Sexuality is a taboo subject often linked to the “adult” industry. It is this stigma that causes relevant and sometimes embarrassing issues that do concern a vast number of people to be overlooked, but not by SEINFELD. In “The Contest”, SEINFELD addresses the issue of abstinence from masturbation. While not viewed by many as a mainstream political issue, its impact on the populace is apparent in confidential forums like http://beta.grouphug.us/. People clearly feel guilty about their sexual wants, but SEINFELD put it out there. The bet between the fearsome foursome in this episode was a pact to see who could keep from masturbating the longest. Kramer is the first one out, followed by Elaine, but it is unclear if George and Jerry tied or if one might have held out longer. The audience is left with that question in their minds which opens up discussion of the issue among viewers. Perhaps that was the true intention of the writers, to start conversation about masturbation and subsequently, sexuality.
SEINFELD doesn’t take much of a stance on these issues in this episode. At first, it seems that the writers wanted to discourage masturbation by making the bet a pact between friends to kick a habit that George was caught doing by his mother. We later see, as the title suggests, it was nothing more than a contest between middle-aged children which completely undermines the seriousness of the issue that they brought to a prime time television audience.
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