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Frequently asked questions

The main points of this FAQ (Talk:Masturbation#FAQ) can be summarized as:

Wikipedia's neutral point of view policy requires that minority views not be given undue emphasis.

More detail is given on this point, below.

To view the response to a question, click the [show] link to the right of the question.

Q1: Why don't you state masturbation addiction as fact?

A1: Our policies on Wikipedia, in particular WP:WEIGHT and WP:FRINGE, require us to provide coverage to views based on their prominence within reliable sources, and we must reflect the opinion of the scientific community as accurately as possible. For example, if the APA will include masturbation addiction in the DSM, then Wikipedia will rubber-stamp its decision. Otherwise, Wikipedia isn't here to give a "fair and balanced" treatment to your pet ideas. In this respect, Wikipedia is merely a mirror which reflects medical orthodoxy. There is no official document from WHO, AMA, APA, Cochrane or APA which would imply that sex/porn/masturbation addiction would be a valid diagnosis. (CSBD isn't an addiction.) Further, there is no paper about "masturbation addiction".^[1]

Q2: Why don't you state that porn use is paraphilia (pictophilia)?

A2: The majority of US men use porn.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] What the majority does is axiomatically clinically normal in psychiatry. According to The Huffington Post, 70% of men and 30% of women watch porn.^[7] Quite probably, the majority of US population between ages 18 and 35 use porn at least once a week.^[8] DSM-5 code for pornography use? Not any. ICD-10 code for pornography use? Not any. ICD-11 code for pornography use? Not any. So, of course it isn't paraphilia. Even allowing that an excessive obsession with porn is paraphilia, normal (ordinary) porn use isn't.

Q3: Author X is a feminist. Why do you cite her? Isn't that biased?

A3: Feminism is so diverse that being a feminist does not mean much, unless you specify she is a Marxist feminist, or liberal feminist, or conservative feminist, or sex-positive feminist, or TERF, etc. And yup, men can be feminists, too.

Past discussions

References

↑ ""masturbation addiction" - Search Results - PubMed". Retrieved 16 July 2026.
↑ Stone, Lyman (26 June 2019). "Conservative Protestant Men Are Still Resisting Porn". Christianity Today. Carol Stream, Illinois. ISSN 0009-5753. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2021. By contrast, Protestant men today who attend church regularly are basically the only men in America still resisting the cultural norm of regularized pornography use.
↑ Brenner, Grant Hilary (19 February 2018). "When Is Porn Use a Problem?". Psychology Today. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
↑ Ritzenhoff, Karen A.; Hermes, Katherine A. (2009). Sex and Sexuality in a Feminist World. EBSCO ebook academic collection. Cambridge Scholars. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-4438-0426-4.
↑ Grubbs, Joshua B.; Perry, Samuel L.; Grant Weinandy, Jennifer T.; Kraus, Shane W. (19 July 2021). "Porndemic? A Longitudinal Study of Pornography Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Nationally Representative Sample of Americans". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 51 (1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 123–137. doi:10.1007/s10508-021-02077-7. ISSN 0004-0002. PMC 8288831. PMID 34282505. At baseline, 43.4% of participants reported not having viewed pornography in the past year and 38% of participants reported using pornography, on average, at least once per month (59% of men and 21% of women).
↑ Regnerus, Mark; Gordon, David; Price, Joseph (18 December 2015). "Documenting Pornography Use in America: A Comparative Analysis of Methodological Approaches". The Journal of Sex Research. 53 (7). Informa UK Limited: 873–881. doi:10.1080/00224499.2015.1096886. ISSN 0022-4499. PMID 26683998. If estimates generated from the RIA or NFSS are more valid, then pornography use is—or perhaps has become—a common and frequent experience among men, with just under half of all men using pornography in an average week. It is also not an uncommon or infrequent occurrence for women, with nearly one in five reporting pornography use in the past week.
↑
Kleinman, Alexis (4 May 2013). "Porn Sites Get More Visitors Than Netflix, Amazon And Twitter Combined". HuffPost. Retrieved 18 September 2021. Sources:
1. Carroll, Jason S.; Padilla-Walker, Laura M.; Nelson, Larry J.; Olson, Chad D.; McNamara Barry, Carolyn; Madsen, Stephanie D. (2008). "Generation XXX". Journal of Adolescent Research. 23 (1). SAGE Publications: 6–30. doi:10.1177/0743558407306348. ISSN 0743-5584.
  Blue, Violet (24 July 2009). "Are more women OK with watching porn?". CNN.com. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  "One in three women watch porn - study - The Courier-Mail". news.com.au. 10 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
2. Edelman, Benjamin (1 January 2009). "Markets: Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?" (PDF). Journal of Economic Perspectives. 23 (1). American Economic Association: 209–220. doi:10.1257/jep.23.1.209. ISSN 0895-3309. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2013.
  "Are the effects of pornography negligible? - UdeMNouvelles". nouvelles.umontreal.ca (in French). 1 December 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20130116164054/https://www.google.com/adplanner/static/top1000/
4. Hotsheet, Political (25 June 2010). "29% Accessed Porn on Work Computers Last Month - CBS News". Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  Leahy, Michael (2009). Porn @ Work: Exposing the Office's #1 Addiction. Moody Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57567-332-5.
5. Anthony, Sebastian (4 April 2012). "Just how big are porn sites?". ExtremeTech. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
↑ Buchholz, Katharina (2019-02-11). "Infographic: How Much of the Internet Consists of Porn?". Statista Infographics. Retrieved 2022-08-11.

