Many girls as well as boys learned about orgasm from a coincidental encounter with a hot tub or swimming pool jet, or from a pulsating shower spray. Others rubbed against something – a pillow, a stuffed animal, or a real animal. Some had the advantage of a teacher – an older friend, sibling, or cousin – who either demonstrated for them or actually masturbated them.
Some people had to try a few times before they got the motion and the feelings just right. A few didn't feel much that first time. For others, all the explosive surprise of that first orgasm burst over them in waves of glorious feeling.]
One day I was playing with myself in the bathroom, felt this incredible feeling build up in my loins, and ejaculated soon after. I was scared I had done something wrong, but after a while I got addicted and learned it was completely natural. I was 12 years old. It was purely accidental. Looking back, I'm glad that it was. I wouldn't have wanted someone to show me how to do it. It would have spoiled the surprise ending!
- age 19, Pennsylvania
I had an orgasm at my first serious masturbation session. I guess it started when we learned about ejaculation in a sex education class and I wanted to try it out. One day when I was home alone (age 12 or 13), I started to masturbate. I felt like I had to pee, so I stopped stimulating myself. However, it was too late – the semen had come out. I wiped it on my underwear and quickly went into the bathroom thinking that if any more came out, it should go into the toilet. Later, I realized that it was an ejaculation. The orgasm wasn't that great, but still, I was hooked.
- age 15, Wyoming
I had been interested in learning how to masturbate for 5 years, but my father had quite firmly dissuaded me from asking questions and told me stories about the dangers of indulging. I had weekly "wet dreams" accompanied by the best "movies" of all time, but I really longed to be able to provoke an orgasm on demand. I had asked school friends how, but had always chickened out when someone offered advice or demonstrations. At last, after a camping weekend with mates, I was back home soaping myself in the bath and bang! It happened – the secret was revealed – what a mess! I have not had a "wet dream" since.
- age 47, Australia
When I was 12, I was in a sauna with a friend. We started talking about sex and both got aroused. The next thing I knew, he took his penis and started to masturbate. I didn't know what he was doing, so I didn't participate. Later, when I got home, I took a shower and afterwards I did what he had shown me. I was totally unprepared for the orgasm and almost fainted when it came!
- age 16, Sweden
I had my first orgasm by trying different things. I was something of a late bloomer to masturbation; for a while I didn't really know that my clitoris could provide so much pleasure. I knew it was there, but I didn't quite understand its purpose. I understood that intercourse felt good and that it involved rubbing the penis in the vagina, and I deduced that using a substitute for a penis must also feel good. I was close to the right idea, but I never did have any earth-shattering sensation of orgasm. Eventually, enough information filtered into my teenage brain that I figured out where I was *supposed* to rub. It still took a lot of experimenting before I finally got it right, but I finally did it and haven't looked back since.
- age 23, Maryland (female)
I got my first orgasm at age 12 while rubbing myself with a pillow. I was thinking about sucking on Cindy Crawford's breasts and felt myself about to explode. So I ran to the bathroom and ejaculated into the toilet. Since then I have used the fist method and have enjoyed incredible orgasms.
- age 18, Ohio
I discovered orgasm when I watched my mom and dad's satellite dish and found a pornography channel. I was 10 or 11. Soon after, I was so curious I put a hole in a teddy bear and tried to have intercourse with it. I did have orgasms, but with no ejaculation. It was only the urge to urinate. I learned a lot from that bear!
- age 25, Iowa
One day I was sitting in my bathtub when I was about 6 (yes, 6). I was taking a shower, and when the water would touch my penis, it felt very good – strange, yet good. I wondered what it would be like to have a greater amount of water touch me, so I turned off the showerhead and let the water run from the faucet. I spread my legs around it and up onto the walls, and then let the water fall onto the bottom of my penis. From then on, I experimented with trying to find the best way to keep the feeling going and getting it to feel better.
- age 17, California
I was on the toilet, just messing around and wondering why the shaft of my penis wasn't symmetrical – there is a definite "bump" on the bottom just below the corona. I guess I had never inspected my erect penis carefully before. I thought maybe if I rubbed the protruding part, it might disappear and then the shaft would be symmetrical. Needless to say, it took only a little bit of rubbing and I ejaculated for the first time ever. I was surprised and confused. It took me about a day to figure out what had happened, and then of course, I did it again. And again, and again – for 40 years!
- age 52, Washington
I figured out how to have an orgasm at about age 10. I learned that by using the bathtub faucet, I could have an orgasm every time. Of course, I didn't know they were called orgasms until a couple of years later. My first orgasm using my hands happened when I was about 16. I learned how to do it mostly from what I read on the Internet and what came naturally.
- age 17, Oklahoma (female)
By using my parents' massager. I found that using the massager on my penis, especially underneath the glans on the sweet spot, would produce a wonderful sensation. Then one day while I was using the massager, the sensation was much more intense than anything I had experienced before. I had my first ejaculation and orgasm. Later, I learned to produce the stimulation without the massager and just the use of my hands. I haven't stopped since.
