Good Vibrations Kicks Off Events for 26th Masturbation May

SAN FRANCISCO—Sexual health and wellness retailer Good Vibrations has a slate of free Zoom events in store for the coming month as part of the 26th annual celebration of National Masturbation Month. The first of these planned events, "Masturbation May: Celebrating 26 Years of Self-Love," takes place Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT, with Good Vibrations' Educator Andy and staff sexologist Dr. Carol Queen discussing the history of Mastubation May and the changes it has inspired. Noted a company announcement, "Good Vibrations, originator of National Masturbation Month, is proud to celebrate the 26th year of this annual sex-positive, awareness-raising international holiday. In 1995 Good Vibrations staffers were reeling after the recent firing of Surgeon General Dr. Joyceleyn Elders, the first Black woman to serve in that role, for a simple and truthful statement about masturbation: when asked about whether it should be part of sex education curricula, she stated, in light of the pressing need for safer sex information, that it was something 'that perhaps should be taught' about in the context of sexual health information. Her dismissal by then-president Bill Clinton shook sexual health and pleasure activists and led to an historic meeting at Good Vibrations: the declaration of May as the first-ever National Masturbation Month. Other progressive sex shops soon signed on. "Since then," the announcement continued, "masturbation has become a less-taboo subject—though there is still work to be done to erase this form of sexual shame for everyone. ... Masturbation is near-universal and might be the most significant sexual building block there is—so when people are denigrated for masturbating, it has negative effects on many aspects of sexuality. We need to talk about all this and make masturbation completely acceptable for anyone who chooses it—and that’s what Masturbation Month has always been about!" To register for Wednesday's Zoom event, click here. For more information, visit GoodVibes.com and follow Good Vibrations on Twitter and Instagram @goodvibestoys, as well as on Facebook.