Masturbation is a former featured article candidate. Please view the links under Article milestones below to see why the nomination was archived. For older candidates, please check the archive.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
October 21, 2006	Featured article candidate	Not promoted

Anthropology Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Anthropology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Anthropology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AnthropologyWikipedia:WikiProject AnthropologyTemplate:WikiProject AnthropologyAnthropology
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the importance scale.

Biology Low‑importance

	Biology portal Masturbation is part of the WikiProject Biology, an effort to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to biology on Wikipedia. Leave messages on the WikiProject talk page.BiologyWikipedia:WikiProject BiologyTemplate:WikiProject BiologyBiology
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

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Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Gender studies Mid‑importance

This article is part of WikiProject Gender studies. This WikiProject aims to improve the quality of articles dealing with gender studies and to remove systematic gender bias from Wikipedia. If you would like to participate in the project, you can choose to edit this article, or visit the project page for more information.Gender studiesWikipedia:WikiProject Gender studiesTemplate:WikiProject Gender studiesGender studies

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Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Assess : see Unassessed Gender studies articles and Unknown-importance Gender studies articles
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Pornography Top‑importance

	Erotica and pornography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Pornography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of pornography-related topics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PornographyWikipedia:WikiProject PornographyTemplate:WikiProject PornographyPornography
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Psychology Low‑importance

	Psychology portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Psychology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Psychology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PsychologyWikipedia:WikiProject PsychologyTemplate:WikiProject Psychologypsychology
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Sexology and sexuality Top‑importance

	Human sexuality portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Sexology and sexuality, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of human sexuality on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Sexology and sexualityWikipedia:WikiProject Sexology and sexualityTemplate:WikiProject Sexology and sexualitySexology and sexuality
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Sociology Mid‑importance

	Society portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Sociology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of sociology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SociologyWikipedia:WikiProject SociologyTemplate:WikiProject Sociologysociology
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

This article has been mentioned by a media organization:

"The 50 most-viewed Wikipedia articles in 2009 and 2008". The Daily Telegraph. August 17, 2009.

This is not a forum for general discussion of your personal experiences or stories about masturbation, nor is it for links to sites with masturbation material. Any such comments may be removed or refactored. Please limit discussion to improvement of this article. You may wish to ask factual questions about masturbation at the Reference desk, discuss relevant Wikipedia policy at the Village pump, or ask for help at the Help desk.

