STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX, VOLUME III

CONTENTS.

ANALYSIS OF THE SEXUAL IMPULSE.

Definition of Instinct--The Sexual Impulse a Factor of the Sexual
Instinct--Theory of the Sexual Impulse as an Impulse of Evacuation--The
Evidence in Support of this Theory Inadequate--The Sexual Impulse to Some
Extent Independent of the Sexual Glands--The Sexual Impulse in Castrated
Animals and Men--The Sexual Impulse in Castrated Women, After the
Menopause, and in the Congenital Absence of the Sexual Glands--The
Internal Secretions--Analogy between the Sexual Relationship and that of
the Suckling Mother and her Child--The Theory of the Sexual Impulse as a
Reproductive Impulse--This Theory Untenable--Moll's Definition--The
Impulse of Detumescence--The Impulse of Contrectation--Modification of
this Theory Proposed--Its Relation to Darwin's Sexual Selection--The
Essential Element in Darwin's Conception--Summary of the History of the
Doctrine of Sexual Selection. Its Psychological Aspect--Sexual Selection a
Part of Natural Selection--The Fundamental Importance of
Tumescence--Illustrated by the Phenomena of Courtship in Animals and in
Man--The Object of Courtship is to Produce Sexual Tumescence--The
Primitive Significance of Dancing in Animals and Man--Dancing is a Potent
Agent for Producing Tumescence--The Element of Truth in the Comparison of
the Sexual Impulse with an Evacuation, Especially of the Bladder--Both
Essentially Involve Nervous Explosions--Their Intimate and Sometimes
Vicarious Relationships--Analogy between Coitus and Epilepsy--Analogy of
the Sexual Impulse to Hunger--Final Object of the Impulses of Tumescence
and Detumescence.

LOVE AND PAIN.

I.

The Chief Key to the Relationship between Love and Pain to be Found in
Animal Courtship--Courtship a Source of Combativity and of Cruelty--Human
Play in the Light of Animal Courtship--The Frequency of Crimes Against the
Person in Adolescence--Marriage by Capture and its Psychological
Basis--Man's Pleasure in Exerting Force and Woman's Pleasure in
Experiencing it--Resemblance of Love to Pain even in Outward
Expression--The Love-bite--In What Sense Pain May be Pleasurable--The
Natural Contradiction in the Emotional Attitude of Women Toward
Men--Relative Insensibility to Pain of the Organic Sexual Sphere in
Women--The Significance of the Use of the Ampallang and Similar Appliances
in Coitus--The Sexual Subjection of Women to Men in Part Explainable as
the Necessary Condition for Sexual Pleasure.

II.

The Definition of Sadism--De Sade--Masochism to some Extent
Normal--Sacher-Masoch--No Real Line of Demarcation between Sadism and
Masochism--Algolagnia Includes Both Groups of Manifestations--The
Love-bite as a Bridge from Normal Phenomena to Algolagnia--The Fascination
of Blood--The Most Extreme Perversions are Linked on to Normal Phenomena.

III.

Flagellation as a Typical Illustration of Algolagnia--Causes of Connection
between Sexual Emotion and Whipping--Physical Causes--Psychic Causes
Probably More Important--The Varied Emotional Associations of
Whipping--Its Wide Prevalence.

IV.

The Impulse to Strangle the Object of Sexual Desire--The Wish to be
Strangled. Respiratory Disturbance the Essential Element in this Group of
Phenomena--The Part Played by Respiratory Excitement in the Process of
Courtship--Swinging and Suspension--The Attraction Exerted by the Idea of
being Chained and Fettered.

V.

Pain, and not Cruelty, the Essential Element in Sadism and Masochism--Pain
Felt as Pleasure--Does the Sadist Identify Himself with the Feelings of
his Victim?--The Sadist Often a Masochist in Disguise--The Spectacle of
Pain or Struggle as a Sexual Stimulant.

VI.

Why is Pain a Sexual Stimulant?--It is the Most Effective Method of
Arousing Emotion--Anger and Fear the Most Powerful Emotions--Their
Biological Significance in Courtship--Their General and Special Effects in
Stimulating the Organism--Grief as a Sexual Stimulant--The Physiological
Mechanism of Fatigue Renders Pain Pleasurable.

VII.

Summary of Results Reached--The Joy of Emotional Expansion--The
Satisfaction of the Craving for Power--The Influence of Neurasthenic and
Neuropathic Conditions--The Problem of Pain in Love Largely Constitutes a
Special Case of Erotic Symbolism.

THE SEXUAL IMPULSE IN WOMEN.

Introduction.

I.

The Primitive View of Women--As a Supernatural Element in Life--As
Peculiarly Embodying the Sexual Instinct--The Modern Tendency to
Underestimate the Sexual Impulse in Women--This Tendency Confined to
Recent Times--Sexual Anæsthesia--Its Prevalence--Difficulties in
Investigating the Subject--

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STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX, VOLUME III