You know...sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. (Not to mention an infinite number of jokes.)
Apparently the Passion for Christ Movement has a bunch of these "ex" shirts, and this is just the latest. Here's the thing - you don't want to masturbate because you feel it goes against your beliefs? All good. But there's no need to shame others, and telling folks that doing something completely natural, safe and personal is sinful...well it's just wrong.
Not to mention, the shame that some people may feel after what one article calls "an illegal orgasm," (something the Passion for Christ members talk about a lot) isn't a sign that masturbation is wrong. It's an indicator that you haven't been told the truth about sexuality:
Two things I've come to know about masturbation is this:1. It brings shame, and...
2. It is addictiveMost people who have engaged in masturbation know that the culmination of this sexual act ends in shame. I don't have to share with you the thousands of emails of the admittance of this shame because you know all too well since you have experienced it yourself. Curled up in a fetal position, crying, because your bed is even more empty and you're lonelier than you did before you violated yourself.
See, this shit just isn't right. We need to stop teaching young people that their bodies are shameful and that any pleasure they get from it is immoral. Seriously, I wish I could gift wrap Betty Dodson and send her to the person who wrote this.
Thanks to Natalie for the link.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: The Ex-Masturbator Campaign: Shaming idle hands since 2009.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/11787
You know, I just finished reading Ninteen-Eighty Four, and something about their shirts just screams "jr. anti-sex league."
"illegal orgasm"
*blink*blink*
damn. suddenly my potential criminal record got a whole lot longer.
On a slightly more geeky-academic note, any one who's interested in the cultural narratives about masturbation through history should check out Thomas Laqueur's Solitary Sex. It's fascinating.
This reminds me of the Father Guido Sarducci comedy bit (it's the last item) about being 35 cents short to get into heaven.
Masturbation only invites shame if you've been taught to feel ashamed of it.
ending in shame? hell, my culmination of this sexual act usually ends with being able to get to sleep.
but yeah, this is really sad and wrong. I think that masturbation is a healthy way of taking care of yourself. I still remeber when I figured out how to do it at 18, I was so excited!
Oh no! I'm a criminal! Damn, it feels good to be bad.
First of all, I've been masturbating since before I even knew what it was. When I realized what I was doing, I was ashamed, but thank goodness I've gotten over that, especially now that my boyfriend is fighting in Iraq for a year.
But really, doesn't it seem strange that the people that don't want you to have sex with other people, don't want you take care of it yourself either? It just seems contradictory to me.
It is a contradiction to logical thinking people. The thing is, people that tout these messages are not trying to prevent pre-marital sex, or unplanned pregnancy, or even STI's. Their bottom line is anti-sex. Period. No human should have any sexual thoughts or behaviors, unless it is for the sole purpose of having children. Then it should be done in the dark, half-clothed (we would want to see too many dirty parts), and ONLY in the missionary position (any other position is a sin against god, because it denies the man his rightful place on top of the female).
Wow, I'm not sure where to begin... but suffice it to say that you're analysis regarding Christianity and the 'dirtiness' of sex is a myth. With each article regarding sex (and marriage) I come across on this website, it seems to me that Christianity is in no way compatible with this particular flavor of feminism... for the basic premise that in feminism there's seemingly nothing that is 'sacred'... and furthermore, since there seemingly is not such thing as 'sin'.
Because if sin implies guilt which implies "shame", how dare you! Good grief, spare me please.
elphlux, I'm not sure what you mean by "this particular flavor of feminism," or where you're getting the idea from this post that "nothing is 'sacred.'" The absence of shame about sexuality does not mean that, if you choose to approach sexual relationships that way, sex cannot still be a sacred experience.
I'd encourage you to go read some Christian feminist theologians, if you're interested in exploring the intersection of feminism, sex, and Christianity.
How is here presentation a myth? She's quoting from their own website? I don't think what a group of probably somewhat extreme Christians say is a "myth." However, I saw nothing in this post that suggests that all Christians believe in or suffer from this kind of body shaming.
