The Sexual Question Part 20

This case is very instructive in several ways, for it gives a good example of the nature of the s.e.xual instinct in woman; it also shows how the auto-suggestion of emissions occurring only during sleep may hinder copulation in the waking state. But such phenomena are extremely rare.

It is hardly necessary to say that there is no true impotence in woman; but the same mental paralysis may occur as in man, preventing o.r.g.a.s.m and often causing disgust.

s.e.xUAL PARADOXY

By this term is understood the appearance of the s.e.xual appet.i.te, or even of love, at an abnormal age. Infantile paradoxy is, however, very different to senile paradoxy.

Infantile paradoxy must not be confounded with certain forms of masturbation, to which we shall return. Some races, especially in the tropics, have a much earlier s.e.xual development than others; depending more on race than climate. In some, s.e.xual maturity occurs in boys between the age of twelve and fourteen, and in girls between nine and ten years, while in others the former are hardly mature at twenty and the latter before seventeen or eighteen. Again, individual variations may be very great in the same race. But, owing to hereditary satyriasis or nymphomania, we sometimes in our own country see s.e.xual appet.i.te appear in children of eight, seven, or even three or four years of age, in a spontaneous manner without any external excitation.

Lombroso mentions the case of a girl three years old who had an irresistible tendency to onanism. I have myself observed the two following cases:

(1). A boy of seven years, the son of a brothel keeper, and a kind of satyr who committed great excesses, began spontaneously to attack little girls of his own age or even younger. He was so artful that all means failed in curing him of this habit, and he was sent to an asylum of which I was superintendent. He then tried to renew his exploits with a boy older than himself. He was also idle and disposed to all kinds of folly. He did not, however, attempt to copulate with adult women or men. His s.e.xual organs were absolutely infantile, without any abnormal development. His paradoxy was thus of cerebral origin.

(2). _A girl of nine years was brought to my office addicted to self-abuse. Upon examination, I found this child highly neurotic, the major part of her life had been under unhygienic atmosphere, case history, father psychopathic, had been in an insane asylum, mother aenemic. The child was sent to a state inst.i.tution for girls and improved remarkably._

In this case I was told that there was no hereditary taint, but such statements prove nothing. Individuals of this kind generally become criminals, or else give themselves up to masturbation or prost.i.tution.

Occasionally, the s.e.xual appet.i.te may be preserved for a long time in old men, or reappear for a time, with or without s.e.xual power, but as a rule, the paradoxy of old men is the initial symptom of _senile dementia_. As this disorder is only commencing when s.e.xual excitation occurs, it is not noticed, and the patient is regarded as an immoral, vicious or criminal individual. I have seen a patient of this kind m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e openly in an asylum, so great was his s.e.xual excitation.

In most old men affected with senile s.e.xual paradoxy, the s.e.xual appet.i.te is directed toward very young girls or even children, which aggravates their case from the legal point of view. Very often this appet.i.te is perverted and a.s.sumes one of the forms we shall speak of later. Some of these old men are still capable, but others are not, and then their excitation only manifests itself in manipulations of the genital organs, etc. Such cases play a considerable part in law scandals. The patient (for so he must be called) often becomes the victim of blackmail on the part of vicious girls or children, incited by unnatural parents. One often sees also, at the onset of senile dementia, an old man become enamored of some prost.i.tute or adventuress who makes him marry her and thus takes possession of his fortune. The law generally makes the matter valid, under the pretext that individual liberty must be respected. Such sanction consists in reality in sacrificing a patient for the profit of a female swindler.

s.e.xUAL ANaeSTHESIA OR CONGENITAL ABSENCE OF THE s.e.xUAL SENSE AND APPEt.i.tE

s.e.xual sensations are so intimately connected with the s.e.xual appet.i.te that it is difficult to separate them. No doubt in the adult a certain degree of s.e.xual appet.i.te may exist without any voluptuous sensation, but this is a secondary phenomenon.

Complete s.e.xual anaesthesia is very rare in man; it is not a special form of anomaly, but the reduction to zero of a normal sensation and the appet.i.te which corresponds to it. The characteristic feature of these cases is that, contrary to what occurs in eunuchs and cryptorchids, not only the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es, but all the correlative s.e.xual attributes (the beard, voice, character, etc.) are normally developed, and are in no way inverted as in h.o.m.os.e.xual individuals. s.e.xual anaesthesia causes no more suffering than color-blindness, but like the latter it occasions individual troubles resulting from misunderstanding.

