Erotic symbolism : The mechanism of detumescence ; The psychic state in pregnancy

Front matter

V'o

M-Q1LL

UNIVERSITY

Preface

In this volume the terminal phenomena of the sexual pro¬ cess are discussed, before an attempt is finally made, in the con¬ cluding volume, to consider the bearings of the psychology of sex on that part of morals which may be called “social hygiene.”

Under “Erotic Symbolism” I include practically all the aberrations of the sexual instinct, although some of these have seemed of sufficient importance for separate discussion in pre¬ vious volumes. It is highly probable that many readers will consider that the name scarcely suffices to cover manifestations so numerous and so varied. The term “sexual equivalents” will seem preferable to some. While, however, it may be fully admitted that these perversions are “sexual equivalents” — or at all events equivalents of the normal sexual impulse — that term is merely a descriptive label which tells us nothing of the phe¬ nomena. “Sexual Symbolism” gives us the key to the process, the key that makes all these perversions intelligible. In all of them — very clearly in some, as in shoe-fetichism ; more ob¬ scurely in others, as in exhibitionism — it has come about by causes congenital, acquired, or both, that some object or class of objects, some act or group of acts, has acquired a dynamic power over the psycho-physical mechanism of the sexual process, deflecting it from its normal adjustment to the whole of a beloved person of the opposite sex. There has been a trans¬ mutation of values, and certain objects, certain acts, have ac¬ quired an emotional value which for the normal person they do not possess. Such objects and acts are properly, it seems to me, termed symbols, and that term embodies the only justification that in most cases these manifestations can legitimately claim.

“The Mechanism of Detumescence” brings us at last to the final climax for which the earlier and more prolonged stage

O)

VI

PREFACE.

of tumescence, which has occupied us so often in these Studies , is the elaborate preliminary. “The art of love,” a clever woman novelist has written, “is the art of preparation.” That “prepa¬ ration” is, on the physiological side, the production of tumes¬ cence, and all courtship is concerned in building up tumescence. But the final conjugation of two individuals in an explosion of detumescence, thus slowly brought about, though it is largely an involuntary act, is still not without its psychological impli¬ cations and consequences; and it is therefore a matter for regret that so little is yet known about it. The one physiological act in which two individuals are lifted out of all ends that cen¬ ter in self and become the instrument of those higher forces which fashion the species, can never be an act to be slurred over as trivial or unworthy of study.

In the brief study of “The Psychic State in Pregnancy” we at last touch the point at which the whole complex process of sex reaches its goal. A woman with a child in her womb is the everlasting miracle which all the romance of love, all the cunning devices of tumescence and detumescence, have been invented to make manifest. The psychic state of the woman who thus occupies the supreme position which life has to offer cannot fail to be of exceeding interest from many points of view, and not least because the maternal instinct is one of the elements even of love between the sexes. But the psychology of pregnancy is full of involved problems, and here again, as so often in the wide field we have traversed, we stand at the threshold of a door it is not yet given us to pass.

Havelock Ellis.

Carbis Water, Lelant, Cornwall.

Contents

Erotic Symbolism.

I

The Definition of Erotic Symbolism. Symbolism of Act and Sym¬ bolism of Object. Erotic Fetichism. Wide Extension of the Symbols of Sex. The Immense Variety of Possible Erotic Fetiches. The Normal Foundations of Erotic Symbolism. Class¬ ification of the Phenomena. The Tendency to Idealize the Defects of a Beloved Person. Stendhal’s “Crystallization”. . . . 1

H.

Foot-fetichism and Shoe-fetichism. Wide Prevalence and Normal Basis. Restif de la Bretonne. The Foot a Normal Focus of Sexual Attraction Among Some Peoples. The Chinese, Greeks, Romans, Spaniards, etc. The Congenital Predisposition in Erotic Symbolism. The Influence of Early Association and Emotional Shock. Shoe-fetichism in Relation to Masochism. The Two Phenomena Independent Though Allied. The Desire to be Trod¬ den On. The Fascination of Physical Constraint. The Symbol¬ ism of Self-inflicted Pain. The Dynamic Element in Erotic Symbolism. The Symbolism of Garments . 15

in.

Scatalogic Symbolism. Urolagnia. Coprolagnia. The Ascetic Atti¬ tude Towards the Flesh. Normal Basis of Scatalogic Symbolism. Scatalogic Conceptions Among Primitive Peoples. Urine as a Primitive Holy Water. Sacredness of Animal Excreta. Scatalogy in Folk-lore. The Obscene as Derived from the Mythological.

The Immature Sexual Impulse Tends to Manifest Itself in Scatalogic Forms. The Basis of Physiological Connection Be¬ tween the Urinary and Genital Spheres. Urinary Fetichism Sometimes Normal in Animals. The Urolagnia of Masochists.