And what part of the Bible says masturbation is wrong? I think that it is possible to masturbate without lusting after someone (because I've done it). And the whole Onin verse is related to Onin specifically disobeying God in a particular instance. He got in trouble not because he spilled his seed, but because spilling his seed was against God's orders for him to have sex with his dead brother's widow. I think that is generalizable to "don't disobey God" instead of "don't masturbate."
What "flavor" of feminism tells ANYONE they should be ashamed for masturbating? The same kind that tells women they have to stay in the home and they have to be barefoot and pregnant?
Geez, dude, nobody's hating on Christianity for being Christianity. There was an article, just yesterday, praising some of the work the United Church of Christ is doing with the Unitarians (both Christian, by the way)...
On the subject of whether masturbation is sinful, check this out (pretty long, but interesting perspective):
http://www.layhands.com/IsMasturbationASin.htm
Particularly, check the end where James Dobson is quoted saying It is my opinion that masturbation is not much of an issue with God.
So, yeah, I'd say that this site does more to exalt the true teachings of Jesus Christ than Dobson, Ted Haggart, these P4CM folks, Jerry Falwell, etc.
I mean, really...
praising some of the work the United Church of Christ is doing with the Unitarians (both Christian, by the way)
For the sake of accuracy I feel the need to point out that only about 10% of Unitarian-Universalists identify as Christian (although the religion certainly has roots in Christianity). UUs are far more likely to identify as primarily Humanist.
So, how long can you put off quitting and still qualify as "virgin until marriage"?
Wow...just wow...But my friend and I practice abstinence. Where else are we supposed to get some? I guess when we got on board the abstinence train we resigned all sexuality. Are they going to boot us off now?
Precisely. I think it's so sad that masturbation isn't seen as a the safest possible way to explore your own body and your own sexuality without worrying about pregnancy and infections. It's also a wonderful way to be sexually active in the absence of a partner (whether that's by choice or because of circumstance).
I think the basic problem is that, for many conservatives, sex is so tightly linked to procreation and hetero marriage, that being open to think about solitary sex for pleasure is outside of the realm of possibility of acceptability.
I've known a few conservative religious people who considered masturbation, either before or within marriage, to be a kind of adultry or some other form of "cheating" one's spouse/fiance/imagined-future-spouse.
I really, REALLY don't understand it at all so I can't expand on it, but there is that thought as another reason why masturbation is "bad".
That argument always astounds me. This idea of lusting, pre-marital sex, and masturbation as a form of adultery is indicative of a kind of fatalism that is rampant in conservative ideology. The truth we don't who we're marrying, or even if we're getting married, so really the argument is null and void.
elephlux, that is *exactly* what I was taught in my childhood faith. And yup, conservative Christianity is in no way compatible with feminism, since we believe in choice (not prolife at all costs), equality (not male headship), and our right to enjoy our own bodies (not shame over what is natural and healthy).
My sex life got so much better once I rejected everything I'd been taught in church.
Amen sister! (pun intended) We definitely had a special hour long lecture just for the youth group about the sins of masturbation. There was even an assistant to the youth group who was speaking to us one day and literally told us that dating anyone that wasn't your future spouse was cheating on your future spouse. I was like, umm, how are you going to find your future spouse without dating people? I guess God was going to point a magic red arrow that said "future spouse" and you wouldn't be a dirty sinner if you dated that person.
I know there are plenty of religious people on this site, but I guess I haven't been out of religion long enough to not still be very angry about it. To me, religion was evil, repressive, and anti-woman. It's hard for me to see the upside, or understand why people cling so hard to trying to make religion work with their progressive ideals. I dropped the religion, and now my life is so much better. I don't feel ashamed all the time for stupid stuff like masturbating, having sexual thoughts, or thinking that no one should be the "head" of my household. Being brought up in religion the way I was was one of the most harmful things to my self-esteem and body image. It made me feel like such a terrible person for wanting to kiss boys, and I thought something was wrong with me when I didn't "feel God" like all the other people.
(My youth pastor knew I was going to be trouble when in seventh grade I stood up to him about the policy that women had to wear one piece bathing suits so that the men in the youth group wouldn't lust after them. I asked him why he didn't think women might be lusting after shirtless guys.)
