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)
There were several children born of the marriage and for some
years she lived happily, on the whole, with her husband,
notwithstanding various hardships and difficulties and some
incompatibility of temper.
As regards her sexual feelings she considers, from what other
women have told her, that her feelings are, if anything, stronger
than the average. The orgasm, however, was not fully developed
until about five years after marriage. Sexual feeling is most
pronounced before, during, and after the menstrual period, more
especially before and about the third day (the period usually
lasts from five to seven days). There is more sexual desire
during pregnancy, especially toward the end, than at any other
time. She never refused normal intercourse to her husband, but
any abnormal or perverted method of sexual gratification is
repellent. She was awakened one night about the third month of
pregnancy by her husband inserting his penis _in ore_; the child
was born with palate defect and she is herself inclined to
believe that this incident was the cause of the defect. Though
she desires normal intercourse, she has seldom obtained complete
gratification. For a long time she disliked seeing or touching
the penis, and the feel, and especially the smell, of the semen
produced nausea and even vomiting. (She has a very delicate sense
of smell as well as of taste; though fond of the scent of
flowers, no sexual feelings are thus aroused.) Withdrawal and the
use of condoms are unsatisfactory to her, and mutual masturbation
gives no relief and produces headache. Feelings of friendship for
her husband have been most potent in arousing the sexual
emotions, and she has had most pleasure in intercourse after a
day spent in bicycling together. She has been for many months at
a time without sexual intercourse, and during such periods has
suffered much from pain in the head; this, however, she has now
completely surmounted. She eventually discovered that her
husband's abstinence from marital intercourse was due to
infidelity. This led to a definite separation. She still
occasionally experiences sexual desire, but has no inclination to
masturbate. Her life is full and busy, affording ample scope for
her energies and intelligence; moreover, she has her children to
train and educate. She herself believes that her sexual life is
at an end.
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