National Masturbation Month was launched by the sex-positive women oriented sex shop Good Vibrations in 1995, after the then-Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders was fired for saying that masturbation should be discussed as part of young peoples' sex education. Fortunately, while taboos linger around masturbation, and in particular women's masturbation, we've come a long way since then.

Last month, the New York Times featured an article about the mainstreaming of vibrators. For years vibrators were bought quietly in sex shops, and later online, arriving in discreet unmarked packages. Now they are boldly displayed at Walgreens and other mainstream drugstores, due in large part to the popularization of vibrators by television shows and films such as Sex and the City (remember the Rabbit?) and The Ugly Truth (in which Katherine Heigl wears a pair of vibrating panties to a restaurant--you get the picture?!).

The Passion Flower Mini Vibrator (Vibin' Miss Daisy) is marketed as a discreet micro bullet vibrator that you can wear in your panties, but I also recommend it for naked self-love sessions, or as a supplement during partner sex. This vibrator is quiet, small, and unobtrusive, and the multi-function controller is easy to use, even in the dark, providing excellent clitoral stimulation which, as research shows, most women need to orgasm. It has seven vibratory modes, including rising intensity in both vibration and pulsation, which you can cycle through easily using the central flower button.

Vibin' Miss Daisy is made of a hard recyclable ABS plastic with a velvet touch, so the material feels smooth and does not rub against the skin the way I find silicone does. The mini vibrator (the bullet being smaller than my pinkie) is phthalate free and comes in aqua blue or white.

When by myself and using a bullet vibrator to stimulate my clitoris, I also like to combine it with a traditional vibrator that I can insert into my vagina. I prefer the slick smoothness of something like this hard plastic vibrator or this metal coated vibrator. Silicone vibrators such as this one have become very popular in recent years but, again, I don't like the way silicone rubs the skin.

We'll be giving away a Passion Flower Mini Vibrator as a contest prize later this month, shipped directly to you from Good Vibrations. Stay tuned for more info. In the meantime, Happy National Masturbation Month!