Solitary Vices: Boredom, Masturbation, Modernity

This article explores the cultural histories of boredom and masturbation in Europe, identifying the ways in which these histories overlap, converge and inform one another. The article begins by highlighting the role that masturbation plays in contemporary popular culture, where it is regularly used to signify boredom. From here, the discussion provides a concise overview of the cultural history of these two phenomena, pointing to their parallel trajectories as they move through the categories of ‘sin’, ‘psychological deficit’ and ‘social deviance’. The final section aims to ‘recuperate’ boredom and masturbation by considering their queer potential. This reframing acknowledges the anti-normative and anti-capitalist underpinnings of both phenomena, suggesting that neither boredom nor masturbation can ever fully be controlled; that there will always be something queer and resistant within them, which in turn allows them to be used to critique the very systems that have tried to co-opt them.