/ 1 June 2001

Who needs a partner?

Bismarck Masangu

Body Language

May the real wankers please stand up! I repeat, may the real wankers please stand up! Well, one thing is certain, not all of us can afford to get laid. Yet

our society has little correction no sympathy for those of us who resort to

manual methods.

In fact the idea of masturbation is, to most people, unpalatable, revolting, if

not sinful. Even the perverted louts with whom I hang out view masturbation as

the hobby of wankers and silly old men. My friends would rather have their penises fall off than be caught in the act of unpartnered sex.

Unpartnered sex? The term sure sounds like a contradiction in terms because the

dynamics of sex dictate that sex be an act involving at least two people. So

same-gender couples can copulate and then shout to the world that they have had

sex. Also, applying one’s genitals to another’s mouth is considered (oral) sex.

Two people divided by space, time and matter can have (cyber) sex. Yet unpartnered sex is classified in vapid, clinical terms such as “masturbation”

and deemed the act of a depraved mind. This is hypocrisy.

It may, perhaps, surprise many women that some 97% of males do indulge in unpartnered sex. Methinks this indulgence is an attempt by men to tame themselves. Do women have any idea what it is like for men (and boys) to live

with an appendage that seems to have a brain of its own? Most days it wakes up

before we do and never ceases to embarrass us when we are in the company of women.

Thus the taming process starts early, in boyhood and adolescence, with the assistance of smutty pictures. During this period the pure orgasmic thrill outweighs the fear of getting caught in the act a far more embarrassing experience than wetting one’s bed. And then, if Old Father Hypocrisy (under the

guise of morality) doesn’t rear his ugly head, we gradu-ate to porn flicks.

When I was young and lazy, I engaged in this hobby. And, had it not been for a

friend’s warning that it would make me bald, blind and mad I might now have

an endowment every bit as impressive as my right-hand bicep!

I imagine that women probably discover the clitoris much like the heroine in the

bubble bath in erotic novels. A friend in her late twenties unabashedly admits

owning a vibrator because paying for a “slave” (read: stud) to do the job is

below her. She also informs me that she would choose touching herself over partnered sex anytime. The reason is that she best knows what she wants. Her

advice to other women is: rather than let a man fumble around, do it yourself.

She argues that, while men “masturbate as a hobby”, for many women it is tantamount to meditation.

Thankfully, the tide is turning against antiquated ideas. Not so long ago the

politics of sex sought to restrict sex to a baby-making activity within the ambit of that lamentable institution, marriage. Patriarchal norms said only men

should express sexual gratification, whereas women were assigned the responsibilities of passengers on a bus. Today sex is more openly the vehicle

for a range of emotions and drives love, affection, anger and power. So, why

can unpartnered sex not legitimately be an expression of self-love?

The instruments of unpartnered sexual enjoyment are now available in adult sex

shops all over the country. They should no longer be hidden in the back of closets and under mattresses; instead, they should be displayed on the coffee

tables. That does, I know, sound a little risqu. But it may be the only way to

lift the blanket of hypocrisy and guilt usually associated with unpartnered sex.

I look forward to the day when unpartnered sex rides the mainstream just as condoms have in the campaign against sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/Aids.

In the meantime politicians and healthcare workers must stop being shortsighted.

They should bless the day when someone says he or she has just masturbated.

One thing is certain about unpartnered sex, or masturbation. It is harmless fun,

medically and psychologically. As the saying goes in poker: “Who needs a partner

when you already have a good hand?”

May

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