Wait. If God doesn't want us to masterbate, why is benefical to our health?
Funny thing about the Abrahamic god. He created humans sick and, on the pain of eternal damnation, commands them to be well.
Great guy to worship.
I was told it was a sin to touch your "private parts." That was the term the nuns used. We had little booklets full of checklists we used to examine our consciences before going to confession, and touching yourself or another person between the legs was one of the items.
I was told this when I was 8 years old, before I knew what masturbation or manual sex was or why people did it. I seriously wondered how I was supposed to wash myself when I took a bath or wipe after I peed. I also got the sense that those were questions I couldn't ask, so I remained confused until I hit puberty.
I started masturbating around the age of 13, and I feel horribly, horribly guilty and depraved after I was finished each and every time. I'd pray to God afterwards, promising I'd never do it again and asking for his help in making me not want to do it anymore.
Somewhere along the line, I 'learned' that it was normal and understandable for boys to masturbate, because they were uncontrollably horny, but that only a sick, sick girl did it.
The kicker? I thought this even though I'd read about the Kinsey and Masters & Johnson statistics that said most women masturbated. For some reason, I thought those stats had to be wrong, because none of the girls I knew would ever admit to doing such a perverted thing.
This shit HAS to stop. I can't believe kids these days are being fed the same bullshit I was. I'm 34 and sometimes I still feel guilty after I do it, especially if I've used toys or looked at myself in a mirror - stuff that, logically, I know is perfectly normal, but I've put in a mental category of 'sick.'
It pisses me off that somewhere out there, many teens (and almost certainly even younger children) are being given a guilt trip that might stick with them for another 10 or 20 years. If even one person ends up with sexual hangups into adulthood as a result of this kind of thing, that's too many.
Wow... you reminded me a lot of my friend/roommate who was raised in an uber-Christian household. My circle of friends and I are VERY open about sexuality, and one day we got into a discussion about masturbation and sex toys. The friend in question asserted that she was "afraid" of sex toys and didn't like masturbating... that somehow having sex with her boyfriend (who, as far as I know, has only given her an orgasm once or twice in the year and a half they've been dating) was "better."
It was an uphill battle, but the group finally convinced her that she NEEDS to know what she likes, sexually, in order to make sex better for her. Needless to say, we're taking a nice outing to the sex toy shop this weekend. :)
Are we not to blame for the stigma of masturbation being so deeply rooted in our psyche? Is it not ourselves who assimilate the bullshit offered by these religious zealots? How can anyone else make you feel guilty or ashamed? What power do they wield to make you feel that way? How in the world does such utter nonsense make its way into your world?
Masturbation, or better phrased, IMO, self-knowledge through self-gratification, is as normal and natural as breathing. The medical profession has long known that fetuses masturbate to orgasm while comfortably enjoying the protection of the womb. It is, therefore, a genetic predisposition, not a mandate, but a definite capacity you are born with. How you exercise that capacity is your personal decision. Do it or not. Love it or hate it. But, it is 100% natural.
In view of its normalcy, how has such a divisive and blatantly false view managed to survive into the 21st century? Is it because we actually believe their bullshit?
I know from our 50-year study of woman's sexuality that the majority of women who have contributed to the study freely admit they masturbate, even when married. Yet, when asked, none (zero)have even thought of teaching their daughters about it. If we keep it to ourselves, do we not suggest to them that something is amiss, something is wrong with bodily self-knowledge? Do we not allow the assholes to pollute their thinking with garbage? They do it and they know we do it, yet it remains off-limits for discussion. I just recently discussed this with a mother who is extremely open sexually with her kids, yet she hadn't thought about discussing self-gratification, how to do it, what it means to their normal sexual development and perceptions of their sexuality, what they like and don't like in terms of sexual stimulation. The topic was never approached and subliminally sending the message that it must be 'wrong'.
I firmly believe that Moonfall's comment is right, but the teaching doesn't have to be overt, it can, and I suggest is, for the most part, covert. It's an insidious assault that we fail to counter with those who count--our children. Yes, we rail against the stupidity and absurdity of those who tell us masturbation = guilt, shame, and self-condemnation, but we fall short. And, when those who would offer to do something about it are admonished (remember Jocelyn Elders who advocated teaching masturbation as part of sex education and her fate?), we pull in and hide.
