Masturbate-a-thon - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Masturbate-a-thon is an event in which participants masturbate in order to raise money for charity

Charity (practice)

The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.- Etymology :The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".Originally in Latin the word caritas meant...

and increase the public awareness and dispel the shame

Shame

Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....

and taboos that exist about this form of sexual activity. During the past six years, the Masturbate-a-thon has raised over $25,000 for women’s health initiatives and HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

prevention, education and treatment organizations, and has contributed to debates about safer sex and alternative safe methods of sexual expression.
The event awards several honors for those who raise the most money as well as for multiple orgasm

Orgasm

Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...

s and endurance.

History

In May, 1995, San Francisco–based sex-toy and -education shop Good Vibrations

Good Vibrations (business)

Good Vibrations is a sex toy business based in San Francisco. It operates five retail stores ; a mail-order business; an e-commerce website; a wholesale arm; and an erotic-video production company, . Formerly, it also operated three publishing companies: Down There Press, Passion Press and...

declared May to be "Masturbation

Masturbation

Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...

Month". Since then, it has encouraged people to get sponsors as a fundraiser for charities with a sex-positive focus.

In 1999, the Masturbate-a-Thon was originated by the collective Open Enterprises, which operates Good Vibrations

Good Vibrations (business)

. The slogan "Come for a Cause" was coined by Rachel Venning, the founder of the sex toy shop Babeland

Babeland

Babeland, formerly known as Toys in Babeland, is a women-owned sex toy boutique offering erotic toys, books and pornographic films. Babeland has an online store and four retail stores .-History:...

, formerly Toy in Babeland, which has branches in Seattle, in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, and (two) in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. The Masturbate-a-Thon was built up by Good Vibrations, which encouraged other modern sex-toy businesses— such as Babeland; A Woman's Touch, in Madison

Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

, Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

; Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

's Come as You Are; and Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

's Grand Opening—to hold events coinciding with "masturbation month" (May in the United States). In that year, the first live event was held at San Francisco's Campus Theater, by the Center for Sex and Culture (CSC)'s Carol Queen

Carol Queen

Carol Queen is an American author, editor, sociologist and sexologist active in the sex-positive feminism movement. Queen has written on human sexuality in books such as Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex-Positive Culture...

and her partner, Robert Lawrence. CSC is an education-based non-profit providing professional-level sex education. The annual events are used as a public-health-education device to increase awareness of self-pleasure

Autoeroticism

Autoeroticism is the practice of stimulating oneself sexually. The term was popularized toward the end of the 19th century by British sexologist Havelock Ellis, who defined autoeroticism as "the phenomena of spontaneous sexual emotion generated in the absence of an external stimulus proceeding,...

as a strategy for safer

Safe sex

Safe sex is sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. It is also referred to as safer sex or protected sex, while unsafe or unprotected sex is sexual activity engaged in without precautions...

and healthier sex and to de-stigmatise self-love

Self-love

Self-love is the strong sense of respect for and confidence in oneself. It is different from narcissism in that as one practices acceptance and detachment, the awareness of the individual shifts and the individual starts to see him or herself as an extension of all there is...

.

London hosted Europe's first "masturbate-a-thon" on August 5, 2006. Hundreds of persons raised money for the charity Terrence Higgins Trust

Terrence Higgins Trust

Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns on various issues related to AIDS and HIV. In particular, the charity aims to reduce the spread of HIV and promote good sexual health ; to provide services on a national and local level to people with, affected by, or at risk of...

and the sexual- and reproductive-health agency Marie Stopes International

Marie Stopes International

Marie Stopes International is an International Non-Governmental Organisation working on Sexual and Reproductive Health with headquarters in London, UK. It is named after Marie Stopes, a Scottish author, campaigner for eugenics, women's rights, and a pioneer in the field of family planning...

. The Masturbate-a-thon, also called "Wank-a-Thon", was recorded by ZigZagProductions of London as part of an international documentary of the event. However, plans to broadcast this on Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

as part of its Wank Week

Wank Week

Wank Week was a controversial season of television programming that was due to be broadcast in the United Kingdom by Channel 4, expected to consist of a series of three documentary programmes about masturbation...

series were abandoned, including programing from Europe's fetish and leather week.

Current records

Time records indicate duration (length of time for which a participant masturbated)

2009 San Francisco

The winner of "Longest Time Spent Masturbating/Male" (and also the World Record Holder in this category) is Mr. Masanobu Sato, who in 2008 masturbated for 9 hours and 33 minutes. In 2009 he extended his record to 9 hours and 58 minutes.
The winner of "Longest Time Spent Masturbating/Female" was set in 2008 by Ms. Kitty Kat, who masturbated for 7 hours and 6 minutes.
The winner of "Most Orgasms/Male" was set by Big Rob in 2010—at 83 climaxes, a world record.
The winner of "Most Orgasms/Female" is Loooo-C, who orgasmed 83 times in 2010.
The winner of "Longest Distance Come to Come" is Morihiro Taneichi from Tokyo.
New United States—Men's distance record set in 2009 by (nom de plume) Mr. Flint Greasewood—1.62 m (5.31ft).

2009 Denmark

Masturbation time—men: 7 hours and 45 minutes
Masturbation time—women: 5 hours and 4 minutes
Number of orgasms—men: 8—Danish record.
Number of orgasms—women: 222—World record
Ejaculation distance—men: 2.5 metres
Ejaculation distance—women: 3.15 metres - World record
Target ejaculation—men: 6 centimetres from bull's eye
Target ejaculation—women: All over bull's eye

History

Current records

2009 San Francisco

2009 Denmark

Further reading

Sponsoring organizations