Masturbation has existed since Man has walked the Earth and hardly, in Man’s history, has it been viewed positively. Is masturbation just a catharsis due to lack of sexual contact or can it have a deeper and more physiological function?
It’s certainly worth thinking about … In truth, there is nothing worse than making someone feel “dirty” for doing something that may apparently be a natural function of biological checks and balances. Such is the case with male masturbation.
Let’s start with the female of the human species to have something comparable. This will help us better understand the male aspect of masturbation. When a female is born, she has about 500,000 eggs in her possession. This is less than the roughly seven million that have been disposed of by the body as “below ground level.” By the time he reaches puberty, he will be around 400,000.
The body is smart enough to figure out which eggs are the healthiest and which are the first to be released (approximately every 28 days). So as women age, there is an increased risk of birth defects. Suffice it to say that the body chooses the healthiest eggs first. As time passes, the quality of the eggs decreases, as the best eggs have been collected first. Yes, human innate intelligence is really that smart. In fact, smarter than we will ever be able to grasp mentally.
The female ovulation cycle is based on the moon phase. That is why in human history, archetypally and symbolically, Woman is related to the Moon and Man is synonymous with The Sun. Anyway, due to the lunar cycle, women tend to ovulate every 28 days. If the egg is not fertilized, the endometrial lining that was created to help with fertilization is shed until the next cycle begins. 2/3 is absorbed by the woman; the rest is expelled as particles and blood during menstruation.
Thus, in the case of women, the body produces a physiological mechanism to rid the body of material that is no longer necessary for fertilization.
Instead of eggs, men create sperm. These little creatures are what are used to fertilize the egg. However … The male does not have an automated purgative device to dispose of dead sperm. Since sperm are constantly being created to ensure the male has a constant and healthy supply, what happens to sperm that die before being ejaculated? It’s an interesting question, since men seem to lack a “menstruation” process to purge the body of its dead sperm.
This accumulation of dead sperm is not a problem for sexually active men. The reason for this is that they ejaculate enough sperm so that they don’t create a buildup of sperm.
However, what happens to the man who is not sexually active? Really, if you are not sexually active, it makes sense that you have an overabundance of sperm, a good portion of which will be dead and unable to fertilize the egg.
The last thing “Nature” wants is for a man to carry a load of dead, useless sperm with him. Therefore, there must be a natural mechanism (as in women) to remove sperm that are no longer useful from the body. This is where masturbation comes in. It is a natural, instinctive response that a man engages in to help his body rid itself of dead and useless sperm. In fact, if any man is interested in creating “wet dreams”, this is the way to do it: Stop having sex or masturbating. As the body continues to accumulate a large chunk of useless sperm, it must have some kind of mechanism to get rid of them. If you don’t masturbate or have sex to get rid of them, then the mind creates “wet dreams” to stimulate the nocturnal release of these sperm. That’s what “wet dreams” are for (after the deluge of postpubertal hormones, understandably).
The body is also believed to reabsorb some dead sperm. However, it has been postulated that the energy required to reabsorb sperm material and “recycle” it throughout the body is a waste of energy (it requires more energy for sperm absorption, decomposition and recycling than if new material were used to create new sperm). So unless the body is deficient in certain minerals and proteins, the body will vote to release them through “wet dreams” (again, if you don’t have sex and masturbation).
Going back to the original question posed in the “headline” of this article: Do men masturbate because they are sexually deficient or because it is just a normal physiological process of the body?
Probably both; and why not? Masturbation is an amazing way for men to relieve stress and frustration. That’s why it’s nice. Nature rewards men for masturbating with the gift of pleasure. This ensures that a man will have an active and healthy sperm supply, rather than a useless excess sperm.
However, if a man masturbates too much, it can be a problem. The reason for this is that it creates a sperm shortage. Mature sperm are not created overnight. They take about 30 days to mature. This is why having sex or masturbating excessively can make a man less fertile. Of course, if you are not interested in sex for reproductive purposes, you are not going to worry about it.
To summarize: a man’s desire to masturbate is not necessarily triggered because his hormones are going crazy and he needs some method to help corner them and release his sexual desires through a “fantasy” experience. Masturbation, for men, may simply be a normal built-in physiological mechanism for ridding the body of useless sperm. Therefore, it hardly justifies the negative publicity that masturbation has garnered over the years. No man should feel guilty about participating in something that is just a natural and innate reflex.