Science of Sex

Masturbation is associated with positive sexual development. However, there is limited research on masturbation in India, where sexual health efforts center on disease prevention and often neglect sexual pleasure. In this study, we aimed to examine Indian women’s experiences of masturbation and sexual pleasure during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, we conducted 22 semi-structured virtual interviews with women aged 20–43, based in India. Interviews were conducted in English, Hindi, and Marathi and were transcribed and translated into English, as needed. Thematic analysis was employed with an inductive coding approach (Nowell et al., 2017). We discerned three themes: (1) ways of learning about masturbation and associated emotions, (2) cultural regulation of women’s sexuality, and (3) change in sexual life due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that participants faced early barriers to masturbation due to limited access to sexual knowledge and the absence of comprehensive sex education. Families and social norms stigmatized women’s sexual pleasure, limiting their agency and discouraging self-exploration. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified these barriers by reducing privacy and increasing surveillance, yet participants found ways to explore self-pleasure and masturbation. Our findings challenge the Indian cultural silence and stigma around women’s masturbation by showing that it is not just a private act, but one that is shaped by sociocultural norms and used by participants to reclaim their sexual agency. Our findings highlight the need for sexuality education and public health strategies that are culturally responsive, comprehensive, and pleasure centered.

The definition of biological sex has become a renewed focus of societal debate, fuelled by the conflation of biological principles with discussions of human gender diversity. Here, we argue that conceptual clarity critically depends on separating these domains. Drawing on evolutionary theory and empirical evidence, we maintain that biological sex is best defined as a binary classification of male and female reproductive strategies rooted in anisogamy, characterised by the production of two discrete gamete types of different sizes. We stress that gamete size constitutes the ultimate criterion for biological sex and that this definition applies consistently across sexual systems, from separate-sexed species to hermaphrodites, irrespective of variation in karyotype, hormonal profile, somatic phenotype, or behaviour. Further, we emphasise that evolutionary insights offer a coherent explanation for recurring, though not universal, associations between biological sex and patterns of sex-specific selection, sexual dimorphism and parental care. We conclude that the definition of biological sex as a binary classification based on gamete size is a powerful scientific framework compatible with the diversity of sexual phenotypes found in anisogamous organisms and distinct from the concept of human gender.