The s.e.xual anaesthetic, having a more or less false idea of marriage, often marries in complete ignorance, and the results are then disastrous, thanks to our laws and customs.

In women, s.e.xual anaesthesia is very common. Krafft-Ebing is wrong in maintaining that in all such cases the women are always neurotic. A number of absolutely normal and intelligent women remain all their life completely cold from the s.e.xual point of view, apart from the normally pa.s.sive character of the female s.e.x in coitus. It is rather the very libidinous woman who is pathological.

We have seen that the normal s.e.xual sentiment of woman is developed rather in the direction of love, and desire for children. Erotic men often complain of the s.e.xual coldness of their wives, which is disagreeable to them; for pleasure in one s.e.x excites and completes that of the other. Cold women submit to coitus as a duty, or at any rate only mentally enjoy their husband's caresses.

s.e.xual anaesthesia occurs normally in old age. It may occur at an earlier age, owing to destruction or atrophy of the s.e.xual glands, great excesses, or on the contrary, extreme continence. Certain diseases and psychoses may also cause it.

The following are a few examples of s.e.xual anaesthesia:

(1). A normally built man, of high culture and moral sense, was affected with complete s.e.xual anaesthesia since birth. He occasionally had nocturnal emissions, and also matutinal erections, but no erotic images. When he arrived at mature age he had no idea of s.e.xual intercourse, and was completely indifferent to everything concerning s.e.xuality. He did not even comprehend anything relating to s.e.xual affairs, and his replies reminded me of conversations with color-blind persons on the distinction between red and green! According to his ideas, marriage was an intellectual and sentimental union in which children came by themselves!

He eventually married a young girl, well educated but extremely prudish. One can imagine the revelations which followed! The wife, who had a strong desire for children, soon perceived the s.e.xual blindness of her husband. She became very unhappy and bitterly reproached him. The husband then became aware that there should be something in marriage which he had not taken into account; but the explanations of coitus by the medical man were useless, and hypnotic suggestion was incapable of producing the least s.e.xual sensation.

In spite of all this, the husband was full of respect and affection for his wife, but was incapable of simulating the least s.e.xual appet.i.te. As regards the wife, what she required was not coitus, which was simply a means to an end, but children. However, her prudery made her prefer this state of things to a divorce, which would create scandal. We may notice that in such cases erections are only produced mechanically during sleep, which renders coitus impossible.

(2). A timid but vain young man of retiring habits, s.e.xually cold, had occasional nocturnal emissions sometimes accompanied by slightly erotic dreams. Although better informed than the preceding case on s.e.xual relations, his s.e.xual appet.i.te was almost entirely absent, and he regarded marriage as a purely intellectual alliance. He married an intelligent and pa.s.sionate young girl whose s.e.xual appet.i.te was strongly developed, and at once began to treat her with great coldness, as a kind of domestic servant.

The wife's family were in favor of divorce, but having pity on the husband, sent him to me for advice. I explained the matter to him, made him understand that the fault was entirely on his side, and that his first duty was to show affection for his wife, or if not, to accept divorce. The effect was purely psychical, and from this moment he became amiable and affectionate toward his wife. This was sufficient to cause the wife to give up the idea of divorce. I then told her that, on account of her husband's timidity and anomaly, the only thing to do was to reverse their roles, and for her to make the s.e.xual advances. I have not heard anything more from this singular couple.

(3). A young man who had never had s.e.xual connection before marriage, in spite of a strong s.e.xual appet.i.te, made the acquaintance of an intelligent young girl of excellent character. Marriage followed, and the wife was loyal to her husband, but remained s.e.xually cold. She was insensible to coitus and only regarded it as a disagreeable complement of love. In spite of this she was fond of caresses, devoted to her husband, and had several children.

(4). An intelligent and cultured man, normal from the s.e.xual point of view, who had frequented prost.i.tutes in his youth, but not excessively, married a rather nervous but apparently very amorous young woman. The marriage night produced on her the effect of a cold douche, and coitus offended and horrified her.