How about taking an open position and teaching our daughters what its all about? How about laying the foundation within our own homes instead of trying to do it alone?
Let the zealots spew their venom, it will find no audience if we take the open road.
I loved your whole post, so I don't mean to choose something insignificant to comment on, but I am really curious. Fetuses really masturbate in the womb? I did not know that. That is fascinating.
Yes, in-utero fetal masturbation is a well documented phenomenon reported in the medical literature, primarily using ultrasonography. Studies have shown that both female and male fetus' explore their developing genitals the same as we do and that they masturbate to orgasm (at least what looks to the researchers as orgasm with tension-release).
Assuming we believe them,(and I do, having read and studied the documentation) since the little ones are not indoctrinated with cultural edicts and have not learned from others, then the impulse and the actions are genetic AND if genetic, cannot be anything bearing cultural stigma and, therefore, cannot reasonably be termed sinful...unless of course one is a religious fanatic.
This is why I said that masturbation is as normal and natural as breathing...it's a integral part of our sexuality. For more information see my recently posted blog at www.myspace.com/femalesexuality
So that's how there can be "sins committed while still in the womb"! http://fstdt.com/fundies/comments.aspx?q=19388
So that's how there can be "sins committed while still in the womb"! I'd been wondering about that for a while. (See http://fstdt.com/fundies/comments.aspx?q=19388 .) Sorry if this is a double post; I hit submit and then it froze for a while.
Wow, I didn't know fetuses masturbated in the womb, either, but it doesn't surprise me either. I can remember masturbating when I was only two or three, and I probably started even before that.
I just went to the site and I'm disgusted by the other shirts. "Ex-Slave" I just have to say "Huh?" What trafficking victims would want to announce it to the world like that?
"Ex-Homosexual" Sorry, no such thing.
And "Ex-Hypocrite" Umm. Are they trying to imply that liberals are hypocrites? Because there are hypocrites of every political afflition.
I think it refers to being a slave to sin.
Some poor idiot in that ex-slave shirt is going to have to explain how long it's been since they switched. That shirt is a set-up for some significant misunderstandings.
It made me want to ask where the ex-Mistress shirt was.
whoa whoa whoa... did anyone notice that all the shirts are American Apparel brand? Is there more than one American Apparel?
How typical, Lindie. I can haz intersectionality?
It looks like they just buy the plain tees from American Apparel and then print their own message on them, like a lot of t-shirt companies do. As messed up as the American Apparel company is, it doesn't appear that they have any hand in the messages actually printed here on their shirts.
american apparel sells wholesale shirts that organizations can buy and put their own messages on. when I go to shows all the band shirts are american apparel that have been screen printed. most artists i know that make t-shirt designs use american apparel wholesale.
Can we talk about some of the other exes on that site?
Ex-slave? Really? That's not at all problematic. I like how every model for that one is a POC, and 4 out of the 5 of them are Black.
"To understand the Ex-Diva, you must first understand the Diva. She is self-centered. She is focused on her outward appearance. She is all about being independent and not needing anyone."
Ah, the great sin of independence.
"Although many of us may not have been hustlers on the streets slanging rocks, we all tried to hustle God. We really thought we was goin' hustle our way into heaven. We wanted to try to get God on board with our agenda instead of getting on board with His agenda. We now know: tryin' to play God- we'll get played."
You can tell it's authentic because hustlers all speak AAVE, duh!
I think that the entire site is geared towards POC, as the majority of the models are POC for all the shirts. And the descriptions sound kind of like generic black culture. (Don't know if that is an improper phrasing)
I noticed that just with the picture above... The way I read that photo was that only people of color masturbate so much they need to become ex masturbators? WTF. I hate the way the mostly-White part of the religious right unfairly targets people of color for "reforming" themselves -- implying POCs were the REALLY bad ones in the first place. I mean, srsly?
I wish they had Ex-Diva shirts for guys.