The Scatalogy of Saints. Urolagnia More Often a Symbolism of Act Than a Symbolism of Object. Only Occasionally an Olfac¬ tory Fetichism. Comparative Rarity of Coprolagnia. Influence of Nates Fetichism as a Transition to Coprolagnia. Ideal C'opro-

(vii)

Vlll

CONTENTS.

lagnia. Olfactory Coprolagnia. Urolagnia and Coprolagnia as Symbols of Coitus . 47

IV.

Animals as Sources of Erotic Symbolism. Mixoscopic Zoophilia.

The Stuff-feticliisms. Hair-fetichism. The Stuff-fetichisms Mainly on a Tactile Base. Erotic Zoophilia. Zooerastia. Bestiality.

The Conditions that Favor Bestiality. Its Wide Prevalence Among Primitive Peoples and Among Peasants. The Primitive Conception of Animals. The Goat. The Influence of Familiarity With Animals. Congress Between Women and Animals. The Social Reaction Against Bestiality . 71

V.

Exhibitionism. Illustrative Cases. A Symbolic Perversion of Court¬ ship. The Impulse to Defile. The Exhibitionist’s Psychic Atti¬ tude. The Sexual Organs as Fetiches. Phallus Worship. Ado¬ lescent Pride in Sexual Development. Exhibitionism of the Nates. The Classification of the Forms of Exhibitionism. Na¬ ture of the Relationship of Exhibitionism to Epilepsy . 89

VI.

The Forms of Erotic Symbolism are Simulacra of Coitus. Wide Ex¬ tension of Erotic Symbolism. Fetichism Not Covering the Whole Ground of Sexual Selection. It is Based on the Individual Fac¬ tor in Selection. Crystallization. The Lover and the Artist.

The Key to Erotic Symbolism is to be Found in the Emotional Sphere. The Passage to Pathological Extremes . 105

The Mechanism of Detumescence.

I.

The Psychological Significance of Detumescence. The Testis and the Ovary. Sperm Cell and Germ Cell. Development of the Em¬ bryo. The External Sexual Organs. Their Wide Range of Variation. Their Nervous Supply. The Penis. Its Racial Variations. The Influence of Exercise. The Scrotum and Tes¬ ticles. The Mons Veneris. The Vulva. The Labia Majora and their Varieties. The Public Hair and Its Characters. The Clitoris and Its Functions. The Anus as an Erogenous Zone. The Nymphse and their Function. The Vagina. The Hymen. Vir¬ ginity. The Biological Significance of the Hymen . 115

CONTENTS.

ix

IL

The Object of Detumescence. Erogenous Zones. The Lips. The Vas¬ cular Characters of Detumescence. Erectile Tissue. Erection in Woman. Mucous Emission in Women. Sexual Connection. The Human Mode of Intercourse. Normal Variations. The Motor Characters of Detumescence. Ejaculation. The Virile Reflex.

The General Phenomena of De tumescence. The Circulatory and Respiratory Phenomena. Blood Pressure. Cardiac Disturbance. Glandular Activity. Distillatio. The Essentially Motor Char¬ acter of Detumescence. Involuntary Muscular Irradiation to Bladder, etc. Erotic Intoxication. Analogy of Sexual Detum¬ escence and Vesical Tension. The Specifically Sexual Move¬ ments of Detumescence in Man. In Woman. The Spontaneous Movements of the Genital Canal in Woman. Their Function in Conception. Part Played by Active Movement of the Sperma¬ tozoa. The Artificial Injection of Semen. The Facial Expres¬ sion During Detumescence. The Expression of Joy. The Oc¬ casional Serious Effects of Coitus . 142

III

The Constituents of Semen. Function of the Prostate. The Prop¬ erties of Semen. Aphrodisiacs. Alcohol, Opium, etc. Anaphrodisiacs. The Stimulant Influence of Semen in Coitus.

The Internal Effects of Testicular Secretions. The Influence of Ovarian Secretion . 171

IV

The Aptitude for Detumescence. Is There an Erotic Temperament ?

The Available Standards of Comparison. Characteristics of the Castrated. Characteristics of Puberty. Characteristics of the State of Detumescence. Shortness of Stature. Development of the Secondary Sexual Characters. Deep Voice. Bright Eyes. Glandular Activity. Everted Lips. Pigmentation. Profuse Hair. Dubious Significance of Many of These Characters - 182

The Psychic State in Pregnancy.

The Relationship of Maternal and Sexual Emotion. Conception and Loss of Virginity. The Anciently Accepted Signs of This Con¬ dition. The Pervading Effects of Pregnancy on the Organism. Pigmentation. The Blood and Circulation. The Thyroid. Changes in the Nervous System. The Vomiting of Prog-

X

CONTENTS.

nancy. The Longings of Pregnant Women. Mental Impressions Evidence for and Against Their Validity. The Question Still Open. Imperfection of Our Knowledge. The Significance