The husband in his discomfiture took patience; but his love, which was never very strong, became shattered. To avoid all scandal each of the conjoints practiced dissimulation and adapted themselves more or less to each other. The wife allowed coitus, the husband tolerated her coldness. Several children were born, but the family was unhappy, and after a few years divorce put an end to it.

s.e.xUAL HYPERaeSTHESIA, OR EXAGGERATION OF THE s.e.xUAL APPEt.i.tE

This anomaly may be congenital, for example, in the s.e.xual paradoxy of children. Every one knows the Don Juans and Messalinas with their insatiable appet.i.tes. These types of s.e.xual hyperaesthesia are certainly less frequent and more abnormal in women than in men, but the intensity is as great or greater.

s.e.xual hyperaesthesia manifests itself by desires excited by every sensorial perception relating to the opposite s.e.x, or simply by objects which recall it to the imagination; so that fetichism plays a great part in this condition. The feeling of satiety is hardly experienced at all, or only for a short time after each o.r.g.a.s.m.

Nymphomaniacs and satyrs are possessed by an insatiable s.e.xual desire, often a.s.sociated with certain sensations of anguish. This hyperaesthesia, even when it is not hereditary, may be developed up to a certain point by continued or repeated artificial excitations.

In women it is during or after menstruation that the s.e.xual appet.i.te and consequently s.e.xual hyperaesthesia are generally strongest, but there are many individual variations in this respect, and sometimes the opposite occurs.

The effect of s.e.xual hyperaesthesia is to direct the appet.i.te toward any object capable of satisfying it. When the other s.e.x is wanting, masturbation is generally resorted to. All mucous membranes (a.n.u.s, mouth, etc.) and even inanimate objects may serve to satisfy the pathologically exalted appet.i.te of such individuals. Men most distinguished in other respects may abandon themselves to the most foolish or abominable practices.

_Animals are often used to satisfy the hyperaesthetic s.e.xual appet.i.te in both s.e.xes. The healthy woman is not p.r.o.ne to such desires, unless of psychopathic taint. Men visit prost.i.tutes, and become excited at the sight of every woman who is neither too old nor too repulsive.

Some individuals of this kind are pursued night and day by erotic images, which may even become an obsession and a veritable torment._

A further degree of s.e.xual hyperaesthesia is called _Satyriasis_ in man, and _nymphomania_ in woman. I have observed in women two very different varieties of s.e.xual hyperaesthesia. In one, true nymphomania, the subjects are attracted toward man bodily and mentally with an elementary force; in these the whole brain follows the appet.i.te in quite a feminine manner. Other women, on the contrary, are driven to masturbation by a purely peripheral excitation; they have erotic dreams with venereal o.r.g.a.s.ms which torment rather than please them; but they do not fall in love easily, and may have difficulty in the choice of a husband. Their mind alone remains feminine, full of tact and delicacy in its sentiments, while their lower nerve centers react in a more masculine and at the same time more pathological manner.

There are many transitional forms between these two extremes.

s.e.xual hyperaesthetics are often unhappy, and consult the physician for relief from the perpetual excitation which torments them. They attempt to master themselves and check their appet.i.te in all ways, and are sometimes affected with nervous or mental depression. It is important, however, to recognize the fact, that many s.e.xual hyperaesthetics remain quite fresh and active, and attain an advanced age, provided they escape alcohol and venereal disease.

When s.e.xual hyperaesthesia results chiefly from artificially acquired habits it may often be cured by hypnotic suggestion, and establishing self-control; but when it is hereditary and very intense, and especially when it is connected with infantile paradoxy or other anomalies, castration may be the only efficient remedy. When it is chiefly acquired, any strong diversion which turns the mind from s.e.xual preoccupation to other subjects may have an excellent curative effect. The most intense hereditary cases may const.i.tute a plague for the individual and for society, and it is then that castration may become a blessing by calming the obsessed patient, by giving him the opportunity for useful occupation, and by preventing him from abusing his fellows and procreating beings similar to himself.

Nymphomaniacs often have polyandrous instincts, and they then become more insatiable than men. Several cases of this kind have been published in the press, and examples of such women are not rare in history. When a woman is possessed by pa.s.sion she often loses all sense of shame, all moral sense and all discretion, as regards the object of her desires. She pays no attention to anything which is opposed to her pa.s.sion, but may be full of reserve, tact and good-feeling in all other respects. Cases of this kind, however, have always a more or less marked pathological character.

In man, satyriasis is very frequent. It often happens that a husband continually forces his wife to coitus, even during menstruation. We have mentioned already the case of an old peasant of seventy who thus abused his poor old wife. In such cases conjugal infidelity very commonly occurs. The cynicism of such individuals may go so far that they have intercourse with prost.i.tutes or servants in the presence of their wives, or even abuse their own children. The wife behaves in these cases in different ways according to her character. Many tolerate everything and do not complain, for the sake of their children; others leave the husband or divorce him; some commit suicide.

