Part 21 (1/2)
Another variety of s.e.xual excitation which is often subst.i.tuted for coitus among women, is the practice of mutual licking of the c.l.i.toris with the tongue (_c.u.n.n.i.l.i.n.g.u.s_). Although not so dangerous as has been maintained, these habits are aberrations of the s.e.xual appet.i.te, and it is needless to say that every human being should abstain from them out of self-respect.
The man who, for some reason or another, cannot obtain normal coitus should content himself with nocturnal emissions, and the woman with voluptuous dreams, and should both abstain from active and voluntary excitations. For my part, I consider prost.i.tution, or ”love” which is bought, as a variety of compensatory masturbation, and not as normal copulation. Coitus with a prost.i.tute, generally infected with venereal disease, who receives new clients continually, has as little affinity with love as with the normal object of the s.e.xual appet.i.te--reproduction; and its moral value is certainly inferior to that of onanism.
A second form of masturbation occurs in very young children from accidental irritation; in boys from phimosis; in girls from itching due to worms (oxyuris) about the a.n.u.s and v.u.l.v.a. Innocent as regards its cause, this form of onanism may become dangerous by habit.
Attention should therefore be paid to phimosis and worms, and the former treated by circ.u.mcision and the latter by the usual remedies.
A third kind of masturbation is caused by example and imitation. This often occurs in schools and among children in general; and in this way very precocious s.e.xual excitation may develop and become a habit difficult to suppress. The onanism of young children is certainly worse than that which begins after p.u.b.erty; it not only renders the child idle and bashful, or increases these faults; but it also interferes with nutrition and digestion and develops a tendency to s.e.xual perversion and to impotence. It often ceases, however, after careful supervision, combined with physical exercise and fresh air, and direction of the attention to other things. On the whole, the danger of this form of onanism has also been exaggerated. In most cases it is cured, when it is not based on abnormal predispositions or on an indolent and feeble character. Love and normal s.e.xual intercourse are naturally the best remedies for masturbation due to seduction and habit, as soon as the subject has reached s.e.xual maturity.
We may include as a fourth form of masturbation the cases of paradoxy which we have mentioned previously. In this case onanism is produced spontaneously as the result of psycho-s.e.xual precocity or hereditary pathological satyriasis.
With the exception of the last paradoxical form which is based on incurable satyriasis, all the kinds of onanism which we have mentioned hitherto can only be successfully treated by kindness and confidence, combined with work and direction of the mind to wholesome and attractive subjects; not by threats or punishment. The new reformatory schools called _Landerziehungsheime_ (Vide Chapter XVII) are an excellent remedy for onanism, for they keep the child occupied from morning to night and hardly leave him any time for bad habits; when he goes to bed he is too tired to do anything but sleep. However, great prudence and active supervision is required in these cases.
The fifth cla.s.s is const.i.tuted by the onanism of s.e.xual inverts, and may be called _essential onanism_. This concerns men whose s.e.xual appet.i.te is directed toward their own s.e.x instead of the other. They are called _h.o.m.os.e.xual_, and mutual onanism is, so to speak, the normal satisfaction of their inverted appet.i.te. We shall refer to this again later on. While normal s.e.xual intercourse is the best and most rational remedy for compensatory masturbation, there is no question of it here. Marriage is the worst and most scandalous remedy in such cases. It is therefore of the greatest importance in order to judge of the nature of the masturbation, to inquire into the kind of erotic images with which it is a.s.sociated. If, in the case of a man, the images are those of women, it is simply a case of compensatory masturbation; but if the images are masculine, it is a case of s.e.xual inversion. If masturbation is not accompanied by any images, the question remains doubtful. In young children this is explained by the fact that the psycho-s.e.xual irradiations are not yet developed; but after p.u.b.erty the absence of images as an object of eroticism suggests a certain anomaly and sometimes depends on a latent tendency to inversion.
=Relation of Masturbation to Hypochondriasis.=--Some onanists become much distressed, and reproach themselves for having spoilt their lives by their bad habit. They give way to lamentations before their doctor and their acquaintances, wring their hands with despair, and beg every one to come to their aid. They look upon themselves as poor sinners whose lives have been ruined, either by their own fault or by others.
They have read Lamert's ”Personal Preservation,” or other sensational books which excite both the fear and the s.e.xual desire of weak characters, whom they are intended to exploit. These poor devils believe themselves lost, and are truly pitiable objects. These form the types which are paraded as terrible examples in books on onanism which make timid persons' hair stand on end.
When these unfortunate onanists are questioned on all the circ.u.mstances of the act of which they accuse themselves, we generally arrive at the following results:
We recognize that we have to deal with psychopathic or neurotic subjects more or less tainted by heredity, timid and shunning their fellows, easily impressed by imagination, possessed of unhealthy sentiments and ideas; in fact, hypochondriacs, predisposed to look upon every sensation or slight indisposition as a grave disorder threatening their health or life. They thus live in perpetual anxiety.
This mental anomaly has for a long time preceded the onanism, even if they have m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.ed, which is often even not the case.
Among the numerous patients of this kind that I have treated, there were many who had simply had nocturnal emissions since p.u.b.erty, but they regarded themselves as lost men through masturbation! Many others no doubt practice compensatory masturbation, generally because their timid nature prevents them from frequenting prost.i.tutes, or committing other s.e.xual excesses, while the way in which they a.n.a.lyze their sensations easily leads them to onanism. On the other hand, they are generally so afraid that they do not give way to excessive masturbation, perhaps only once or twice a week or even less often, so that the normal frequency of coitus, according to Luther, is often not attained and seldom exceeded. Among these persons we find few precocious or excessive onanists. I admit, however, that a hypochondriacal const.i.tution predisposes somewhat to onanism.
