TEEN VOGUE: Teen Masturbation Stories

Similar to Nancy Friday's My Secret Garden: Women’s Sexual Fantasies, Vera Papisova's Teen Vogue post "23 Masturbation Stories: Girls Get Real About Self-Love" (AUGUST 4, 2020) is a compilation of pre-teen and teen masturbation stories.

 

Sarah's mom, a sex therapist, taught Sarah, the day Sarah got her period, that masturbation was Sarah's "right":

"My mom is a sex therapist, and the day I got my period, I didn’t get the sex talk. I got the masturbation talk. I’ll never forget it, because it was humiliating. She told me that my pleasure is my right, and that if I have urges, I shouldn’t be ashamed of them. It’s natural and healthy for you. She told me I shouldn’t have sex until I know exactly what my body likes, otherwise I’ll be dependent on other people to figure it out, which isn’t fair for anyone since we’re all different." - Sarah

Lindsay shared that, other than her "freaky camp friend", she wished that she knew "[...] that other girls masturbate, too!"

"I wish I knew that other girls masturbate, too! And that no matter what way you do it, it's not weird! Most girls don't open up to their friends about that stuff until college, unless you have the occasional freaky camp friend." - Lindsay

Laura related to Teen Vogue that she started masturbating as "a stress reliever" as a pre-teen - in 5th grade. (I wonder what kind of stress ~ 10-year-old Laura was going through.)

"To be honest I started masturbating pretty early in maybe the 5th grade...I think my mom figured it out and she had the sex talk with me. I was really lucky because the only thing she said about it was that it was private and OK, but that she didn't want to know about it and that I should keep it to myself. If I didn't do it, I’d get pretty fidgety...For me it was more than a sexual identity thing; it was a stress reliever." - Laura 

Ruthie "discovered" masturbation at a young about - "about 12":

"I definitely discovered masturbating at a young age. I was about 12 and knew that for whatever reason, I could touch myself in a certain spot and feel all kinds of incredible in a way I had never felt before. And I felt very confused about why, and never spoke to a friend (honestly) about masturbating until I was in college. But once I started talking about it with a few friends, it felt SO GREAT ! It felt liberating." - Ruthie 

When Maddie was in high school, she purchased a gift wrapped vibrator from Spencer's Gifts:

"When I was in high school, I went to Spencer’s Gifts at the mall and made them gift wrap a vibrator because I was too embarrassed to admit I was buying it for myself. But guess what? Female masturbation isn't embarrassing or gross, and it’s also not embarrassing or gross to have a vibrator or dildo. When you get to college, you'll actually start talking to other women about this. There’s a whole world of liberation out there." - Maddie

Emily discovered masturbation at 14 by accident via the shower head:

"The first time I masturbated it was kind of by accident. I was probably about 14, and I was in the bathtub playing around with the shower head and the water hit that area and I was like, whoa, this feels good. I definitely felt awkward about it, and didn't tell anyone about my newfound hobby [...]" - Emily 

Lastly, Sarah shared that she masturbated in the (locked) bathroom after school. (Note: Sarah did not share with Teen Vogue if this was during middle or high school.)

"I used to do it in my room after school. No one was home but my older sister, so it was the perfect opportunity. I'd lock the bedroom door and turn on music so I could have some privacy. I would have died if I ever got caught. I still would die now, for the record." -Sarah 

Like Tavi Gevinson's Rookie, we have written a number of posts based on Teen Vogue's masturbation pieces (e.g., here and here); however, unlike, Rookie, Teen Vogue hasn't, to our knowledge, written about teleiophilia.