‘Monsters are they in Nature’: Female Masturbation and Constructions of Femininity in the Early Eighteenth Century

Serious alarm about female masturbation first emerged during a transitional period for beliefs on sexuality. This article examines the gender history of through shifting constructions femininity at work in early anti-masturbation discourse. While founding campaign (Onania, 1716) portrayed autoeroticism as significant concern, existing scholarship pays limited attention to how sentiment interacted with modern femininities. explores this conflicted relationship years movement, comparative analysis Onania and one its most vocal critics masturbation. Onania, which stemmed from traditional paradigm negative femininity, regarded all women innately lustful likely masturbate. Examined, Detected, critical tract embracing increasingly dominant positive denounced these claims an unacceptable slur virtue. Nevertheless, characterisation masturbator reveals continuing influence misogyny, repurposed deviation naturalised virtuous norm. close discourse cultural process navigating phase construction gender, addressed old anxieties by incorporating them into new paradigm.