Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 3: Analysis of the Sexual Impulse; Love and Pain; The Sexual Impulse in WomenEllis, Havelock
Science
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 3: Analysis of the Sexual Impulse; Love and Pain; The Sexual Impulse in Women
Ellis, Havelock
Sex; Sex (Psychology)
Kolischer, of Chicago ("Sexual Frigidity in Women," _American
Journal of Obstetrics_, Sept., 1905), points out that it is often
the failure of the husband to produce sexual excitement in the
wife which leads to voluntary repression of sexual sensation on
her part, or an acquired sexual anesthesia. "Sexual excitement,"
he remarks, "not brought to its natural climax, the reaction
leaves the woman in a very disagreeable condition, and repeated
occurrences of this kind may even lead to general nervous
disturbances. Some of these unfortunate women learn to suppress
their sexual sensation so as to avoid all these disagreeable
sequelæ. Such a state of affairs is not only unfortunate, because
it deprives the female partner of her natural rights, but it is
also to be deplored because it practically brings down such a
married woman to the level of the prostitute."
In illustration of the prevalence of inhibitions of various
kinds, from without and from within, in suppressing or disguising
sexual feeling in women, I may quote the following observations
by an American lady concerning a series of women of her
acquaintance:--
"Mrs. A. This woman is handsome and healthy. She has never had
children, much to the grief of herself and her husband. The man
is also handsome and attractive. Mrs. A. once asked me if
love-making between me and my husband ever originated with me. I
replied it was as often so as not, and she said that in that
event she could not see how passion between husband and wife
could be regulated. When I seemed not to be ashamed of the
matter, but rather to be positive in my views that it should be
so, she at once tried to impress me with the fact that she did
not wish me to think she 'could not be aroused.' This woman
several times hinted that she had learned a great amount that was
not edifying at boarding school, and I always felt that, with
proper encouragement, she would have retailed suggestive stories.
"Mrs. B. This woman lives to please her husband, who is a spoiled
man. She gave birth to a child soon after marriage, but was left
an invalid for some years. She told me coition always hurt her,
and she said it made her sick to see her husband nude. I was
therefore surprised, years afterward, to hear her say, in reply
to a remark of another person, 'Yes; women are not only as
passionate as men, I am sure they are more so.' I therefore
questioned the lack of passion she had on former occasions
avowed, or else felt convinced her improvement in health had made
intercourse pleasant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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