Sex Shop, Others Mark 'National Masturbation Day'
Friday May 7 5:41 PM ET
dailynews.yahoo.com
By Yukari Iwatani
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Franciscans held a party Friday ''to de-stigmatize and celebrate the under-recognized
activity of self-love.''
The occasion being marked at a local sex shop was ''National Masturbation Day,'' and the San Francisco sex campaigners
who organized the erotic festival and ''Masturbate-a-thon'' said it was part of a drive to liberate people's sexuality.
''We wanted a fun way to bring masturbation out of the closet and affirm that masturbation is a healthy, positive part of your
sexuality,'' said Laura Weide, spokeswoman for Good Vibrations, a women-owned San Francisco sex shop and mail order
business.
According to the 22-year-old store, participants in the ''Masturbate-a-thon'' have asked sponsors to donate money for each
minute that they masturbate during the day in support of four AIDS and HIV organizations in San Francisco, Seattle, New
York and New Orleans.
Fund-raisers will receive bumper stickers saying ''I came for a cause'' in return for their efforts -- with the honor system
applying to the length of time they actually spent.
Organizers did not know for sure how many people planned to participate, but Weide said the shop distributed more than
5,000 registration forms in San Francisco and received many phone calls and e-mail inquiries from around the country.
Among those who promised to participate were 100 students at Vassar College, New York, and a group of students in
Miami, she said, adding that donors would have to take it on trust that the requisite time was spent masturbating.
Good Vibrations designed ''National Masturbation Day'' in 1995 to bring attention to what it calls one of the most common
and least talked-about human activities.
''Most Americans masturbate and yet there continues to be a lot of shame and guilt around masturbation,'' Weide said.
''We wanted to do something that would affirm masturbation as a central part of sexuality that is natural, that is healthy, that
is positive. We thought that if Hallmark (a greeting cards firm) can create holidays, we can too,'' she added.
As part of its celebration, the store voiced its support for Sherri Williams, lead plaintiff against the state of Alabama for its
efforts to prevent the sale and distribution of sex toys. Williams is the owner of two Alabama sex toy shops.
A U.S. Federal Court judge struck down the state ban on the sale of such products, but the state's attorney general filed an
appeal last week.
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