beardless, gynecomastic, men who have a large panniculus adiposus,
broad hips, delicate throat, female voice, or who wear long coats and
long hair. I will quote here only a few examples: the priest, the
physician in his hospital coat, particularly surgeons with graceful
arms, female impersonators, beardless men, or men with high voices who
perfume themselves and wear bracelets, and artists with long, flowing
locks of hair are likely to prove very attractive. (Perhaps the great
erotic attraction exercised by all artists is due to their pronounced
bisexual character.)
Physical factors are also of great significance. Women who smoke,
ride, go mountain climbing and who are generally aggressive, make a
very strong impression upon the neurotic. This is true also about
the influence of men with strong womanly features upon women. Many
neurotic men dream of being overpowered. (The “pleasure without
guilt” principle!). Energetic women fascinate them, just as delicate,
sensitive men fascinate the hysterical woman.
Less known are other masks of homosexuality which I now mention. The
love of old women (gerontophilia) and passion for children often
covers a homosexual tendency. Persons deviating from the complete
male or female type often prove irresistible for the same reason.
Age eventually wipes out the typical secondary sexual characters.
Man becomes like an old woman and old women acquire remarkable male
features (including mustache) and male habits. Children also may figure
as a strong bisexual attraction since they lack the secondary sexual
characters.
A peculiar cryptic form under which male homosexuality manifests
itself, is the love of prostitutes. The unconscious factor which here
appeals to the homosexual component of the sexual libido is the fact
that the body of the prostitute has been previously enjoyed by other
men.[15]
This process,—mediation through the other sex,—plays a great role
in homosexuality in various other ways. The prostitute may be enjoyed
only in the presence of one or more male witnesses. The carrying out of
coitus jointly in one room, looking on, or allowing onlookers, also
betray this motive besides others.
In many cases the form of sexual intercourse preferred betrays a latent
homosexuality. Men choose to lie underneath, or carry out coitus a
posteriori, or per anum. Women show corresponding preferences. They
attain supreme enjoyment only if they are on top during intercourse.
Many paraphilias (fellatio, cunnilingus) betray a homosexual trend
besides showing sexual infantilism.
Various external signs may betray a strong homosexual trend or mark a
sudden outbreak of it. Men suddenly decide to cut or shave off their
beard. They unexpectedly turn their interests to sports which give them
the opportunity of watching men undressed. They become passionate fans
around prize rings, are seen at sun bathing establishments and sporting
places, or rave about the culture of nakedness as a hygienic fad, etc.
Women suddenly find that they cannot possibly wear their long hair and
decide to cut it short. Sometimes they do it without telling their
husband so as to ‘pleasantly’ surprise him. They change fashions, take
readily to English jackets, tight coats and Girardi hats and begin to
show tremendous interest in the emancipation of women.
Joint suicide as a mask is a subject to which I can only refer briefly.
Persons who do not have the courage to live together are the ones
likely to commit suicide jointly. The suicide of two friends, male
or female, is often due to unsatisfied homosexuality, however ideal,
apparently, the motives may be. A life which does not yield to the
full gratification craved by the unconsciously operating instincts,
loses its zest. _Frenssen_ states: “Sun, moon and stars no longer carry
any message to one who has lost interest in them; a thing degenerates
unless cultivated assiduously; it is so with everything. Indifference
deadens; love breathes life into everything.”
I have already pointed out in my treatise on Onanism that those
who have not given up the habit may give expression to tendencies
distinctly homosexual through their autoerotic acts. The feeling
of guilt is due in part, although only in part, to this cause. The
greater hold the habit has upon the individual the stronger also
seems the homosexual trait back of it. Many onanists are asocial in
their inclinations and avoid group life. But I know a number who are
enthusiastic ‘joiners,’ belonging to numerous organisations and always
eager to assume honorary membership in all sorts of clubs. That female
lawyers are particularly apt to show homosexual tendencies is well
known and the fact is often exploited in the comic papers under slight
disguise.