- age 28, Illinois
I first masturbated when I was playing around with a massager and I put it on my penis. It felt good, and then eventually I ejaculated.
- age 13, Nevada
When I was about 4 (maybe younger), I enjoyed having my clothes off. When I was in my room, I would strip down and "play nudie." My mom didn't have a problem with that, because I never left my room, and I think she would take off as soon as it seemed that I would start. (I was not self-conscious about it at all, which amazes me. I guess I just have a really cool mom.) Eventually, I figured out that lying on a stack of pillows and rubbing my penis against them felt *really good.* If I was by myself in my room, I would throw a sheet over myself, hug my pillows, and rub away. I had lots and lots of what I didn't know were "orgasms" until later on. It was beautiful. I did it this way for many, many years – all the way into junior high.
- age 26, Florida
I was 10, and my friend and I were alone in his room. He told me he had found something that felt really good. He got out a massager and put it on his penis, and after a couple minutes he gave it to me to try. We had both seen each other naked, so that was no big deal. After holding the massager on my penis for a couple minutes, an intense feeling shook through me, and I felt like I was going to go to the bathroom, but my friend told me to keep it on my penis no matter what – and it resulted in my first orgasm. About a year later, when he moved away, I would rub my penis and foreskin while watching a sexy movie. Finally one time I did it long enough to get an orgasm by hand, which was also the first time I ejaculated.
- age 16, South Carolina
When I was growing up, our shower had a detachable showerhead. One great day, I was rinsing off when I found out that if I held the shower spray on my penis, it felt really, really good. The head sprayed a rapidly pulsating stream of water, so I held it against the back of my penis and climaxed. It was then that I began to explore my amazing penis further.
- age 21, Texas
I learned from a friend who is two years older. He showed me how to get an orgasm while we were on a bike trip in the forest.
- age 11, Switzerland
I asked my husband why he masturbates. He said that he enjoys it. So I asked him if I could watch. Now, we watch each other.
- age 27, New York (female)
I used to watch Gilligan's Island all the time. It may sound odd, but every time the Skipper would hit Gilligan with his hat, I'd get aroused. So, one day it happened...and I started masturbating!
- age 18, Illinois
I remember the time well – exactly one week after my 11th birthday. My cousin, a girl, was staying with my parents for a holiday. She was 13. She asked me if I played with myself, and I denied it. She told me she would do it for me if I wanted her to. At first I refused, but one evening while my parents were out, she did it anyway. It was a dry orgasm, but the feelings were so intense I really thought something nasty had happened. During the time she was with us, she masturbated me many times. My first wet orgasm was just short of my 12th birthday. I was alone then.
- age 62, United Kingdom
When I was 10 years old in 4th grade I used to gently touch myself through my briefs after unzipping my pants. I never knew why I did this. I didn't really think about it – I just did it. Then one day my parents went out and I started reading a book. I was lying on my bed, and I threw off my pants and began to massage my penis some more. I wasn't really paying attention to my penis (I was reading the book). Then all of a sudden, there was this explosion of pleasure and I was in heaven. I've been doing it ever since. I stopped only once for about a month, because I read on this site that it would feel better if you wait. I wanted to try that. I started to ejaculate real white semen at age 13 in grade 8 (quite some time after I started to masturbate).
- age 17, Nova Scotia, Canada
When I was 10, I had to see an allergist. Afterwards, my back was so sore I had to lie on my stomach when I went to bed. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to make waves on my waterbed. Well, the motion caused the bed to rub in "just the right place." It felt really good, so I kept at it. After a while, I got this really big rush. I didn't know anything about orgasms and such, so I thought it was a really neat thing that only I could do. Later, I discovered I could get the same feeling by touching myself.
- age 15, Indiana (female)
I had been masturbating since at least age 6 or 7, though not to orgasm. The first time I had an orgasm was when I was 14 in my bed at night. I started playing with it as usual, not really stroking my penis but just fondling it. As it became erect, a small amount of slippery substance oozed out. After a few minutes, I felt this incredible feeling and made this mess all over what little pubic hair I had. I didn't know what it was, but there wasn't much – it just dribbled out a few drops. It was a sweet beginning to a fun habit. I still reflect on that first time and masturbate to it.
- age 28, New York
I discovered masturbation about six months ago. I knew what it was before then but couldn't get it to work. I had read JackinWorld and tried several techniques in vain. One night when my friend was staying over, he told me just to keep going, and I did. I experienced a wonderful dry orgasm. Now I just can't wait for my first wet one – supposedly they're even better!
- age 12, England
I cannot remember a time that I did not masturbate. I started sometime before age 5. It has always just seemed natural to me.
- age 30, Oklahoma
At age 8, I noticed that whenever I took off my clothes alone I got an erection. I experimented and found at one point my penis was giving off tingling feelings when I touched it. That night I kept on touching it and it just happened.
- age 15, Florida
I was at a sleepover and had masturbated only a couple of times. We started a game of Truth or Dare and a dare ended up with me stripping for them and posing. After I did this, I was very turned on and dared a girl to masturbate me. She gave me the most wonderful, tooth-tingling orgasm.
