The Extremadura region’s socialist party of Spain has launched a campaign to promote masturbation. Laura Garrido, president of the Youth Council of Extremadura, claims “The campaign is simple, clear, natural and easily understood by the people it is aimed at, who are aged between 14 and 17.”
Opponents of the campaign include the right-wing People’s party and the Confederation of Fathers and Mothers of Schoolchildren, who have stated “They are interfering with the right of parents to educate their own children about a matter as important as their sexuality.” What isn’t clear is the overarching purpose behind the campaign — is it intended to educate teens about alternatives to unsafe sex? That would seem the most likely reason, but it isn’t spelled out clearly.
Self-pleasure is something that all teenagers come to in time. Exploration of one’s own body isn’t something that should cause shame, but at the same time there is a definite stigma attached to the act. Making the subject public in this manner has the potential to be ignored at best and mocked at worst. But hopefully it will cause some discussion in families who might otherwise feel they ought to talk around it.
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