Who Masturbates Matters? Gender Biases in the Perception of Masturbation

What is it about?

Masturbation is a common and natural practice, but it has not always been perceived in the same way. Beyond its intimate dimension, what we think about it is deeply shaped by social and gender norms. A man and a woman are not judged equally when they masturbate, and these differences in perception reveal a lot about the values that continue to shape our sexuality. To better understand how gender and social beliefs influence the perception of this behavior is published this study. Their goal was to analyze whether we continue to apply a double standard when we think about who masturbates. For this purpose, they introduced two fictional characters to 292 Spanish cisgender adults (146 men and 146 women, aged 18 to 32): Emilio, a man who masturbates, and Elena, a woman in the same situation. Each participant assessed one of them on aspects such as sexual satisfaction, charisma, reliability, achievement, and social skills. In addition, the researchers measured the extent to which participants adhered to certain social beliefs, including sexual double standards and social dominance orientation. Sexual double standards are a prejudiced attitude that involves evaluating the same sexual behavior differently depending on the gender of the person performing it. In its most traditional form, it involves a more permissive and complacent view of men's sexual experiences and a more restrictive or critical view of women's. Meanwhile, social dominance orientation reflects a tendency to justify hierarchies and inequalities between groups, including gender. The results were revealing. Elena was rated more positively than Emilio in all dimensions, regardless of whether the evaluator was male or female. However, the differences intensified when personal beliefs were considered: those who showed greater adherence to the sexual double standard or a higher orientation toward social dominance tended to judge more negatively, especially when the person being evaluated was a woman and the person making the judgments was a man. Specifically, it was found that men with high levels of social dominance and adherence to the traditional sexual double standard attributed fewer agentic characteristics (achievement/status and reliability) to Elena. In other words, although society seems more open to female sexuality than it was decades ago, biases and prejudices persist that reproduce gender hierarchies even in the way private behaviors are judged. Masturbation, far from being a simple sexual practice, thus becomes a mirror of how we understand agency, masculinity, and social power.

Featured Image

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Why is it important?

These results invite reflection on the need for sex education that not only informs but also questions the norms and inequalities that we continue to reproduce without realizing it. Because, in the end, what we think about who masturbates says much more about us than about the behavior itself.

Perspectives