The Masturbate-a-thon is an event in which participants

masturbate Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

to raise money for charity and increase the public awareness and dispel the

shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

and

taboos A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

that exist about this form of sexual activity. From 1998 to 2003, the Masturbate-a-thon raised around $25,000 for women's health initiatives and HIV prevention, education and treatment organizations, and has contributed to debates about

safer sex Safer or SAFER may refer to: * FSO ''Safer'', a Yemeni floating oil storage and offloading vessel * Safer (surname) * Safar or safer, the second month of the Islamic calendar * As an acronym: ** SAFER, an initiative of the World Health Organizat ...

and alternative safe methods of sexual expression. The event awards several honors for those who raise the most money as well as for multiple

orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involu ...

s and endurance.

History

In May 1995,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

–based sex toy shop

Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, produced and composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. Released as a single on October 10, 1966, it achieved immediate critical and commercial success, ...

declared May to be "Masturbation Month". Since then, it has encouraged people to get sponsors as a fundraiser for charities with a sex-positive focus. London hosted Europe's first "masturbate-a-thon" on 5 August 2006. It aims to remove the taboo and shame associated with masturbation. Hundreds of persons raised money for the charity

Terrence Higgins Trust Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns about and provides services relating to HIV and sexual health. In particular, the charity aims to end the transmission of HIV in the UK; to support and empower people living with HIV, to ...

and the sexual- and reproductive-health agency

Marie Stopes International MSI Reproductive Choices, named Marie Stopes International until November 2020, is an international non-governmental organisation providing contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries around the world. MSI Reproductive Choices as ...

.Masturbate-a-thon press release
(retrieved August 6, 2006) The Masturbate-a-thon, also called "Wank-a-Thon," was recorded by ZigZagProductions of London as part of an international documentary of the event. However, plans to broadcast this on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

as part of its

Wank Week Wank Week was a controversial season of television programming that was due to be broadcast in the United Kingdom by Channel 4, expected to consist of a series of three documentary programmes about masturbation. However, plans to broadcast it i ...

series were abandoned, including programming from Europe's fetish and leather week. In 2009, Masanobu Sato won the Masturbate-a-thon held by the Center of Sex and Culture in San Francisco after masturbating for nine hours and thirty-three minutes. In 2012, China's first masturbation contest was held in

Shenzhen, China Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

in observance of

World AIDS day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immu ...

. The event's organizers explained that the contest aims to promote masturbation as the safest means of sex and as an effective means for avoiding HIV infection. Montreal's first Masturbate-a-thon (aka "Wankfest") took place on 4 May 2013. The event raised money for the charity Head and Hands, a youth sex education and outreach organization, and Sexploreum, an adult education group dedicated to encouraging playfulness with sexuality. Masturbate-a-thon 3 in 2014 was cancelled due to lack of registrations.

References

External links

"Unofficial" Portland Masturbate-a-thon site
(Archived on archive.org from July, 2009). {{DEFAULTSORT:Masturbate-A-Thon Masturbation Erotic events Charity events Recurring events established in 1999

History

See also

References

External links