Lastly, I must mention another important form of masked homosexuality:
the artistic. Poets whose preference is the delineation of female
characters are partly homosexual. They perceive accurately the female
emotions, they are able to portray with fidelity the life of that sex,
because they carry within their breast, as it were, a goodly portion of
womanhood. _Chamisso_ described so wonderfully womanly love, because
he himself was largely woman, as his portrait is enough to indicate.
Painters may also show the reverse tendency. They paint preferably male
scenes or, as sculptors, create statues of men. Their appraisal of
esthetic values betrays their hidden homosexuality. Some artists find
the male figure much more beautiful than the female, others find the
male body repulsive. An overstressed aversion betrays the homosexual
trend as clearly as an emotionally overstressed preference.
The choice of a pseudonym may also prove a characteristic sign. Just
as the transvestites (wearers of clothes of opposite sex) clearly
show their homosexual peculiarities thereby so do men choosing a
female pseudonym for their contributions or writings, often betray
their homosexuality by the act. Of course, in the case of women, the
choice of a male nom de plume is determined partly by the well known
common notion that works obtain a wider circulation if attributed to
male authorship. At any rate, it betrays a desire to be taken for a
man, by the readers, at least. A woman writer whom I know and who is
active under a male nom de plume has told me, as an objection to this
view, that she is decidedly interested in men. She confessed herself a
Messalina. But back of such an unsatisfied craving, there stands, as I
have already mentioned, homosexuality, the blind instinct, ungratified.
This woman preferred relations with well known “women killers,” typical
Cassanovas. Obviously, the thought of the numerous female conquests
must have furnished here the chief attraction. Such men carry about
them the aroma of many women. They must be proven masters of the art
of love and a woman is disposed to expect of them special thrills
and, possibly, new refinements of the art; but the heroes, as a rule,
when tried fail to come up to the expectations lodged in them; they
in turn become easily tired of their new conquest. The unsatisfied
homosexual male is incapable of gratifying completely the love hungry
homosexual woman. (That is the tragedy back of many unhappy marriages.)
It is also significant that this woman, who otherwise had allowed
herself an unusual degree of freedom about sexual matters, looked upon
homosexuality as Tabu.
I have mentioned only a small number of the possible masks of
homosexuality. Some of the screens are so transparent they cannot
but be noticed even by those who are still novices in psychoanalytic
matters. One marries a girl, for instance, after falling in love with
that girl’s brother; or a girl marries the brother of her homosexual
choice, as I have clearly shown in connection with the highly
instructive case history No. 93, in my study of Anxiety States.
For this reason a friend’s wife may be a very dangerous person and this
mediation of homosexuality through a third person has often been the
cause of terrific household dramas. I know men who are regularly prone
to fall in love with their friends’ sweethearts, naturally, without
suspecting that back of this proclivity there stands the hidden passion
for their friend.
In conclusion I may point out another very significant mask of
homosexuality. I refer to psychic impotence, which shows itself
particularly during attempted intercourse with respectable women. Men
potent with prostitutes but unable to carry out coitus with a ‘decent’
woman, are latent homosexuals whose libido is sufficiently roused
in the presence of the prostitute by the realisation that the woman
has been used before by another man. Of course, a relative impotence
of this character has many other determinants. But the factor here
mentioned is never absent.
The study of this cryptic form of homosexuality alone will enable us to
appreciate the inestimable role of bisexuality in the mental life of
modern man.
Other forms of masked homosexuality, manifested in phobias and
compulsion, I must mention only superficially. There are men who become
extremely uneasy if some other man walks directly behind them, men
who are unable to remain with another man alone in a room, men who
always dream of scenes in which some man points a revolver or knife at
them, or who have the uncomfortable feeling that some hard substance,
perhaps nothing more than an indurated cylindrical mass of fæces, is
pressing within their rectum. With these peculiarities such men betray
their homosexuality, just as the paranoiacs do with their delusions of
persecution.