Speaking of the guys' shirts, why isn't there an "ex-homosexual" shirt in a men's cut? Are gays beyond saving but lesbians were just faking it until they found a real man/Jesus or something?
It has a woman as the model, but it doesn't specifically list the shirt as women's or men's. And it doesn't come with a catchy description like the others, it just asks for people to send an e-mail if they would be interested in getting the shirt. I don't think they are going to get a lot of e-mails...
This shirt makes the feminist in me extremely glad for Beyonce's music video...probably not what they were going for
The Ex-Rebel t-shirt is amazingly telling. "I used to question the roles placed on me by society but now I'm content to wear this t-shirt and be exactly the person the company wants me to be, right down to what I wear!"
The shaming of masturbation just doesn't make sense to me, especially if you're coming from a background where abstinence until marriage is recognized. Sexual compatibility is an important part of a relationships--not necssarily THE most important but certainly key--correct? I can see that'd it be possible to determine whether you and your future partner were sexually compatible without having sex by having open, frank talks about your views on sex, your sex drive, the kind of things that turn you on, etc., but in order for that conversation to be at all productive you have to first know yourself and know your own body, which includes masturbation.
It seems to me that any movement that wants to be successful in convincing others that sex is a sacred act that should only be innitiated under certain circumstances would have to embrace the realities of masturbation as a way to allow its followers to be succesful in reaching their goal of abstinence until marriage or whatever. If sex really is something sacred and special, don't color it with language implying filth and sin and don't hide it in the shadows.
"Recognized" should probably be "idealized" or somethingn similar to make that first sentence in the second paragraph make sense.
Those shirts are so fantastic that I almost want to buy them. I know I shouldn't admit this, but I get such a huge kick out of any marketing attempts to make oppressive christianity seem cool and edgy, probably because for a brief moment I can laugh and actually feel cool and edgy myself.
It's pathetic, I know, to be thinking this, but dayum, ladies, we're so much more cool, controversial, and edgy. Feminism is so awesome.
Curled up in a fetal position, crying, because your bed is even more empty and you're lonelier than you did before you violated yourself.
VIOLATED yourself? there is something pretty disturbing in this language as if touching your own body is parallel to rape/sexual assault. its really creepy.
"Curled up in a fetal position, crying, because your bed is even more empty and you're lonelier than you did before you violated yourself."
Yup, that's SO me...
This is so horribly ridiculous/ignorant that I don't know whether I should laugh or cry.
Wow. It's an Onion article come to life: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30352
Ends in shame? Is addictive? I've been doing it since I was oh...4? I didn't even know what it was. The only thing I learned to be shameful about was when I saw images of girls masturbating and noticed I didn't do it like them, so I wondered if I was doing it right. (You know, the only way guys think girls masturbate? Sticking as many fingers up her shame cave as possible?)
Now, it's the only true way for me to get off the best, even during intercourse.
These people can keep their opinions about how horrible one should feel after masturbation to themselves. Who wants to bet some of these teems still do it, they just feel more guilty?
my first thought was that this had to be a joke. i cannot believe that people actually believe the shit on that website. i mean, it HAS to be a joke RIGHT??? D:`
ps, lol can anyone imagine the looks you would get in public wearing the 'ex-masturbater' shirt? i almost want to buy one for the lulz.
I had pretty much the same reaction. Once I stopped laughing and realized it wasn't a joke, I e-mailed the link to a bunch of friends and offered $10 and an ice cream cone to anyone who bought it and wore it in public with me, just so it could be a joke.
Because if it wasn't so sad and frightening, it would HILARIOUS.
Most people who have engaged in masturbation know that the culmination of this sexual act ends in shame.
Shame? That's not what MINE ends in, am I doing it right?
I don't have to share with you the thousands of emails of the admittance of this shame because you know all too well since you have experienced it yourself.
Why, shucks, have you been spying on me while I've been "shaming" myself? That doesn't sound very Christian.
"Curled up in a fetal position, crying, because your bed is even more empty and you're lonelier than you did before you violated yourself."
Um, no, I think that's just you. "You're lonelier than you did before"? Can we at least use our words properly when shaking our finger at someone? And how does hyperbole help make people take you seriously? This sentence right here seems like a parody.
