A Hand-y way to fund RAISE

In 1995, Good Vibrations decreed May as National Masturbation Month in protest of the firing of Clinton-appointed U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders, who spoke positively of masturbation. The capstone event -- the annual Masturbate-a-Thon -- was added in 1998 and went live in 2000 at the same time promoters launched The Center For Sex & Culture, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization devoted to positive sex education for adults.

This year's orgasmic event is TOMORROW! With its locus in San Francisco, there are venues worldwide and in cyberspace. There are Featured Masturbators accepting pledges on various sites, with proceeds benefiting The Center For Sex & Culture. You can watch live feeds of the event, and you can play along at home! If you're a Twitter user, you can follow (and add to) the O count through TheBiggestO. There is also a Facebook profile.

From the Masturbate-a-Thon website:

Although most men and women today are aware that masturbation isn't a "degrading act," as past generations might have been taught, many are still constrained by the notion that it's a selfish, immature activity or a second-rate substitute for partner sex. We live in a society in which sexual expression has always been legislated and restricted and the pursuit of pure pleasure is frequently condemned as egoistic or childish. A lot of people who consider themselves free of sexual hang-ups have simply rewritten the equation "sex is only good if it involves procreation" to "sex is only good if it involves two people." The fact that masturbation is a pleasurable end in itself gets short shrift in many mainstream sex manuals, which focus on masturbation as a useful tool in the building of a better sex life with one's partner. The Masturbate-a-Thon is dedicated to honoring masturbation as an excellent way to have sex while also raising money for non-profits.

I heartily agree. Self-stimulation, with or without anyone else in the room (or on the phone... or the webcam... or the chat window), is a healthy part of one's sex life. In some cases, it's ALL of it -- whether by choice or by circumstance. It's the safest form of sex on (or off) the planet. And it's HOT.