Women show similar phobias and more especially morbid anxieties
often centering around servant girls. Women who change servant girls
continually, who worry themselves over the servant problem or quarrel
with the girls, or feel impelled to touch them (acts which really
take the place of sexual deeds) are frequently homosexual. Similarly,
various forms of fetichism may be a cover for homosexuality.
It is plainly obvious that the study of sexual masks promises to
further immensely our knowledge about matters of sex. At the same time
it is clear that the opposition of many circles to the new studies
must remain a tremendous one. Possibly a great deal of the opposition
to the new psychology has its roots in this very peculiarity of human
nature. Their basic bisexual predisposition is precisely what men are
least disposed to recognise.
These general statements I now propose to prove on the basis of various
observations from my practice illustrating the great role played by
the homosexual components in the love life of average men and women.
This will show clearly why I never use such terms as “contrary,” or
“inverted” sexual feeling, and why I never speak of “inversion,” or of
“perversion,” when I discuss homosexuality. The very purpose of this
work is to bring out the homosexual components in the life of every
person and to bring out the normal feature of that state. For normal is
everything that is natural; _and from the standpoint of nature we are
never monosexual and always bisexual_.
I regret that I must contradict so worthy an investigator as
_Hirschfeld_. But I fail to understand the need of setting up,
besides the hetero- and homosexuals, a third group, the so-called
transvestites.[16] Among the transvestites (personifiers) we find
the most pronounced examples of masked homosexuality and stressed
bisexuality. This is a designation proposed by _Hirschfeld_ for men
who—obeying an overwhelming inner impulse—wear women’s apparel and
for women who similarly attire themselves in things belonging to a
man’s wardrobe. In the course of an extensive review (_Zentrbl. f.
Psychoanalyse_, vol. I, p. 55.) I pointed out that it is unnecessary
to consider the transvestites as a distinct sexual species, but that
they are merely bisexual persons with strong homosexual leanings.
_Hirschfeld_ lays great emphasis upon the fact that the transvestites
experience normal sexual feelings, being subject only to the
impulsion to change their clothing for that of the opposite sex.
Unfortunately here he takes into consideration only the conscious
sexual manifestations. He considers merely the facts as they appear
upon the surface neglecting the important mechanisms of repression
and masking,—the tendency to play before, and with, one’s self.
The data obtained upon superficial examination must be subjected to
careful analysis; then the results are most surprising. Analysis
invariably reveals that there is no such thing as monosexuality and
that the transvestites, like the homosexuals, have their repressions.
The homosexual represses his heterosexuality, the transvestite his
homosexuality. In his phantasy the man is a woman (the woman fancies
herself the reverse) and thus he combines the two components of his
libido. It were nothing less than doing violence to facts to attempt
to distinguish the transvestites from the homosexuals.
As one reads carefully the cases published by _Hirschfeld_, with an
eye for signs of homosexuality, one cannot fail to note characteristic
traits of homosexuality in every one of the cases. For instance, one
of them carries out succubus _in coitu_, which is clearly a symptom
of latent homosexuality; if he appears as a woman, the men who follow
him cause him nausea. Another was able to carry out the heterosexual
act only under the influence of alcohol, and when going out in women’s
clothes was fond of eating in the company of men and coquetting with
them. A third is repelled by the thought of homosexual relations, but
dreams of pregnancy, plays succubus _in coitu_, and fancies that his
wife is a man. The fourth hugs his wife tightly, sinks his nails into
her ears, etc., so as to gain the illusion of being overpowered through
sheer force by some man.
Then, most interesting of all, case 12: A man who during four years of
married life has carried out coitus only once. This subject actually
betrays an open inclination towards homosexuality, which _Hirschfeld_
declares is only apparent.... How is one to determine between an
apparent and a real homosexual trend? In order to succeed in that one
must purposely overlook the phenomenon of human bisexuality and be
anxious to hold on at all costs to the notion that homosexuality is
inborn and irreducible.
