May marks Masturbation Month and in a bid to bin the taboo, Nasty Gal asked 2,000 women how they feel about self-sex. Teaming up with three sex and intimacy experts to help shine a light on how important it is to open up the conversation around masturbation and figure out exactly why women still feel ashamed to be open.
Nasty Gal discovered that, when questioned, only 15% of women were confident enough to say that they masturbate, and 66% said they don’t watch porn at all.
Sex expert Eleanor McKenzie said: “Masturbation releases a host of ‘happy’ hormones and reduces the amount of cortisol in the body, and that’s a good reason to make time for it in a private space as part of your ‘me time.” 47% of women think there is still a stigma around female masturbation and 43% believe that society is more comfortable with male masturbation.
Sex, intimacy and relationship coach, Duchess Iphie, said: “We have been conditioned to accept that men have more sexual urges than women and have a greater need to have a release, whether a partner is available or not.“
Sex and dating expert, Gillian Myhill, said: “Sadly, in many cultures masturbation is not only discouraged, but it’s also forbidden. I believe the only way to break the stigma and shame surrounding this is to bring the topic into an open forum. By speaking about this with our friends and peers, slowly we will bring what is a natural and wonderful expression of one’s appreciation and love for self out from behind the dark alleyways”
A spokesman for Nasty Gal said: “As a brand who sells both sex toys and fashion, we don’t believe one should be more ‘acceptable’ in society than the other. Through selling sex toys alongside our fashion lines, we want to encourage women everywhere to embrace self-sex, because we truly believe your sexual desires aren’t something you should ever have to hide.”
