

May is National Masturbation Month, and to celebrate, we're kicking off a self-love conversation with a new video on masturbation each week this month. Follow along for our contributors' uncensored thoughts on the solo pursuit of pleasure.



At what age should we teach young people about masturbation? Linked as it is with the broader topic of sex, that's not a straightforward question. Some people would answer, "Never; let them figure it out themselves." Of course, that could mean that a tween or teen learns a bit late, as Alise's story attests. In fifth grade, "I had been masturbating for a while," she recounts, "but I didn't realize that what I was doing was masturbating, or that the final thing that was happening was an orgasm." And, unaware that what she was doing was supposed to be a private activity, Alise had been indulging in it in public. You can imagine how she felt when a magazine article she happened to read informed her about what she'd really been up to. View the video above for her story and more tales of the trials and tribulations of discovering self-pleasure.