The transvestite last mentioned relates concerning his homosexuality:
“About homosexuality I learned for the first time through reading
the book: _Die Enterbten des Liebesgluecks_. Some passages gripped
me powerfully, even more so than the works on masochism, of which I
also had read a large number. As I had to renounce my womanly ideal
(for reasons mentioned previously), it occurred to me to seek a man as
the complement to my yearnings. For even the strongest woman wants to
be beneath man during love. But I felt I needed a partner who should
overpower and conquer me with some display of force. So I said to
myself that such a role can be filled properly only by a man. A great
deal of what I read in books about homosexuality confirmed me in this
view.”
If this is not a tell-tale rationalization of homosexuality—what may
we designate as homosexuality?
Comments are hardly needed in this connection. On all sides and
from all directions homosexuality is proven in the history of the
case. But _Hirschfeld_ finds that the tendency to homosexuality is
only apparent and that the whole foundation of the subject’s libido
consists of transvestism. The homosexuality he looks upon as an
incidental manifestation. But there are no ‘incidental’ manifestations
in our vita sexualis. A dream, which has also been reported, shows
conclusively that M., the subject, was all along actuated by the
thought: I wish I were a woman. But there are passages in this case
history showing how highly the subject esteems the male and proving
that this wish is an infantile attitude and due to a feeling of
inferiority. What else should we conclude from the statement: “For the
genuine man, who belongs to the proudest specimens of his sex, sexual
gratification is merely a hygienic requirement, a form of physical
release; beyond that his wonderful creative spirit dwells in higher
realms ... etc.”
In the chapter devoted to masochism I explain the meaning of a case
like the above more fully. The man wants to be a woman and to be
overpowered. He is able to have relations with women, if they assume
the aggressive role. His mind insists upon the fictive notion: I
am a woman and I am forced to carry out this part. Naturally he
shifts towards homosexual acts. The male trait in him tolerates no
submissiveness. The female trait lends itself readily to coercion. The
neurosis consists in this suppression of the male components of the
sexual instinct.
A careful reading of the following case history will show clearly the
homosexual roots of the tendency to personify the opposite sex:
Mrs. H. S. consults me on account of complete sexual frigidity during
her marital relations. She is twenty-four years of age and had married
at the age of 19. Her marriage was a love affair. She has always been
of a loving and sensuous disposition so that from the age of 14 her
mind was preoccupied mostly with sexual fancies and thoughts. At the
age of 15 she fell in love with an uncle. His kisses roused her passion
and she would have readily yielded to him. The father observed what was
going on and forbade her uncle the house. She lived in the Country and
met no men under circumstances which could have endangered her. She was
19 years of age when she first met her present husband and she fell
rapidly in love with him. She withstood her parents’ opposition and
married the young man in a few months. Already during her engagement
she said to her husband: “I don’t believe one man will be enough
for me. You must watch out for me....” During the first few weeks
of married life her husband was impotent, and this drove her nearly
to distraction. After her husband underwent some medical treatment
he succeeded in rupturing her hymen and in a few months she became
pregnant. For a short time during that first pregnancy she experienced
complete orgasm. After that her feeling for her husband disappeared
entirely and she felt very dissatisfied. Her whole character changed
completely. Previously she had been happy, joyous, always in good
humor. Now she became quiet, lived a retired existence, avoiding men in
particular because she was afraid of them.
Deeper investigation of the case shows that, after the death of her
father, to whom she felt attached by bonds of deepest affection, she
became sexually anesthetic. The father was a very earnest, strong man
who adored his pretty wife and he was a model of loyal and dutiful
husband. The mother was an artist who, after the death of her husband,
lost all interest in life. She could not stay alone and abandoned the
country place to live with her daughter in the City. I suspected that
the sudden onset of anesthesia probably coincided with the mother’s
arrival in the house. Might she not hide some special attachment for
her mother?
