masturbation has had a dildos and vegetables is reported. It is very stigma and been ignored as a partnered likely that such masturbation occurred in activity. Thus it has not been, historically, many other parts of the world. Classical a practice of the rich and powerful, who Chinese culture was one of the most toler- could purchase or otherwise compel the ant of female sexuality, and there are re- service of sexual partners. It has, rather, ports of masturbation with a variety of been a practice of the powerless. This objects inserted into the vagina, including means the poor and the isolated, those small bells; special instruments made of with elaborate fantasy lives or specialized wood and ivory, with silk bands attached, sexual tastes, and, in recent times espe- could be used by two women together or, cially, it has meant the young. Among through use of the leg, by one alone. Female men, the average age of those reaching masturbation using the hand alone (i.e., orgasm through masturbation is much clitoral stimulation) is documented in lower than those reaching it through inter- antiquity, but until the nineteenth cen- course. Some of the opposition to mastur- tury there is no further mention of it. To bation has been hostility to the sexuality the Victorians who discussed the topic, of young people. female sexual desire was threatening, and Masturbation, like homosexual- female masturbation caused terror. Clito- ity, has been opposed because it has been ridectomy (surgical removal of the clito- believed antithetical to human relation- ris) was used as a "treatment," especially ships. However, as writers on the topic in England and the United States. The point out, masturbation can not only be a operation was last performed in a western pleasurable activity for a couple, it can be country (the United States) in 1937; as a relationship-enhancing. Masturbation can means of forcing fidelity to husbands, discharge an imbalance of sexual desire, a however, it still survives in Africa. hidden and destructive issue in many rela- Betty Dodson, Joani Blank, and tionships. It can be a means of low-risk other feminists, trying to help women get adventures outside the relationship for more and better orgasms, have taken the those who find a single sexual partner lead in removing the stigma from mastur- confining. Masturbation can also enhance bation. The use of vibrators has been re- the bonds between a group or community, peatedly recommended, and they are now and it is inherently egalitarian. sold openly; the San Francisco store Good Vibrations, which specializes in vibrators, BIBLIOGRAPHY. Joani Blank, Good Vibrations: The Complete Guide to is openly pro-masturbatory. Sex therapist Vibrators; Burlingame, CA: Down There has recommended the Press, 1982; Joani Blank and Honey Lee use of a cucumber, and that this was broad- Cottrell, 1 Am My Lover, ~urlin~ame, cast on network television itself shows a CA: Down There Press, 1978; Betty MATTACHINE SOCIETY +

Dodson, Liberating Masturbation. A on how the opaque name Mattachine Meditation on Self Love, New York: should be pronounced. Such gnomic self- Betty Dodson, 1974; idem, Sex for One, New York: Crown, 1987; John P. Elia, designations were typical of the homo- "History, Etymology, and Fallacy: phiie phase of the movement in which Attitudes Toward Male Masturbation in open proclamation of the purposes of the the Ancient Western World," Iournal of group through a revealing name was re- Homosexuality, 14 (1987),1-19; How to garded as imprudent. Have a 10 Party in Your Home, San Political Setting. The political Francisco: JOBuddies, 1985; Werner A. Krenkel, "Masturbation in der Antike," situation that gave rise to the Mattachine Wissenschaf tliche Zeitschrift der Societywas the era of McCarthyism, which Wilhelm-Pieck-UniversitatRostock: began with a speech by Senator Joseph R. Gesellschafts- und sprachwissenschaftli- McCarthy of Wisconsin at a Lincoln's che Reihe, 28 (1979),159-78; Jack Morin, Birthday dinner of a Republican League in Men Loving Themselves: Images of Male Self-Sexuality, Burlingame, CA: Down Wheeling, West Virginia, on February 9, There Press, 1980; R. P. Neuman, 1950. In it McCarthy accused the Truman "Masturbation, Madness, and Modem Administration of harboring "loyalty and Concepts of Childhood and securityrisks" ingovernment service. And Adolescence," lournal of Social History, the security risks, he told Congressional 8 (1975),1-27; Renk A. Spitz, "Authority and Masturbation" (1952),reprinted in investigators, were in no small part "sex Masturbation: From Infancy to Senes- perverts." A subcommittee of the Senate cence, New York: International Univer- was duly formed to investigate his charges, sity Press, 1975, pp. 381-409; Margo which amounted to little more than a list Woods, Masturbation, Tantra and Self of government employees who had run Love, San Diego: Mho and Mho, 198 1. Daniel Eisenberg afoul of the Washington vice squad, but such was the mentality of the time that all seven members of the subcommittee MATTACHINESOCIETY endorsed McCarthyls accusations and One of the earliest American gay called for more stringent measures to movement organizations, the Mattachine "ferret out" homosexuals in government. Society began in Los Angeles in 1950-51. Formation and Structure. The It received its name from the pioneer ac- organization founded by Hay and his asso- tivist Hany Hay in commemoration of the ciates was in fact modeled in part on the French medieval and Renaissance SociCtC Communist Party, in which secrecy, hier- Mattachine, a somewhat shadowy musi- archical structures, and "democratic cen- cal masque group of which he had learned tralism" were the order of the day. Follow- while preparing a course on the history of ing also the example of freemasonry, the popular music for a workers' education founders created a pyramid of five "or- project. The name was meant to symbol- ders" of membership, with increasing ize the fact that "gays were a masked levels of responsibility as one ascended the people, unknown and anonymous," and structure, and with each order having one the word itself, also spelled matachin or or two representatives from a higher order matachine, has been derived from the of the organization. As the membership of Arabic of Moorish Spain, in which muta- the Mattachine Society grew, the orders wajjih-n, is the masculine plural of the were expected to subdivide into separate active participle of tawajjaha, "to mask cells so that each layer of the pyramid oneself." Another, less probable, deriva- could expand horizontally. Thus members tion is from Italian matto, "crazy." What of the same order but different cells would historical reality lay behind Hays' choice remain unknown to one another. A single of name remains uncertain, just as the fifth order consistingof the founderswould members of the group never quite agreed provide the centralized leadership whose