May is National Masturbation Month! Pleasure is a human right, and masturbation is one extremely healthy, fun, and free way to exercise that sacred right. Luckily for us, there is an entire calendar month dedicated to practicing it!

Founded by San Francisco-based Good Vibrations, one of the most iconic sex shops in the world, National Masturbation Month returns each year to bring us some serious self-love. It was first designated in 1994, after Joycelyn Elders (the first Black woman to serve as Surgeon General of the USA) was fired for saying that information about masturbation should be included in sex education materials. Yes, this actually happened.

Shocked and appalled by this inexcusable decision from President Bill Clinton, Carol Queen and her team at Good Vibrations decided to start a conversation about the myriad benefits of masturbation. Twenty-six years later, Masturbation Month is observed internationally. That’s the kind of globalization we can all get behind!

Masturbation Month is More Necessary Than Ever

After a year or more of being in quarantine, National Masturbation Month has become more meaningful and necessary than ever before. So many people spent the first pandemic year isolated and alone to stay safe. Because masturbation is in no way “less than” partnered sex, this isolation inspired a lot of people to step up their solo sex game. Sex toy purchases went through the roof in 2020. During the first few anxious months of lockdown, this was one of the bright spots. No wonder: stress reduction is but one of the many benefits of masturbation.

Yet despite the tireless work of sex educators across the decades, shame is still associated with this natural and healthy human activity. From religious stigma to toxic, patriarchal body-shaming, millions of people still need help getting comfortable with touching themselves, especially people who identify as women. READ MORE HERE