ABSTRACT
Masturbation fantasies and the problems revolving around an understanding of masturbatory activity have held a place of interest for those associated with psychoanalysis since the early writings of Freud. Tausk, in his contribution to the 1912 Symposium on Masturbation, mentioned the role of masturbation in barring the "individual from reality," introducing some elements of defensive function in relation to the act, but he seemed to be most concerned with the elements of guilt related to the fantasies accompanying the masturbatory act, especially revolving around the child's incestuous wishes for mother and his defiance of father. Anna Freud stressed the importance of the "double struggle" against masturbation, that is, "the struggle against both the physical activity and the content of the fantasy, which may become unconscious, or become transferred to ego activities and acted out in this way, or the fantasies may emerge as symptoms".
