Masturbation, or the act of autoerotic behavior, has been considered a cultural taboo in the United States since the Puritans first set foot on the soil. This, however, does not mean that it stopped any one of them from at least experimenting with the act, even accidentally. In today's society the taboo still exists but its strength is most apparent among the female population. Researchers since the time of Kinsey have spent countless time and effort in compiling information as to why males and females masturbate and why they do not. The causes and effects of masturbation can be analyzed in biological, physical and social areas all relating to the psychological analysis of the act. Further divisions of the areas can be categorized by each gender's response to masturbation in the particular areas of biological, physical and social ramifications.

The area of the biological effect on masturbation has just recently become an area of study. Researchers Baker and Bellis have been studying the reproductive value of masturbation. Their findings show that masturbation has different effects on reproductive success when compared between men and women. Masturbation in males prior to sex

The woman's biological effect of masturbation can have quite the opposite effect on the reproductive success of the sexual encounter. The number of sperm that a woman retains after intercourse depends on her sexual behavior in the days leading up to the encounter (Baker et al., 1993). The example in the article states that the amount of sperm retained from sexual encounter number one begins to slowly decline and the sperm retained from the second encounter is influenced by the amount of sperm remaining in her body from the first encounter. A woman is capable of halting the decline of the sperm count from the first encounter by initiating a "non-copulatory" orgasm (Baker et al., 1993). This orgasm achieved through masturbation allows the woman to, in a sense, reactivate her body's sensitivity to the sperm from the initial encounter. She has then denied even fewer sperm entrance or virility from the second encounter. This influence on retained sperm gives women the upper!

4) Rosellini, S. (1997). Jocelyn Elders is the master of her domain. U.S. News & World Report, 1, 65.

3) Popkin, J. (1994). A case of too much candor. U.S. News & World Report, 1, 31.

4) Rosellini, S. (1997). Jocelyn Elders is the master of her domain. U.S. News & World Report, 1, 65.

2) Jones, J., & Barlow, D. (1990). Self-reported frequency of sexual urges, fantasies and masturbatory fantasies in heterosexual males and females. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 11, 269-280.

Eighty-one percent of men and forty-five percent of women reported ever masturbating (Leitenberg et al., 1993). This gender difference is attributed to the fact that society conveys different messages to men and women regarding sex. Women are taught to be more wary of sex and to reserve sex for a committed relationship (Leitenberg et al., 1993). This provides a reasonable explanation to the lower reported numbers of female masturbation, since the act in itself is solely for personal pleasure and does not promote the relationship focused ideals of sex that society has instilled. The Women's movement of the 1960's attempted to help women reclaim their sense of sexual identity. Publications endorsed masturbation for women because Masters and Johnson (1966) found it to be the most reliable source of producing orgasms in women (Leitenberg et al., 1993). A Rutgers University study of

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