Most everyone probably remembers when they first started to masturbate. Most of my girl friends that I have talked about it with recall rubbing themselves against pillows and arms of couches from a very young age. Many of them also recall experimenting with female friends while in elementary school. I never did any of those things.

I didn’t begin masturbating until high school. I was a very late bloomer. I was always interested in sex and talked about it a lot, I just wasn’t having it, even with myself. I used to watch TV at night before I went to sleep, and after 9 or 10 PM, channel 52 turned into the Playboy Channel. Unfortunately for me, however, the channel was scrambled (its like the opening scene in American Pie!).

That didn’t matter, though. Just the sounds I was hearing were enough to make me feel weird and tingly. And make me wet. The occasional breast or penis that would come into focus was just an added bonus. I didn’t really understand what was happening to me, but I knew that I had this overwhelming desire to move my hips and touch myself. There was like this magnetic force, this craving taking over my vagina.

So I touched. I started touching the outside and that felt really good. But from what I knew about sex, I thought that penetration was what all the fuss was about. I tried fingering myself by inserting one or two fingers, but it never really did much for me and I quickly resorted back to what I now know is clitoral rubbing. The first time I had an orgasm, I was scared. I didn’t know what had just happened, but I knew I wanted it to happen again.

It became a nightly routine for me to watch the scrambled porn before I went to sleep. I figured out that lying on my stomach and humping my hand was the easiest way for me to get off (the only time in years that I have masturbated manually, this was the position I resorted to to finally climax after trying in vain for, like, AND HOUR).

Eventually, I started getting adventurous. I figured that if what I was doing felt good, there must be things that felt better. I tried wearing loofah gloves to see if the texture made a difference (it didn’t). I had no way of purchasing a vibrator, so I took the head off my electric toothbrush and tried that (what girl hasn’t? Though I didn’t find that one out until way later). I had heard stories about massaging shower heads, so I tried that (it wasn’t strong enough).

I masturbated in the tub to see what it felt like (eh). I tried lighting candles, playing music, and “romancing myself,” like I had heard some women do (it was lame and I felt stupid for even trying it). I began exploring other parts of my body and what it felt like when I touched them. I discovered that my nipples are really sensitive, and I get off really hard when they are played with.

And then, my sophomore year in college, I bought my first vibrator. It was pink, sparkly, and $20. I learned once I started working at the toy store that it is basically the default first vibe for girls. My roommate swore she knew everything about vibrators and I trusted her, and so I bought it. I initially attempted penetration with it, but I found that internal vibration for me feels like I am seconds away of losing control of my bowels. So, I went back to what I knew best. I used it clitorally. And that was great. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Once I started working at the store, I tried pretty much every kind of vibe there is to try. And guess what? I always come back to the handy dandy clitoral stimulation. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s not messy, and it never fails. Which is how I ended up falling in love with my Hitachi.