Gina Rodriguez used to feel bad for masturbating: 'Oh my God, this is extreme guilt'

Female masturbation continues to be considered a controversial topic to discuss publicly while men enjoy the liberty on the same. But of late, many celebrities have come up to encourage women to talk about it openly without the fear of being shamed and vilified. Gina Rodriguez has joined the league of celebrities including Miley Cyrus, Rihanna and Anna Kendrick to talk about self-love.

The Jane the Virgin star confessed that she used to feel bad about sexually enjoying her body. "I was definitely raised with [purity culture]. In all honesty, I used to feel guilty for masturbating. Oh my God, this extreme guilt! And that lasted way too long. Or maybe I masturbated too much!" she told Bust magazine.

However, the 31-year-old American actress added: "It's OK to look back in retrospect and be like, It wasn't good that I felt bad about touching myself. And it isn't bad that I want to share my love with my boyfriend. I'm 32 years old, I'm an adult, I can do that!"

In 2015, Miley Cyrus openly supported female masturbation by sharing a close-up image of a woman on Instagram and captioned it: "A masturbate a day keeps the haters away."

Supporting the self-love act by women in 2012, Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless said: "I think women should equally be allowed to pleasure themselves as much as men. I think that if that has any more controversy than a man talking about pleasuring himself, then there's something wrong with the world."

Rodriguez is dating actor Joe LoCicero since last year as she fell for his eyes instantly. "He came in through the door and I was like, 'Good God!' and I fell into his eyeballs. On the fourth day [that we saw each other at the gym], he asked me out, and I have been dating him ever since. Now I know what it means to date your best friend."