Yeah, me neither. Mine tends to end with a happy sigh and drifting off to sleep.
But then, I was raised as a filthy heathen, so apparently I am shameless.
Can I get a shirt that says "Current-masturbator"? I mean if anybody else sees me wearing the shirt, it's a fairly safe bet that I'm not masturbating right that moment but I'm CERTAINLY going to enjoy doing it again sometime in the near future.
actually, I kind of like the idea that a 'current-masturbator' shirt implies that you COULD be doing 'it' RIGHT NOW...but no one can tell....(muah ha ha)...
I think I want an 'ex-ex-masturbator' shirt, just to be confusing.
http://32878.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/Article/Index/article/Ex-Ex-Masturbator-4138294
Behold, Ex-Ex-Masturbator shirts! Unfortunately, they only seem to come in men's sizes at the moment. Not so good for petite EEMs like myself.
Egad, I thought this kind of nonsense was dying out! When I was a kid I *did* feel very ashamed of masturbating but only because I was taught to feel that way. Once I managed to think my way through religion in general I stopped feeling guilty and started to develop a sense of self-worth. (As we all know, it's a difficult thing to have when you believe your body [i.e. YOU] is a sin factory.)
Do they also have ex-Pooper shirts? I want everyone to know that I hate my body so much that I had a colostomy so I won't go to Hell.
Um--- I just think the shirts are tacky. I don't wanna know about anyone's (past, present, or future) sex life but my own. I prefer to MYOB - I wish those who judge would MTOB.
How sad, to have this source of pleasure denied to you for no good reason. Feeling shame about masturbation must be kind of like being bulimic, and feeling shame about enjoying food.
*cries*
I'm still waiting for the day when conservative Christianity wakes up and smells the coffee and realizes that masturbation is something their wait-until-marriage group should be championing!
What part of love yourself don't they understand????
Is it wrong that I want to convince my whole band to do a gig where we all wear "Ex-Masturbator" t-shirts just for the weirdness factor?
It's not wrong at all, but print your own... you don't want to be funding these folks' media campaign, do you?
I think that's an awesome idea.
I feel weird being the one to bring up this interpretation, but did anyone else get an odd... vibe from the language used to describe masturbation in that article?
"It will govern your life sexually... masturbation has become your MASTER. ...It will not end until it dominates... It will control your intellect, your reasoning, your judgment of things... It will overpower you, subdue, and suppress you."
This article seems like the perfect tool to make masturbation the focal point in some sort of solitary S&M fantasy. It feels so good, but it's so bad, and you wish you could resist but it just dominates you, until the shame and the pleasure become inseparable...
Seriously, the whole thing basically read as an autoerotic fantasy to me. I could even see how thinking of masturbation that way could make it more fun and fulfilling if you get off on submission/humiliation/other such things. Of course, if you're crazy repressed, you may end up sublimating those desires into a serious campaign that will doubtlessly do nothing but fill kids who are just trying to figure out their own sexualities with confusion and shame. I feel bad for them.
That's brilliant.
Seriously, the whole thing basically read as an autoerotic fantasy to me.
A lot of anti-sex literature can be read like erotic fantasy; I think you're right on with that interpretation. A lot of talk about sex, after all, has to go into stopping people from talking about and having sex. It's sort of a catch-22. It's really interesting to see how much pleasure anti-sexual-activity-X people have had, historically and in the present, describing the forbidden activity in question. It's like the have to make sure you know exactly what it is you'd be doing if you broke the rule, so that you'll be sure not to do it.
Hell yeah it's erotic fantasy. It's also erotic public activity in many cases. A number of Xtian anti-sex groups, most of which are sex-segregated for "modesty," feature public or semi-public confession time where members talk about when the last time they masturbated (or whatever) was. Which is a definition of "modesty" I'm not sure I've seen in any dictionary, but there you go.
All this recounting of sexual sin, in front of others of the same biological sex, cannot realistically fail to be wank-fodder for at least a few of the people in those groups.
It reminds me, in some ways, of dieters talking incessantly about the food they can no longer eat...