List of songs is too long

Latest comment: 29 days ago3 comments2 people in discussion

I know there is already a notice in the article about the "in popular culture" section being too long to make a point, but I was wondering if someone was already working on reducing the number of songs in the in popular culture section would be useful to the article, as there are way to many in that list of songs. Lemur3215 (talk) 23:23, 7 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

I spent about twenty minutes sorting through all the songs listed in the section, and out of all the songs listed as "more recently popular", I'd only classify "Love Myself", "I Touch Myself", "Orgasm Addict", "Longview", "U + Ur Hand", "Touch of My Hand", "So Happy I Could Die", "Darling Nikki", and "She Bop" as both notable and about masturbation to any degree of certainty or significance. Some of the songs on the list contain only a brief implication of the topic at hand, some are not about masturbation at all, and others are so niche I wonder how they even ended up here in the first place. Does Wikipedia have any specific guidelines regarding this matter? TheBlue11 (talk) 01:47, 25 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

As the ones that are actually related are very few, I feel like the best policies that I would look at is either WP:WEIGHT or MOS:LONGSEQ. Lemur3215 (talk) 21:18, 25 August 2026 (UTC)Reply

"Chockey chicken" listed at Redirects for discussion

Latest comment: 2 months ago1 comment1 person in discussion

The redirect Chockey chicken has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 July 21 § Chockey chicken until a consensus is reached. TNstingray (talk) 00:51, 21 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

"Jackin world" listed at Redirects for discussion

Latest comment: 16 days ago1 comment1 person in discussion

The redirect Jackin world has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 September 7 § Jackin world until a consensus is reached. TNstingray (talk) 13:37, 7 September 2026 (UTC)Reply

[1] ""masturbation addiction" - Search Results - PubMed". Retrieved 16 July 2026.

[Stone_2019-2] Stone, Lyman (26 June 2019). "Conservative Protestant Men Are Still Resisting Porn". Christianity Today. Carol Stream, Illinois. ISSN 0009-5753. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2021. By contrast, Protestant men today who attend church regularly are basically the only men in America still resisting the cultural norm of regularized pornography use.

[Psychology_Today_2018-3] Brenner, Grant Hilary (19 February 2018). "When Is Porn Use a Problem?". Psychology Today. Retrieved 18 September 2021.

[Ritzenhoff_Hermes_2009_p._102-4] Ritzenhoff, Karen A.; Hermes, Katherine A. (2009). Sex and Sexuality in a Feminist World. EBSCO ebook academic collection. Cambridge Scholars. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-4438-0426-4.

[Grubbs_Perry_Grant_Weinandy_Kraus_p.-5] Grubbs, Joshua B.; Perry, Samuel L.; Grant Weinandy, Jennifer T.; Kraus, Shane W. (19 July 2021). "Porndemic? A Longitudinal Study of Pornography Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Nationally Representative Sample of Americans". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 51 (1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 123–137. doi:10.1007/s10508-021-02077-7. ISSN 0004-0002. PMC 8288831. PMID 34282505. At baseline, 43.4% of participants reported not having viewed pornography in the past year and 38% of participants reported using pornography, on average, at least once per month (59% of men and 21% of women).

[Regnerus_Gordon_Price_pp._873–881-6] Regnerus, Mark; Gordon, David; Price, Joseph (18 December 2015). "Documenting Pornography Use in America: A Comparative Analysis of Methodological Approaches". The Journal of Sex Research. 53 (7). Informa UK Limited: 873–881. doi:10.1080/00224499.2015.1096886. ISSN 0022-4499. PMID 26683998. If estimates generated from the RIA or NFSS are more valid, then pornography use is—or perhaps has become—a common and frequent experience among men, with just under half of all men using pornography in an average week. It is also not an uncommon or infrequent occurrence for women, with nearly one in five reporting pornography use in the past week.

