When it comes to adults, there is very little to be said. It would
seem, for instance, as though homosexuality ran counter to the best
tendencies of this age. Why this should be so is not apparent. When
Greece was at her height, and that height was great, homosexuality was
held in high esteem and practiced, along with normal sexuality, by the
most enlightened and developed men. The Greeks practiced bi-sexuality
and were a great nation, with production of marvelous ideas and
deathless art. Yet today homosexuality runs against the grain.
It may be, of course, that, in the end, no man completes himself,
except through woman. The rise of woman has made her all the more man’s
counterpart and complement. It is more or less through woman that man
is able to develop his true individuality. And it may be that man must
honor the symbol of woman, as well as the woman herself, by guiding his
desire toward her, and fulfilling himself also physically through her
love.
But, however true this may be, there is a certain percentage of men,
relatively small, who seem more like the victims, than the willing
practicers, of homosexuality. The overwhelming prejudice against them,
the fact that they are mocked or shunned like pariahs, the sense they
have that they cannot escape their doom, the often effeminate traits
which give them away, make them as a rule pitiable objects. It is true
that sometimes they turn, as a driven animal turns, and stand at bay,
flaunting their difference in the face of the world; but as a rule it
is the opposite.
Certainly, at least, such cases are for the psycho-analyst’s study,
rather than for the world’s contempt. There are cases which, as I have
noted, can be cured; since they are psychological in origin; but there
are other cases which still defy our insight.
But however reprehensible any given practice may be, when it comes to
adults there is very little legislation that can be done. They can, and
will, and do follow individual paths. One can only enlighten them on
the meaning of their acts. It is only in such excessive cases as that
of the seducer of young girls or the sadist who harms others that the
State can step in and put a stop to it.
Another aspect of the problem which must be included in this review
is that of prostitution and sexual disease. Is prostitution an evil,
or will its abolishment lead to more promiscuity? That, too, is a
difficult question, and by no means answerable in a simple way. It
does, however, seem apparent that prostitution is an evil, and that its
gradual elimination is leading to a greater promiscuity.
The obvious evil of prostitution is that, as a rule, it brings
sexuality down to its animal basis, and thus destroys one of the
beauties and joys of life. Its further evil is that it turns women
again into chattels. And finally, of course, it is a breeding ground
for disease.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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