It would seem quite natural for nymphomaniacs to marry satyrs, but we must bear in mind the evil results for posterity from such an acc.u.mulation of the s.e.xual appet.i.te.

MASTURBATION OR ONANISM

The term onanism is derived from the name of Onan, son of Juda and Suah and grandson of Israel. According to the Old Testament, Onan's father wished him to marry his brother's widow and have children by her; but this did not please Onan, and he provoked e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n of s.e.m.e.n by friction, in order to avoid having children by his sister-in-law. "This offended G.o.d who slew him."

We have already shown that in the child the s.e.xual appet.i.te manifests itself in a kind of obscure presentiment and vague sensations in the genital organs. If a young man cannot satisfy his s.e.xual appet.i.te naturally, the latter when it increases in strength provokes erotic dreams and nocturnal emissions; or artificial excitation of the p.e.n.i.s may be practiced to produce o.r.g.a.s.ms: the latter phenomenon is called _masturbation_.

Masturbation in man is performed by friction of the p.e.n.i.s with the hand or against some soft body. In the latter case especially erotic images of naked women or female s.e.xual organs is a.s.sociated with onanism. This kind of masturbation may be called _compensatory_, because it does not depend on an anomaly of the s.e.xual appet.i.te, but serves to satisfy a natural want by compensation. There are a whole series of manipulations employed for the same object, which const.i.tute the psychic equivalent of compensating masturbation. _In remote garrisons and in boys' schools the more libidinous individuals, usually those mentally tainted, often practice mutual masturbation or sodomy. This is the s.e.x complex of the degenerate individual and in an effort to exterminate these pathological manifestations, they are being penalized by law, throughout the civilized world. It is unnecessary to prolong this enumeration. Those we have mentioned are the most common and it is agreed that men who are addicted to these practices are decidedly psychopathic, whether it may be caused by faulty heredity or anomaly in the psychology of the individual, this still remains to be proven. In reality they are often normal in other respects, but simply affected with s.e.xual hyperaesthesia. Sometimes they are feeble-minded individuals who have recourse to such practices because they are derided by women. Others are cynics, more or less vicious in other respects._

Compensatory masturbation is extremely widespread, but it is as a rule neither recognized nor admitted because it is easy to conceal.

Although depressing for those whose will power is overcome by an excitation which they cannot conquer, it is relatively the least dangerous form of onanism. At the most it leads to a certain amount of nervous and mental exhaustion by abuse of the facility of thus procuring a venereal o.r.g.a.s.m. The loss of substance from frequent seminal e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns is also more or less weakening, although the secretion from the prostate plays a much greater part than the s.e.m.e.n.

But what especially affects the nervous system, is the repeated loss of the will, and the failure of resolutions made many times to overcome the desire for o.r.g.a.s.m.

Here, as elsewhere, effect is too often confounded with cause. Because men of feeble will power are addicted to onanism, it is imagined that the latter is the cause of the weakness of will. In itself, a seminal e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n provoked by masturbation is no more dangerous than a nocturnal emission; both are often accompanied by nervous sensations which are more disagreeable and exhausting than normal coitus. I must, however, point out that the effects of moderate masturbation in the adult have been greatly exaggerated, either by confounding the effect with its cause, or for mercenary objects, by driving timid persons to charlatans or to prost.i.tutes.

The active s.e.xual appet.i.te of man, increased by the acc.u.mulation of s.e.m.e.n, is absent in woman. She does not have nocturnal emissions accompanied by voluptuous sensations which spontaneously awaken s.e.xual desire. For this reason a pathological s.e.xual excitability is necessary to spontaneously provoke in woman voluptuous dreams or masturbation. For the same reason we cannot speak of compensatory masturbation in woman. Onanism, however, is not uncommon among women, although less frequent than in men. It results either from artificial and local excitations, from bad example, or from pathological hyperaesthesia. When once the habit is acquired, repet.i.tion is produced by the difficulty of resisting voluptuous desires.

Women perform masturbation by friction of the c.l.i.toris with the finger, or by introducing various hard and rounded objects into the v.a.g.i.n.a and imitating the movements of coitus; often also by rubbing the crossed thighs against each other. In the insane, masturbation is sometimes practiced to an excessive extent. Some hysterical women introduce objects into the urethra during masturbation and cause severe inflammation of the bladder.