Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2: Sexual InversionEllis, Havelock
Science
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2: Sexual Inversion
Ellis, Havelock
Sex; Sex (Psychology)
"I have absolutely no words to tell you how powerfully such
beauty affects me. Moral and intellectual worth is, I know, of
greater value, but physical beauty I _see_ more clearly, and it
appears to me the most _vivid_ (if not the most perfect)
manifestation of the divine. A little incident may, perhaps,
reveal to you my feelings more completely. Not long ago I
happened to see an unusually well-formed young fellow enter a
house of assignation with a common woman of the streets. The
sight filled me with the keenest anguish, and the thought that
his beauty would soon be at the disposal of a prostitute made me
feel as if I were a powerless and unhappy witness to a sacrilege.
It may be that my rage for male loveliness is only another
outbreaking of the old Platonic mania, for as time goes on I find
that I long less for the actual youth before me, and more and
more for some ideal, perfect being whose bodily splendor and
loving heart are the realities whose reflections only we see in
this cave of shadows. Since the birth and development within me
of what, for lack of a better name, I term my homosexualized
Patmorean ideal, life has become, in the main, a weary business.
I am not despondent, however, because many things still hold for
me a certain interest. When that interest dies down, as it is
wont from time to time, I endeavor to be patient. God grant that,
after the end _here_, I may be drawn from the shadow, and
seemingly vain imaginings into the possession of their
never-ending reality _hereafter_."
HISTORY X.--A.H., aged 62. Belongs to a family which cannot be
regarded as healthy, but there is no insanity among near
relations. Father a very virile man of high character and good
intelligence, but not sound physical health. Mother was
high-strung and nervous, but possessed of indomitable courage and
very affectionate; she lived very happily with her husband. She
became a chronic invalid and died of consumption. A.H. was a
seven months' child, the third in the family, who were born very
rapidly, so that there is only three years difference in the ages
of the first and third children. A.H. believes that one of his
brothers, who has never married and prefers men to women, is also
inverted, though not to the same degree as himself, and he also
suspects that a relation of his mother's may have been an invert.
Sister, who resembles the father in character, is married, but is
spoken of as a woman's woman rather than a man's woman. The
family generally are considered proud and reserved, but of
superior mental endowment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account