Masturbation Mentor
She had obviously been distracted for a while and it showed. Her mind was clearly somewhere else. When I came home early and accidentally saw her masturbating one afternoon as I returned from jogging, right away I was pleased to see her bringing herself and wondered how often she did it and who she was thinking about. She was nude, on the bed, with her hand at her pussy, her eyes closed, and her mind completely somewhere else. I had not been expected for another two hours, so she should have been alone and was totally caught off guard.
I had suspected she masturbated occasionally, although she had told me emphatically that she never did. I didn't believe her, figuring that most people do, at least I thought most people did. I had never caught her, or seen her do anything similar during sex, so I didn't know for sure--until right then--whether she did or not.
When I had mentioned masturbating before, she denied ever doing it. In fact, she got defensive and acted like I had accused her of something heinous, something awful. However, I thought most people did, and actually hoped she was one of them. I began reading about masturbation whenever I could, whether men do it more, or did women do it, and I found out some interesting information. I discovered the studies showed that men do it more often, but both sexes seem to do it at least occasionally. Men were more likely to admit doing it, often admitting they masturbate 3 or 4 times a week, where women reported doing it maybe three times a month, but it was more likely they would deny it even if they did. Only about 30% of women said they never masturbated, although those numbers were suspect since they knew many women simply denied it even those who had.
Women who masturbated, however, were more likely to be orgasmic than women who didn't do it at all. Women reported that when they masturbated they commonly visualized a former partner or situation, while men were more likely to use visual aids, like porn or reading erotic stories. Right away I thought of Claire masturbating at home that day and wondered who or what she was visualizing. Not that I was bothered by her imagining someone else when she brought herself to orgasm, and I hoped her experience with it was positive. I sincerely hoped that she was able to climax that way.
She had a history of having difficulty achieving an orgasm and I truly hoped masturbating helped her. I wanted to talk with her about it, but I wasn't optimistic about that happening, after all, she never admitted to me she ever did it, and for her to talk to me about sex was difficult for her. Now I knew she did. If only I could get her to admit doing it, or at least talking about the subject with me.
Sex has always been a difficult topic for her. Except for a brief period right before we were married, when she was her most uninhibited and enjoyed sex the most, she has become more subdued sexually and seems less comfortable with it personally. It is something I want for her, but have almost no idea how to help.
If only I could find a way to empower her to open up and discuss it, to admit she masturbates and feel okay with that fact, perhaps even enjoy it. I thought of telling her I saw her, but I decided that was a bad idea. I realized it could actually have the opposite affect of what I intended. It may just backfire on me completely.
I speculated about what she may have been picturing, whether she was actually imagining something specific, like a person or situation. Was it someone she knew? A friend, or could it be me? I reflected on just who it was she was imagining as she brought herself to orgasm. I ran through the names of my friends, people she worked with, and old boyfriends, but there was no one obvious that came to mind.
I wanted her to know the benefits of masturbation, and seeing her gave me hope. There was a great deal of material on the subject to pick from, studies to read, advice columns that discussed it, answered people's questions. I wanted to give her things she could read and find out the acts about the subject.
I decided to talk with one of her friends from college, a woman who had become a doctor, a sex therapist who worked at a clinic in town. I made an appointment and went in to see her the following Thursday. Her name is Dr. Rene Carter.
I sat in the waiting room with a half dozen pregnant women and moms with kids. When it was my turn I went in and sat across from her on the couch. It seemed like I was the only man seeing her. Since I was the husband of one of her friends, it was a little awkward. "You're Tom, Claire's husband, right?" she said,
"I wanted to talk to you about female sexuality," I said. I explained what I had seen, how Claire had denied ever masturbating, how her comfort with sex had been suffering, and how much I wanted her to feel better about her sexuality, but how I worried she was closing down.
"You are worried she is thinking about someone else?" she asked. "So you are feeling vulnerable and threatened? Your masculinity is being challenged?"
"Really, not at all," I said. "I worry because she is not able to enjoy sex like she used to, but her masturbating gives me hope, but when I brought up pleasuring yourself she reacted like it was a terrible thing. I have read a little, and I know it is natural but many people feel guilty about doing it.
As I talked, I worried she was misunderstanding me. I had begun to feel like she was skeptical of my motives. "I want to find someone she can talk with, someone she trusts and believes in. But I know she has to want to talk. I understand you can't make someone want to discuss personal things."
She started to smile. "I am beginning to feel you are here for her, not you. Are you saying you were happy to see her masturbating?"
"Exactly," I said.
"You know you can't trick her into coming to me. You have to mention masturbation, although you may not want to tell her you saw her," she said.
"I know," I said.
"You may want to say I called, asking about her. You might just mention she seems down, like she is not enjoying her life. Maybe see if it comes up, or maybe you could mention it, like I asked about whether she does," she said.