Right On, Taylor Momsen…

by Johnny Murdoc

So, I know it’s somewhat irresponsible to take a break from posting the next installment of a series—especially when it’s only the second installment—but I wanted to share this quote. (Also, I may have not actually written the second installment, yet. I promise(!) it will come around next week, though.) However, I do really want to share this quote, because I think it’s awesome on so many levels.

Taylor Momsen, a 17-year-old musician and actress from Gossip Girl said this during a recent interview with the UK’s Guardian:

“I’m a promoter of masturbation,” she says loudly, making our fellow diners pretend they haven’t heard. “Don’t sleep around – learn yourself first! Guys do, but girls don’t. And that’s why girls have so many bad experiences. But you can know your body, know yourself, know what feels good. You don’t have to give yourself away just to have sexual relevance. Because I don’t think sex is something people should be afraid of. It’s part of human nature, so I don’t think it should be so shameful – particularly for girls and young girls.”

This is the kind of thing that makes me stand up and cheer, even when I’m sitting alone in my office. It’s a wonderful stance for a young American actress to take, and I hope it’s a message that reaches its intended audience. While I could point out that Momsen is from Missouri in order to justify posting this on SEX+STL, I think the message is well worth spreading, and I hope that everyone who is in a position of educating young women will do just that.

I found this via Dan Savage, who adds:

“Most boys—all boys—masturbate before their first experience with big-time, all-grown-up-now partnered sex. Boys have a basic understanding of how their own genitals work, what feels good, what the build up to orgasm feels like, when they’re getting close, when they’re past the point of no return, what a good orgasm feels like, etc., etc., long before they lose their virginities. Way too many girls—even in our post-Babeland/Good Vibrations era—don’t start masturbating until after they’re sexually active; many never masturbate at all. Consequently, they don’t arrive at partnered sex with some idea about what feels good, what gets ’em off, what the build up feels like, etc., and they’re crushed to discover that inexperienced boys—boys who know how their own dicks work but don’t have a clue about female genitals—can’t make ’em come like they’ve seen it happen in the movies.

“Girls should listen to Taylor and explore masturbation first, boys and/or other girls second.”