I can't remember the first time I did it. My mom said I touched myself as soon as I could reach. As I grew up, I learned to be ashamed. In books and sex education class, everyone always said it was "perfectly normal." How can something be "perfectly normal," if no one ever talks about it? I came to a point in my life where I stopped doing it because I wanted to be what I thought was "truly normal." I never talked to anyone about it until last summer. A fantastic person, who became a good friend, was the first person I ever spoke a word to about my personal experiences with masturbating. Talking to someone for the first time was a huge, difficult step that I'll never forget.

Last fall I was in a relationship with someone who couldn't find a way to pleasure me and desperately wanted pointers. I came to realize that I couldn't tell him what gave me pleasure if I didn't know. So I started to masturbate again. Now I know that I am healthy, strong, powerful, and deserve to be comfortable with my body and experience sexual pleasure free from guilt.

Anonymous, 15