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG....
I think you may have crashed the site, it won't come up (oops) now.
WOW...I grew up with these messages and I have to say, I am a proud ex-ex-masturbator! It's so silly to reject one's own body! I can't believe this movement is even real...I'm gonna post this on my blog and spread the word lol...this ish is bannanas!
P.S. I broke the "law" last night...and it felt damn good lol
orgasms are more fun when they are 'illegal' :o
What. The. Fuck.
So now being a good Christian means no masturbating?
I'm sorry, but if Jesus Christ walked in on me masturbating, I think he would just hold up his hand, say "Oop. Sorry. My bad." and close the door and let me finish.
Sex can wait- masturbate!
Hahaha! The vision of Jack Black as Jesus (from the Prop 8 musical) totally just popped up to me.
Hahaha! The vision of Jack Black as Jesus (from the Prop 8 musical) totally just popped up to me.
I don't know why they think any Christian who is so against masturbation would ever want to wear a shirt declaring they ever did it. Or even a shirt that has the word on it.
if god didn't want us to masturbate, he'd have made our arms shorter.
Good news for those who like jerking off (which is probably all of us): If you're female, masturbation can relieve stress and lower LDL (the bad type of) cholesterol; if you're male, the news is even better - masturbation may be linked to preventing prostate cancer! I don't understand why anyone, Christian or otherwise, would be averse to masturbation; especially when one considers that masturbation is safe alternative to sexual intercourse.
I had a boyfriend, when I was teenager, who felt incredible guilt every time he masturbated because he was 'throwing away a baby'. He wasn't raised religiously... he was just a bit of a nut-job. But, for anti-choice advocates, male masturbation could be seen as akin to abortion.
If you're curling up in the fetal position crying afterward, I'm pretty sure you're doing it wrong.
That's a really disturbing and harmful article. Masturbation only makes you feel "shameful" if you were raised to believe it's wrong and dirty. I was, and it took me until I was 16 to figure out how to do it and not to feel guilty about it. But she is right about one thing... it is kind of addicting, in that most people don't give it up when they start. But at the same time, it's not like it controls my life. I enjoy it.
This is just another problem I've had with religion in general, and Christianity in particular. I know there are good Christians out there, but the religion itself is just not for me. It doesn't seem healthy. Sure, it's nice to think that there is a God who always loves you and that you and your loved ones won't really die but will go to heaven... but all this stuff about sex being dirty and humans being inherently sinful and corrupt is nonsense. How can that make anyone happy?
Yes ex-masturbation is sending a bad message, but they also have an ex-homosexual t-shirt. Which the individual who wares it is denying who they are and that as a person there is something wrong with you because you are gay. I can't stand that there are individuals out there who are so ignorant. WE ARE ALL PEOPLE. That's it. Embrace difference and learn about difference, instead of judging someone on a stereotype, learn about them, talk to them, walk in their shoes, and you will see that they are people just like you and it is everyone's differences that make life wonderful. The sooner everyone realizes this the better their life will be. Don't live a life of hate, live a life of acceptance.
Yes ex-masturbation is sending a bad message, but they also have an ex-homosexual t-shirt. Which the individual who wares it is denying who they are and that as a person there is something wrong with you because you are gay. I can't stand that there are individuals out there who are so ignorant. WE ARE ALL PEOPLE. That's it. Embrace difference and learn about difference, instead of judging someone on a stereotype, learn about them, talk to them, walk in their shoes, and you will see that they are people just like you and it is everyone's differences that make life wonderful. The sooner everyone realizes this the better their life will be. Don't live a life of hate, live a life of acceptance.
Yes ex-masturbation is sending a bad message, but they also have an ex-homosexual t-shirt. Which the individual who wares it is denying who they are and that as a person there is something wrong with you because you are gay. I can't stand that there are individuals out there who are so ignorant. WE ARE ALL PEOPLE. That's it. Embrace difference and learn about difference, instead of judging someone on a stereotype, learn about them, talk to them, walk in their shoes, and you will see that they are people just like you and it is everyone's differences that make life wonderful. The sooner everyone realizes this the better their life will be. Don't live a life of hate, live a life of acceptance.