[Kleinman_2013-7] Kleinman, Alexis (4 May 2013). "Porn Sites Get More Visitors Than Netflix, Amazon And Twitter Combined". HuffPost. Retrieved 18 September 2021. Sources:
Carroll, Jason S.; Padilla-Walker, Laura M.; Nelson, Larry J.; Olson, Chad D.; McNamara Barry, Carolyn; Madsen, Stephanie D. (2008). "Generation XXX". Journal of Adolescent Research. 23 (1). SAGE Publications: 6–30. doi:10.1177/0743558407306348. ISSN 0743-5584.
Blue, Violet (24 July 2009). "Are more women OK with watching porn?". CNN.com. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
"One in three women watch porn - study - The Courier-Mail". news.com.au. 10 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

Edelman, Benjamin (1 January 2009). "Markets: Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?" (PDF). Journal of Economic Perspectives. 23 (1). American Economic Association: 209–220. doi:10.1257/jep.23.1.209. ISSN 0895-3309. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2013.
"Are the effects of pornography negligible? - UdeMNouvelles". nouvelles.umontreal.ca (in French). 1 December 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

https://web.archive.org/web/20130116164054/https://www.google.com/adplanner/static/top1000/

Hotsheet, Political (25 June 2010). "29% Accessed Porn on Work Computers Last Month - CBS News". Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
Leahy, Michael (2009). Porn @ Work: Exposing the Office's #1 Addiction. Moody Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57567-332-5.

Anthony, Sebastian (4 April 2012). "Just how big are porn sites?". ExtremeTech. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

[mwjQ] Carroll, Jason S.; Padilla-Walker, Laura M.; Nelson, Larry J.; Olson, Chad D.; McNamara Barry, Carolyn; Madsen, Stephanie D. (2008). "Generation XXX". Journal of Adolescent Research. 23 (1). SAGE Publications: 6–30. doi:10.1177/0743558407306348. ISSN 0743-5584.
Blue, Violet (24 July 2009). "Are more women OK with watching porn?". CNN.com. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
"One in three women watch porn - study - The Courier-Mail". news.com.au. 10 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

[mwqA] Edelman, Benjamin (1 January 2009). "Markets: Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?" (PDF). Journal of Economic Perspectives. 23 (1). American Economic Association: 209–220. doi:10.1257/jep.23.1.209. ISSN 0895-3309. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2013.
"Are the effects of pornography negligible? - UdeMNouvelles". nouvelles.umontreal.ca (in French). 1 December 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

[mwwQ] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20130116164054/https://www.google.com/adplanner/static/top1000/

[mwww] Hotsheet, Political (25 June 2010). "29% Accessed Porn on Work Computers Last Month - CBS News". Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
Leahy, Michael (2009). Porn @ Work: Exposing the Office's #1 Addiction. Moody Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57567-332-5.

[mw0w] Anthony, Sebastian (4 April 2012). "Just how big are porn sites?". ExtremeTech. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

[Buchholz_2019-8] Buchholz, Katharina (2019-02-11). "Infographic: How Much of the Internet Consists of Porn?". Statista Infographics. Retrieved 2022-08-11.

[mwjQ] Carroll, Jason S.; Padilla-Walker, Laura M.; Nelson, Larry J.; Olson, Chad D.; McNamara Barry, Carolyn; Madsen, Stephanie D. (2008). "Generation XXX". Journal of Adolescent Research. 23 (1). SAGE Publications: 6–30. doi:10.1177/0743558407306348. ISSN 0743-5584.
Blue, Violet (24 July 2009). "Are more women OK with watching porn?". CNN.com. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
"One in three women watch porn - study - The Courier-Mail". news.com.au. 10 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

[mwqA] Edelman, Benjamin (1 January 2009). "Markets: Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?" (PDF). Journal of Economic Perspectives. 23 (1). American Economic Association: 209–220. doi:10.1257/jep.23.1.209. ISSN 0895-3309. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2013.
"Are the effects of pornography negligible? - UdeMNouvelles". nouvelles.umontreal.ca (in French). 1 December 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

[mwwQ] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20130116164054/https://www.google.com/adplanner/static/top1000/

[mwww] Hotsheet, Political (25 June 2010). "29% Accessed Porn on Work Computers Last Month - CBS News". Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
Leahy, Michael (2009). Porn @ Work: Exposing the Office's #1 Addiction. Moody Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57567-332-5.

[mw0w] Anthony, Sebastian (4 April 2012). "Just how big are porn sites?". ExtremeTech. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

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