Diddle Till You Drop: What It’s Like to Participate in a Masturbate-a-Thon
What would it take for you to self-serve in a roomful of strangers?
You’re at San Francisco’s Masturbate-a-Thon, which was held for over a decade and organized as part of a celebration of self-service during National Masturbation Month. You’re greeted at the door of the venue by one of the organizers or a staff member. You walk in and pay the suggested donation, if you can, and go to the area where your clothes will be held. A staff member explains the rules: No touching without permission. No leering. Don’t use drugs or alcohol in the venue. Clean up your area after you’re done. You’re then taken into the main room where you may see some pornography being shown or witness some people, known as spark plugs, playing with each other to get things heated up.
You may even see one of the organizers, sexologist Dr. Carol Queen — the author of The Sex & Pleasure Book: Good Vibrations Guide to Great Sex for Everyone* and Co-Founder of the Center for Sex & Culture — masturbating right in front of you to help get everyone worked up. This is by design, something Queen and her partner, Dr. Robert Morgan Lawrence, who is the other Founder of the Center, thought would help make guests feel more comfortable.
“I really, really just…