But, what I wish to lay stress upon, is that the onanists who are full of lamentation and self-reproach are neither the most numerous nor those who commit the greatest excess. The worst onanists, those who provoke several e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns daily, belong to the category of s.e.xual hyperaesthetics. These have not the cla.s.sical aspect attributed to them by tradition; they are not pale and terrified creatures, but rather lewd individuals who are early transformed into impudent Don Juans.
They may be as courageous, as clever and as strong as others and yet be disposed to all kinds of evil tricks and follies. It is, therefore, not true, as is so often said, that it is possible to recognize a masturbator by his face or manner.
These excessive onanists no doubt do themselves harm in various ways, but the great error of taking s.e.xual hypochondriasis for the type of onanists, is to confound cause with effect. s.e.xual hypochondriasis is in no way the effect of onanism, but precedes it, and onanism is rather its effect, or is simply a.s.sociated with it. It is obvious that onanism, by its depressing effect, aggravates a mind beset with hypochondriacal anxieties.
It results from these facts, first, that a s.e.xual hypochondriac should be treated as a hypochondriac and not as an onanist; secondly, that the worst slaves of masturbation are not to be looked for among pale and dejected individuals.
Among women, especially young girls, hypochondriasis is not common and cases of s.e.xual hypochondriacs who accuse themselves of masturbating are rare among them. Women who m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e generally keep their secret and are apparently very little affected by it. However, onanism does them nearly as much harm as men; it is true they have no loss of s.e.m.e.n, but the repet.i.tion and intensity of the nervous irritation are greater than in man, and it is this which causes most exhaustion. In spite of this, it is curious to observe that women who m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e are generally less ashamed than men, and are apparently less depressed by it. We must bear in mind that the loss of s.e.m.e.n by masturbation has in man a peculiarly depressing effect, for it lacks its object and represents an absolutely abnormal satisfaction of the s.e.xual appet.i.te.
It may be objected that this difference is due to another cause, that women who m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e have less moral tone and are especially depraved individuals. I agree that this is often the case, but far from always.
The intensity of the s.e.xual excitability in women has nothing in common with their character; it may be a.s.sociated with high intelligence, with high moral and aesthetic qualities, and even with a strong will. On the other hand, deficiency in moral sense and will may occur with s.e.xual frigidity, and, as we have already seen, may lead to s.e.xual excess without any voluptuous sensation, in accordance with the peculiarities of feminine sentiment. These facts show how complex are the causes of a given effect in the s.e.xual domain.
PERVERSIONS OF THE s.e.xUAL APPEt.i.tE OR PARaeSTHESIA OF THE s.e.xUAL SENSATION
We are here concerned with s.e.xual appet.i.te provoked by inadequate objects. Krafft-Ebing having made a profound study of this question we shall follow his subdivisions in the main.
=Perverted s.e.xual Appet.i.te Directed Toward the Opposite s.e.x.=--(A.) _Sadism_ (a.s.sociation of s.e.xual desire with cruelty and violence).
History shows us a number of celebrated persons who satisfied their s.e.xual desire by making martyrs of their victims, up to complete butchery. The most atrocious types of this kind are perhaps a.s.sa.s.sins such as ”Jack the Ripper,” who lie in wait for their victims like cats, pounce on them, revel in their terror, a.s.sa.s.sinate them by inches, and wallow voluptuously in their blood.
The term sadism is derived from the celebrated Marquis de Sade, a French author, whose obscene romances overflow with cruel voluptuousness. Certain reminiscences of sadism are common both in man and woman. At the moment of highest excitation in coitus it is not uncommon for one or other of the couple to bite or scratch in the ecstasy of their amorous embraces. Lombroso remarks on the brutal excesses of soldiers when excited after battle. This is so to speak an inversion of sadism as regards cause and effect. After the exaltation of combat, that of desire possesses the mind, as in the inverse direction exaltation of desire gives rise in certain cases to that of violence and thirst for blood.
Krafft-Ebing draws attention to the fact that love and anger are the two most violent effective conditions, and are at the same time the two powers which provoke the most motor discharges. This explains why they may be a.s.sociated in the delirium of unbridled pa.s.sions. To these facts is added an atavistic relic of the instinct of man's ancestors, the males of whom fought furiously to conquer the females by violence, which provoked desire in them, after the subjection of the object of their s.e.xual appet.i.te. True sadism can, however, only become effective by the combination of two causes: (1) by an exalted and absolutely pathological a.s.sociation of s.e.xual desire with a sanguinary instinct, and with the desire to illtreat and overcome a victim; (2) by an almost absolute absence of moral sense and sympathy, combined with a violent and egoistic s.e.xual pa.s.sion. It is evident that the slight more or less sadic impulses which may involuntarily occur in the performance of normal coitus, are quite exempt from the second of these causes.
Krafft-Ebing maintains that sadism is usually, if not always, congenital and hereditary. Sadism is for a long time restrained by fear, education or moral sentiments. It is only gradually, when normal coitus cannot procure for the perverted s.e.xual appet.i.te the satisfaction it requires, that the s.a.d.i.s.t gives way to his pa.s.sion; this gives the latter a false appearance of acquired vice.
The highest degree of sadism leads to a.s.sa.s.sination. In this way human tigers entice young girls into a wood and cut them to pieces. Some begin by forcing them to coitus, after frightening them, or half strangling them; others m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e in their ripped up entrails. But some others have no desire for coitus, nor anything resembling it, their desire being satisfied only by the sight of the terror, suffering and blood of their victim, whom they torture before killing.
Others again a.s.sociate desire with the rage of a wild beast to such a point that they swallow parts of their victim's body and drink the blood.