The sexual life of woman in its physiological, pathological and hygienic aspectsKisch, E. Heinrich (Enoch Heinrich)
Science
The sexual life of woman in its physiological, pathological and hygienic aspects
Kisch, E. Heinrich (Enoch Heinrich)
Gynecology; Menstruation; Women -- Diseases
_Saint Prospêre_ expresses himself to a similar effect: “Women do not
fall in consequence of the excessive power of the senses—in this domain
they are overlords, in striking contrast to men, whose weakest side is
here. It is not by means of the senses that a woman is to be overcome;
her weakness lies elsewhere—in her heart, in her vanity.” And _de
Lambert_ wrote the epigram, “Women play with love, and yield themselves
to love, but they do not abandon themselves to love.”
Well known also is the saying of _Dante_:
“We know how speedily in women the fire of love is consumed
Unless eye and hand continually supply it with fresh fuel.”
On the other hand, it is asserted in the laws of the Hindus that sexual
desire in women can as little be satisfied or fed full as a devouring
fire can be fed full of combustible materials, or as the ocean can be
overfilled by the rivers that pour their waters into it.
_Lombroso_ finds a proof of the sexual indifference of women and of the
greater sexual needs of man, in the existence of prostitution, with
which can be contrasted the existence only among the degenerate classes
(both rich and poor) of a small group of male prostitutes (alfons,
souteneurs). This author also refers to the rarity and uniformity in
women of the sexual psychoses so frequent in men, as indications of the
minor intensity of sexual desire in the former; and he refers also to a
series of facts, as for instance, to the occurrence of platonic love,
which, though indeed often hypocritical, has a real existence more often
in the female sex than in the male; to the long-enduring chastity of
girls, and to vows of chastity, which are rarely made except by females;
moreover, the ready adaptation of women to polygamy, as well as their
scrupulous observance of monogamy, which latter for the male is nominal
rather than actual. If in general the opposite view concerning women
prevails, this is ascribed by _Lombroso_ to the fact, that love is the
most important circumstance in a woman’s life. The reason therefore,
however, is to be found, not in the erotic sphere, but in the desire for
the satisfaction of the maternal instinct, and in a woman’s need for
protection. A celebrated accoucheur, _Giordano_, has remarked: “Man
loves woman for the sake of the vulva; what woman loves in man is the
husband and the father. Comprehensively we may express the matter by
saying that woman has less eroticism and more sexuality.”
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