Masturbation is the act of obtaining sexual pleasure by stimulating one’s body, especially the private parts. It is generally believed that to masturbate only sexual organs must be rubbed but this is not totally true. Individually, we all have sensitive or erotically arousing parts; breasts, nipples, armpits, palms, navel etc. (These are referred to as erogenous zones). For instance, if a person’s sensitive part is the nipples, this can be rubbed or caressed continuously to give orgasm without touching the sexual organs.
Infants engage in a lot of exploration due to the basic fact that they are still trying to learn about the state of their environment. These explorations include the body, which obviously and normally should be the first for it is the closest. Naturally, the infant will discover that touching the genital region does produce pleasure thus, masturbation occurs.
A woman once informed me that young girls between three and eight years old, roll thick papers into cylindrical shapes and insert it into their vulva. This they do innocently while playing and as far as they are concerned, they are just having fun playing husband and wife or daddy and mummy. In their innocence, they discover and derive pleasure from it, which may make some of them to continue in it for some years and the only description for it is, masturbation.
Infant masturbation is easier to notice with boys, who fondle their penis and girls stimulate the region around the clitoris by ‘rocking’ (a gentle backward and forward movement). To say this act is deliberate would not be fair and it is not likely that the child interprets the act as erotic. If so, it would be an exception. Infant curiosity about his/her body causes this. The act increases and this does shift to its mates (males or females) however, infant masturbation will mostly produce urination since they are physically immature, sexually.
As the infant grows up, its sexual drive develops slowly so that by puberty, it will easily be stimulated due to the increased quantity of sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) in the body. Here, the act of sex, having sex or masturbation may or may not be deliberate but the interpretation and purpose, I will say, may be well known and clear. With most teenagers, especially early teenagers, the after effects of sex or masturbation may not have been fully grasps and or well understood but with some (mostly mid or old teenagers) they just do not care. The thought and possibilities of erotic satisfaction completely clouds their naïve being.
