It is done at least occasionally by a majority of both men and women. It is the first overt sexual act for the majority of men and women, although more women than men engage in sexual intercourse before they ever masturbate. During adolescence, the percentage of both sexes who report masturbating increases dramatically, especially for males.
Most people continue to masturbate in adulthood, and many do so throughout their lives.
The term masturbation conjures up many myths about its damaging and debasing nature. Nor is there any evidence that children who engage in self-stimulation are in any way harmed by it. The fact that this important source of sexual pleasure is still regarded by some with guilt and anxiety is partly due to ignorance of the fact that masturbation is not harmful and partly due to centuries of religious teaching that it is sinful. In addition, many of us have received negative messages about masturbation from our parents or have even been punished when caught masturbating as children. The cumulative effect of these influences is usually confusion and guilt that is often difficult to sort out.