It doesn't surprise me that they also have "ex-homosexual" shirts: a psychology student once told me that what "ex-gay" ministries do is have everybody at their meetings announce, AA-style, how many days they've gone without masturbating. I suppose they figure that if someone gets horny enough, they'll bang whoever they have to settle with.
i am sickened by the image of someone crying after they masturbate! haha. i think most people just feel great & fall asleep!
apparently anything that feels good is sinful...what bullshit.
I've masturbated an ex or two in my time. I know, it's a little unconventional, but I refuse to be shamed.
(In all seriousness, I'm now imagining the scenario where some fundie Xtian Yummy Mummy is wandering the mall with her small child in tow, and the child spots one of these shirts on a passer-by and says, in that clarion small-child voice that can be heard for 3 nautical miles, "Mommy, what's a 'masturbator'?" Comedy gold, I tell you.)
Shirts should say:
Ex-masturbater...
Current hypcrite
I mean "masturbat o r "
Somehow the spelling was not covered in my Catholic High School.
Is it wrong of me that the first thing I thought of was buying a few of these shirts and screen printing a smaller message below, something to the effect of "it's anal or nothing for this guy" ?
Oh well, guess (once again) that I'm not getting into heaven.
I've never finished masturbating and wound up crying in the fetal position.
Does that mean I'm doing it wrong?
[but in all seriousness...I too was raised with the typical Catholic line on masturbation, and once had to have a "talk" about it with my mom. She's pretty good about breaking ranks with the church when she should, but she kept up the whole 'this is wrong' line. I'm hoping that we see a change of thought in the next few years--my parents got the sex talk in the 1950/60s, so what they're passing on to us is a little outdated. Hopefully, as conversation has gotten more open and honest with each generation, we'll see the majority of kids raised with honest conversation about a healthy habit. Hopefully.]
I really don't understand teaching abstinence AND being anti-masturbation.
Jeez, give the kids a break! They're not made of stone!
The one thing I feel sorry about amidst all the comedy of this story is those poor teenagers who got inveigled into a) thinking masturbation is wrong and b) letting someone take their pics with those asinine T-shirts and then plaster them all over the web.
So in five years when they've gotten over the no-masturbation-for-me thing (well, make that likely a lot less time), and hopefully lost or at least tempered the religious nuttery, they walk into a job interview. Or they meet someone. Or make some new friends. And the pics surface yet again.
Quite the burden to be carrying around for the rest of your life.
Hi guys! I know I am late on this parade, but I went to this site and saw an "Ex-Bisexual" shirt...I am posting my response on here, I wrote them because it infuriated me,
Alright, I need to calm down before I start raging. This is probably the most misguided collection of corrupted thoughts I have heard spewed across uneducated ears since the first "scriptures" were preached to the masses. As a bisexual woman, I am no different than you. I choose to love someone based on who they are, not what is under their clothes. The very idea that there are people who want to limit who I give my heart to makes me sad indeed. It infuriates me, and I realize that not one of you has probably had a decent conversation with a bisexual individual, or for that matter, anyone in the GLBTQA community, let alone had a dialouge with anyone outside of your "faith". I highly suggest that you speak to someone and educate yourselves. I deserve as much repect as you do, and I do not appreciate you saying that my "choices" are less legitimate than yours are. It is something that is part of my very being, and not something I can change, let alone something I would choose to "cure".
Also, I take grave offense to linking Kate Perry to my community. She is NOT bisexual. She is a two-bit hack that is trying to profit off of the titlation that comes with the sight of two woman making out. She is singing that "song" for publicity, and to sell records. Artists like Ani DeFranco are legitamatly bisexual, and do not play on the stereotype that all bisexuals are promiscuous and will have sex with anyone, or use it as an excuse to turn their boyfriends on. I love who I love. I have loved women and men, not based on the genitalia that they were given by the Creator, but by who they are as a person. No one will take that away from me, and I will put anyone in their place who tries to tell me who I can and can not date, based on the god that you, not I, believe in.
Hail Eris, Goddess of Chaos
Arielle