She emphasized that she felt the greatest compassion for her mother,
who had lost her support in life. For her mother’s sake she would have
gladly taken her father’s place, if such a thing were possible. And
further she declared:
“You would probably find it almost unbelievable, if I told you that I
strongly wished I were a man, at the time. I kept thinking of mother
all the time! You see—she is so pretty and young yet, so full of
life! I also know that she is a very passionate woman. How could she
get along without a man? Now, I must confess something, though it is
very hard for me to express it. You know already a number of my pet
fancies. But there is another which I have persistently kept from you
till now. I wanted to put on father’s clothes, as I have a few of them
in my possession, and to go to mother’s bed at night. I acquired a
sort of an apparatus ... for the purpose. But I did not quite have the
courage. I put on the clothes but stayed in my room. I kept standing
before the looking glass for hours, looking on.”
“Did the clothes fit you?”
“To tell you the truth, I had used some of father’s old suits for a
long time before that. I got hold of them under all sorts of pretexts.
I wrote him, for instance, that I wanted to give his unused clothes to
a worthy poor man. Then I had them altered for a figure of my size and
was glad to wear them while my husband was away. Already as a small
girl I remember I was fond of wearing my brother’s clothes.”
“Do you recollect your thoughts while you were wearing your brother’s
clothes?”
“Oh, I do. I played I was papa. For a time I felt really dissatisfied
because I was a girl. I envied all boys.”
“Later, too, after you were married already?”
“Certainly! Do you know, I have never mustered enough courage to do
something downright disloyal. But I was thinking, if I were a man, I
could never remain true. I have always envied men. In fact, with my
soul I felt myself more like a man.”
“What were your feelings during the time you were in love with your
husband?”
“I had plunged headlong into love and forgot all about my liking of
men’s clothes. During that time I felt altogether womanly. Especially
when I became a mother. Then all my dreams about manliness disappeared.”
“That was also the only time when you enjoyed your relations with your
husband?”
“I have never thought of the two things together. But you are right.
For a short time during that period I was entirely womanly, until
father died....”
“And your mother came to live with you!”
“Yes ... that is so.... Do you mean, that then I wanted again to be a
man? Now, I can confess to you that I always envied father on account
of mama. I used to think that if I were a man, I should certainly be in
love with mama.”
The further analysis reveals interesting details. Repeatedly she dreams
that she is a man and that she has a phallus. She dreams also that she
urinates standing after the manner of men. She admits that, already
as a child, she loved her mother passionately. She had also overheard
a number of times her parents getting together in bed and once she
watched them in the act of coitus, peeping through a key hole. She was
deeply excited by what she saw and thought that her mother must have
suffered great pain and that only the father found pleasure in the act.
This infantile conception of male gratification has remained with her
to this day. Her favorite expression: “If I should come again into the
world I would want to be a man.” The homosexual attitude towards the
mother deprived her of libido during her marital relations.
I suggested that she should separate from her mother but she resented
scornfully this suggestion. She would rather give up her husband.
Some time later she actually did so. She now lives with her mother. I
was greatly surprised one day, when she called on me clothed in male
attire. She requested from me a certificate to the effect that she
was an abnormal person and should be permitted to wear man’s clothes.
She had heard that in Berlin a number of women had been granted such
a permit by the police on the strength of such a statement from a
physician.
Upon being questioned regarding her sexual life she states that she now
maintains relations with a man who, before the sexual embrace, puts
on women’s clothes. This rouses great orgasm in her. Regarding her
relations to her mother her answers are elusive. But I must not think,
she adds, that she is a “Urlinde.” The thought of such persons only
fills her with disgust. Her mother is now merely her dearest friend.
It is plain that this woman has repressed her homosexual love for her
mother and is satisfied with the symbol of masculinity, the wearing of
trousers. The man whom she meets in embrace, becomes for her a woman,
through the wearing of feminine articles. Thus the two partners carry
on a comedy in which the heterosexual act replaces the longed-for
homosexual embrace.
* * * * *