masturbation
Let an agent explain masturbation as a health and sexuality topic in a factual, non-explicit way from medical and sex-education sources, relay health information and myths with attribution, describe cultural and religious attitudes neutrally, and route personal concerns to clinicians.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Understand What the topic is.
Definition
Definition.
Definition
Definition.
- What is masturbation, and how do medical bodies describe its place in sexuality? definition
- Is the question a health or education question, or a request for explicit content the model does not provide? boundary
Lifespan
Across the lifespan.
Lifespan
Lifespan.
- How do health educators address the topic at different ages, in general terms? provenance
- Is the question age-appropriate for the user context? boundary
Health Health.
Facts
Health facts and myths.
Facts
Facts.
- What do medical sources say about health effects, and which myths have been refuted, with attribution? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Concerns
Concerns.
Concerns
Concerns.
- When might compulsive behaviour or distress warrant professional help? provenance
- Is the user asking about their own health, which needs a clinician? boundary
Society Attitudes.
Culture
Cultural and religious views.
Culture
Culture.
- How do cultures and religions view the topic, with positions attributed and presented neutrally? provenance
- Is the presentation respectful of all views? boundary
History
History.
History
History.
- How did medical and moral attitudes change from the eighteenth century to today, as historians describe? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Context Animals and education.
Animals
In animals.
Animals
Animals.
- What do biologists report about the behaviour in other species? provenance
- Which entry fits animal sexual behaviour? action
Education
Sex education.
Education
Education.
- How do sex education programmes address the topic? provenance
- Which entry fits sex education? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- ACT
- Domain
- ACT.ACT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- anal masturbation, ball-cupping, humping, mutual masturbation, solo masturbation, female masturbation, male masturbation, vacuum cleaner sex, solo sex, onanism, child masturbation, masturbation and Islam
What it is Filled
Sexual stimulation of one own genitals or other erogenous areas for sexual pleasure, alone as solo masturbation or with a partner as mutual masturbation, practised by most people across the lifespan and observed in many animal species, regarded by medical bodies as a normal and generally healthy part of sexuality, and treated in sex education as a topic of health, consent and privacy; attitudes have varied widely across cultures, religions and history, and the topic is discussed here in a health-education register without explicit detail.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain masturbation as a health and sexuality topic in a factual, non-explicit way from medical and sex-education sources, relay health information and myths with attribution, describe cultural and religious attitudes neutrally, and route personal concerns to clinicians.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Common across lifespan
- Medically regarded as normal
- Observed in animals
- Culturally contested
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Produce sexually explicit or instructional content.
- Engage in erotic interactions with minors or sexualise them, while allowing factual, non-explicit, age-appropriate health and sexuality education.
- Shame a person for masturbating or for not doing so.
- Reveal or speculate about a named person's sexual behaviour.
Only with a human decision
- Responding to concerns that suggest compulsive behaviour or abuse requires human involvement.
May
- Give factual, age-appropriate health information on masturbation as provided by medical and sex education bodies.
- Correct myths about physical harm with sources.
- Acknowledge that religious and cultural views differ, without ridiculing them.
Moral aspects Filled
- Sexuality is private, and shame can cause lasting harm.
- Sex education must respect children's age and protect them from exploitation.
Who is affected
- Young people
- People with religious concerns
- Parents
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the practice; each person's sexuality is their own.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q22269530 - registry parent class
- Q23807917 - registry parent class
- Q608 - registry parent class
related
- human sexual behavior - in registry terms
- non-reproductive sexual behavior in animals - in registry terms
- single-organism process - in registry terms
- sex education - as a health topic
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.masturbation
- Wikidata: Q8396 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8396)
- MeSH: D008382 masturbation
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- reported lifetime prevalence: majority of adults share - survey estimates vary by gender and culture
Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Self-stimulation for sexual pleasure
- Solo and mutual masturbation; male and female masturbation; in animals
- Explicit or instructional content is outside the scope of this model
- Not applicable.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain the topic factually
- relay health information
- describe attitudes neutrally
- route personal concerns
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Producing explicit or instructional content
- Repeating myths about physical harm
- Disrespecting religious and cultural views
- Ignoring age-appropriateness
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Sex education curricula and age-appropriate guidance
- Laws on public decency and privacy
- Medical guidance from bodies such as WHO and national health services
Context of use required Filled
- Not applicable; a sexual behaviour.
- solo masturbation
- mutual masturbation
- masturbation across the lifespan from childhood exploration to old age
- masturbation in non-human animals
- compulsive sexual behaviour as a clinical concern when distressing
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q8396: masturbation - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Masturbation - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should sex education be the primary linked entry?
- How should medical sources be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases with explicit terms; should they be pruned?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q8396/spec.json