….Since then, America has undergone a steady liberalization of attitudes about sex, with one stark exception: masturbation. Surveys confirm that the vast majority of Americans engage in the practice. But you can’t easily admit it or say a kind word on its behalf.
That’s why Bill Clinton had to fire his surgeon general, Joycelyn Elders, after she suggested that schools teach about masturbation. Elders had already come out in favor of drug decriminalization, but it was masturbation that brought her down. When Clinton fired Elders – before his own sexual escapades with a White House intern came to light – he told reporters that Elders’ views on the topic reflected “differences with administration policy and my own convictions.”
Christine O’Donnell is the new Joycelyn Elders, updated for the Internet age. O’Donnell spoke out against masturbation, and Elders in favor of it, but they both broached a fundamental prohibition by talking about it at all. If you keep talking – and laughing – about O’Donnell and masturbation, ask yourself why. You might not like the answer.
via The peril of breaking one of our last taboos | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/22/2010.