Sex & Character: Authorised Translation from the Sixth German EditionWeininger, Otto
Philosophy
Sex & Character: Authorised Translation from the Sixth German Edition
Weininger, Otto
Character; Sex; Sex (Psychology); Sexual ethics
Moreover, and this not only supports my view but can be explained only
by it, there are no inverts who are completely sexually inverted. In all
of them there is from the beginning an inclination to both sexes; they
are, in fact, bisexual. It may be that later on they may actively
encourage a slight leaning towards one sex or the other, and so become
practically unisexual either in the normal or in the inverted sense, or
surrounding influence may bring about this result for them. But in such
processes the fundamental bisexuality is never obliterated and may at
any time give evidence of its suppressed presence.
Reference has often been made, and in recent years has increasingly been
made, to the relation between homo-sexuality and the presence of
bisexual rudiments in the embryonic stages of animals and plants. What
is new in my view is that according to it, homo-sexuality cannot be
regarded as an atavism or as due to arrested embryonic development, or
incomplete differentiation of sex; it cannot be regarded as an anomaly
of rare occurrence interpolating itself in customary complete separation
of the sexes. Homo-sexuality is merely the sexual condition of these
intermediate sexual forms that stretch from one ideally sexual condition
to the other sexual condition. In my view all actual organisms have both
homo-sexuality and hetero-sexuality.
That the rudiment of homo-sexuality, in however weak a form, exists in
every human being, corresponding to the greater or smaller development
of the characters of the opposite sex, is proved conclusively from the
fact that in the adolescent stage, while there is still a considerable
amount of undifferentiated sexuality, and before the internal secretions
have exerted their stimulating force, passionate attachments with a
sensual side are the rule amongst boys as well as amongst girls.
A person who retains from that age onwards a marked tendency to
“friendship” with a person of his own sex must have a strong taint of
the other sex in him. Those, however, are still more obviously
intermediate sexual forms, who, after association with both sexes, fail
to have aroused in them the normal passion for the opposite sex, but
still endeavour to maintain confidential, devoted affection with those
of their own sex.
There is no friendship between men that has not an element of sexuality
in it, however little accentuated it may be in the nature of the
friendship, and however painful the idea of the sexual element would be.
But it is enough to remember that there can be no friendship unless
there has been some attraction to draw the men together. Much of the
affection, protection, and nepotism between men is due to the presence
of unsuspected sexual compatibility.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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