How did all that anti-masturbation talk affect you?

by rebel8 91 Replies latest members adult

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  rebel8

  Maybe I was an unusual kid, but the idea would have never occurred to me, had I not been regularly confronted with discussions of masturbation.

  At our home study of the Youth book, which I think should be grounds for a CPS Hotline call, there was discussion of it IIRC.

  Then there was some dumb article about not sleeping with tight-fitting pajamas, not lingering in the shower, and doing things such as emptying the trash if you felt the urge.

  The persistent use of "self-abuse" to describe masturbation really made me believe there was no difference between the two. Maybe I was just naive but that's what I actually believed.

  I assume it had different effects on others. Did it give you the idea to do it? Or did you feel traumatized about these private/adult topics being discussed in the hall? Embarrassed?
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  Julia Orwell

  I was a jw in the era after the articles about tight fitting clothes and that but still heard plenty about resisting masturbation. The effect those articles had on me was that I never found them interesting or relevant because I didn't want to masturbate in the first place. The wt said it was wrong so that was that, there was no point in me even thinking about it. Therefore those articles became irrelevant to me and therefore uninteresting.

  Even now I think masturbation is gross though because of the wt, a gross habit like smoking. I'm sure im gonna offend someone with that, but the op asked how I feel because of the wt.
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  Bob_NC

  Nah Julia, no offense taken by me, even if we have a differing view. All the talk back then made me more aware at an earlier age than I might have been. But once the hormones kicked in, who can stop such a natural and powerful urge? I certainly do not think of self gratification as abuse. Abuse how?

  I see masturbation as totally natural. All animals do it in some form. Even so, common sense should prevail in any human activity. The Awake! articles were so Asleep!! Emptying the trash or not taking long showers were suppsoe to someone circumvent nature?? Nah!
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  unstopableravens

  the wt helped me get a firm grip on the situation.
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  GrreatTeacher

  I'm actually glad that you brought this up. This is absolutely and totally inappropriate for adults to discuss in a religious meeting in public and, especially in front of children. This is one of the first reasons that I stopped allowing my mother to take my son to the hall anymore.

  When I was a child I had no idea what it meant, but it surely must be bad if the society said so. When I figured out what they meant, I thought, "Oh, that's what they mean? Well, I've been doing that since before I can even remember. How can THAT be bad?" So, I shrugged it off. That was probably one of the first pieces of cognitive dissonance I had.

  They really need to cease and desist on this one.
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  crmsicl

  I was raised Catholic and one of the suggested sins that we could confess to, along with lying, stealing, eating meat on Friday etc, was one that said "touching ourselves impurily". I think I was in like 2nd grade which is when you make your first communion which means you have to now go to confession. I might be getting mixed up with Confirmation which was 4th grade.

  Regardless I had no idea what to make of that so I figured it had to do with bathing. So I remember confessing to this sin at least once. It was embarrassing so I didn't continue confessing my bathing. Religions are so messed up.
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  Island Man

  Regardless I had no idea what to make of that so I figured it had to do with bathing. So I remember confessing to this sin at least once. It was embarrassing so I didn't continue confessing my bathing. Religions are so messed up.

  Tell me about it! I remember when I was a kid and we were watching TV and the word divorce was mentioned, my JW mom would tell us to take off the TV (we didn't have cable back then and there was just one TV station where I lived). That got me to thinking that a divorce was some kind of taboo sex act.
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  Julia Orwell

  It must be difficult for JW men. As a woman, I just pushed anything sexual out of my mind, thinking, "I can't do it now, so there's no point thinking about something I can't have". Like if you were on a diet where you couldn't eat wheat or dairy, you walk past the cake cabinet at the shops without even thinking about it because you can't eat it, so why torment yourself?

  I used to wonder about how they mentioned it so freely in front of children at the meetings. The rationale was always that the Mosaic Law with all its talk about wet dreams and bestiality was spoken in front of children, and it was up to the parents to tell their kids what it meant. So how do JW kids learn the facts of life if not from the meetings? They must learn them very young. I didn't get 'the talk' and the books on puberty til I was 12-13, but I wasn't raised a JW.
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  Xanthippe

  What makes me angry about this command not to mastubate is that it puts such huge stress upon peoples' marriages. What if the wife is tired, ill or pregnant? There is nothing else that her husband can do to relieve the frustration. Unless he goes against 'God's' commands and then he feels terrible guilt. How does the wife feel refusing the 'marriage due' because she is too damn tired, ill or pregnant? You guessed it, guilty. The marriage is put under a huge strain and yet as in my own case we loved each other so much. So unfair, young people getting married with such hope in their hearts. I hate this cult, I hope is destroys itself.
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  NAVYTOWN

  I really wish that some CPS workers would pose as 'interested ones' at a Kingdom Hall meeting in which sexual acts are discussed in front of very young children. Then they could inform the parents that such topics are very inappropriate in the presence of children.