- age 17, Ohio (female)
When I was about 10, every day after school I would go to my cousin's house to wait for a parent to pick me up. My cousin, a male about 5 years older, would go to his room and leave the door ajar. I would watch him masturbate. He was perfectly aware of this and intended for me to see him. One day he offered to show me how, and I've been doing it every day since.
- age 40, California
When I was 12 or 13 I used to rub lotion on my penis because it felt nice, but I never gave myself an orgasm. One day while I was rubbing the lotion on my penis, I discovered "The Fist." I soon ejaculated, and from then on, I've masturbated at least once a day.
- age 18, Ohio
When I was quite young, I kind of figured it out by myself. We had a whirlpool bath and I was in the tub. I got on my knees to reach out of the tub, and the jet vibrated on my clitoris. I thought it felt good, so I stayed there until I couldn't stand it anymore. At the time I didn't know this was masturbating. I thought it was what sex must feel like.
- age 15, North Carolina (female)
I learned much by accident. As a kid, I would have trouble with dry skin on the head of my penis. When I was 10, I asked my dad what I could do to cure it, and he said just to put a little Vaseline on it. I was rubbing some Vaseline on it when I got an erection (which I woke up with every morning then and to this day), and I noticed it felt really good to keep rubbing it. I put more Vaseline on and started pumping away, when suddenly I felt like my whole body was on fire. A couple of clear drops came out. I didn't even know what had happened; it completely shocked me. I continued to prevent my dry skin daily from then on. Later I found out through school sex education that what I was doing was called masturbation, and I talked about it with my friends.
- age 22, Missouri
I first learned how to give myself an orgasm from a book I was reading when I was about 11. It referred to a person rubbing his penis until he ejaculated. But of course, when I tried it myself for the first time, I was disappointed I did not ejaculate like the character in the book, even though I knew for sure that I had completed the job.
- age 17, Canada
I started masturbating at the age of 8 or 9, just after I learned about sex. I wanted to know what it felt like, and the nearest I could come to sexual intercourse was to place my penis between two pillows, squeeze them together, and rub my penis backwards and forwards. After a while I had this tremendous explosion in my penis, although at that age there was only orgasm. Ejaculation came later at the age of about 12, and it was a bit of a shock. It took me a few seconds to realize what the white fluid was, and then a few more to find something to clean it up.
- age 23, United Kingdom
I found JackinWorld!
- age 16, Canada
I was 7 or 8 the first time I had an orgasm. I'd been masturbating for years before that (from before kindergarten), though I didn't know the word for it. Then one time I changed the way I did it, and it just kept getting better and better until I climaxed. I didn't have a word for that, either, but I knew I would be doing it again. What I did was lie on my belly, which I had always done, and place my hands on either side of the outside of my labia and rub inward on my clitoris, stimulating it indirectly. Before that, I would just rub my hand over the entire vulva. I'm *so* glad I figured out what to do! It wasn't even until high school that I realized the feelings were orgasms. I was talking to a male friend on the phone about something sexual, when he asked me if I had orgasms. I said no – I thought you had to have sex in order to have an orgasm. I told him what I felt, and he said I really was having orgasms but just didn't know it. Me – the last kid on my block to understand!
- age 28, California (female)
When I was about 11 years old I peeked into my older cousin's bedroom and saw him stroking his erect penis rapidly. I didn't think too much about it until the next day when I heard him telling his best friend how great his "session" had been. They talked about "coming" and how far they could shoot. A few days later, with an erection and in my warm bath water, I copied what I had seen my cousin doing and was completely startled when a mind-blowing orgasm tore through my whole body. At first it frightened me, and I didn't know whether I was about to pee or even have a bowel movement in my bath water. But the end result was so good that I must have brought myself to about 10 more orgasms in bed that night. It didn't even occur to me then that I could have any limits!
- age 35, Hawaii
One night when I was 8 or 9, I just reached down into my underwear and started rubbing my clitoris. I didn't even know why I did it. I only knew it felt good. I did that for a couple of weeks until one night I did it for longer, and it felt even better. So I kept doing it, and this feeling started to build. I kept rubbing, and suddenly I had reached my first orgasm. The only way I could describe *why* I started to do it was instinct.
- age 18, Massachusetts (female)
When I was about 10 years old – I was riding a horse bareback and dropped the reins. Reaching down around the horse's neck, I got a feeling that felt so good I thought I couldn't stand it. After that, whenever I rode the horse, I leaned down for that same experience. A couple years later, my buddy introduced me to masturbation. That time I ejaculated. Oh, how I wish I could relive that experience!
- age 33, Kentucky
I was about 12 years old and becoming very frustrated. Whenever I looked at my father's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, my penis would become so erect it would hurt – my testicles, too. I don't exactly remember how the conversation came up, but I was talking to one of my older friends (he was around 13 or 14), and plain and simple, he told me how to masturbate. He said just to grab my penis with whichever hand felt comfortable, with enough pressure, and begin stroking. Start slowly, then speed up. That night I tried it while I was in the shower, and lo and behold...it worked! I'll never forget how good that first orgasm felt to me. I've been masturbating ever since.
- age 19, Maryland