4221546Sex and the Love-Life1927William John Fielding
SEX AND THE LOVE-LIFE
BY
WILLIAM J. FIELDING
Author of “Sanity In Sex," "The Caveman Within Us," “Health and Self-Mastery,” “Rational Sex Series," etc.
DODD MEAD & COMPANY NEW YORK1927
Copyright, 1927 By DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, Inc.
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE VAIL-BALLOU PRESS, INC., BINGHAMTON, N. Y.
To HAVELOCK ELLIS Who Has Made an Epochal Contribution To the Advancement of Sexual Science and Whose Wisdom, Estheticism and Insight Have Immeasurably Enriched Our Conception of The Love-Life
Meeting Life's Vital Problems—Best Preparation for Life—Countless Manifestations of Sex—Sexual Phenomena—Evils Traced to Ignorance—Primitive Methods of Reproduction—Asexual Reproduction—Sex Makes the Whole World Akin—Sexual Reproduction—Secondary Sexual Characters—Sex More Specialized in Higher Orders—The Two Paramount Urges—Hunger and the Sex Impulse—Savages' Attitude Toward Sex—Ancient Sexual Practices—Sex Symbolism—Phallicism—Nature Worship—Venus Cults—Sacred Prostitution—Lingam and Yoni Symbols—Sexual Coldness—Congenital Frigidity—False Frigidity—Effecting a Cure—Side-tracked Sex Energy—Results of Faulty Education—Puritanical Principles—Celibacy—Ecclesiastical Law—Theological Influences—"Sins of the Flesh"—Early Ascetic Ideals—Error of Sex Denial—Celibacy Not a Normal Life—Effects of Sexual Suppression
Stages of Sexual Development—Friendship and Love—Esthetic Significance of Sex—Love the Refinement of Sexual Impulse—Altruism and Self-Sacrifice—Sex Life of the Child—Sexual Instincts Manifested from Birth—Stages of Progress—The Detumescence Instinct—The Autoerotic Stage—Sucking, an Erotic Pleasure—Erogenous (Love-Producing) Zones—Narcissism—The Legend of Narcissus—Self-Love—Prepubescent Period—Love in Childhood—Childhood's Sex Interests Repressed—Sublimation—Erotic Compensation—Cultural Accomplishments—Adolescence—The Boy and Girl—Physical and Psychic Manifestations—What Impels to Love—The Parent Image—Copying Psychological Patterns—Ego and Sex Ideals—The Love Object—Fixations—Peculiarities of the Love-Life—Psychic Impotence—Frigid Wives—Fetichism—Sexual Significance of Fetiches—Anti-Fetiches—Exhibitionism—Normal and Abnormal Traits—Sexual Curiosity—Sadism and Masochism—Homosexuality—Psychological Problem—Environmental Factors—Homosexual Feelings Repressed—Hermaphroditism.
Comparison of the Male and Female—Represent Different Types of Eroticism—Anatomy and Physiology of Male Sex Organs—The Penis—The Glans—The Prepuce—Circumcision—The Testes—The Vas Deferens—The Epididymis—The Seminal Vesicles—Cowper's Glands—Prostate Gland—Urethra—The Seminal Fluid—Semen—Spermatozoa—Internal Chemistry—Ductless Glands—The Hormones—Interstitial Glands—Chemical Aspects of Sex—The Endocrine System—Thyroid—Parathyroid—Pituitary—Adrenals—Thymus—Pineal—Pancreas—Insulin—Activity of Male Sex Organs–Nocturnal (night) Emissions—A Normal Episode—Diurnal (day) Emissions—Man's "Change of Life"—A Preparation for Senescence—Period of Sexual Decline—The Don Juan—A Constructive Period Ahead.
Sexual Instinct in Woman—Woman's Sexual Organization More Complex than Man's—Feminine Eroticism More Highly Ramified—Woman's Emotional Nature—Strength of Sexual Impulse—Woman Sexually Conservative—Variations in Sexual Impulse—Sexual Desire Outlasts the Reproductive Life—Anatomy and Physiology of Female Organs—The Ovaries—Graafian Follicles—Process of Ovulation—Fallopian Tubes—Salpingitis—The Uterus (Womb)—The Vagina—The Hymen—The Vulva—Bartholin Glands—The Pelvis—The Mammary Glands—The Internal Secretions—Normal Effects at Puberty—Effects of Deficient Secretions—Menstruation—Symptoms of Initial Appearance—Hygiene of Menstruation—Disorders Due to Constipation—Re—establishing Menstruation when Prematurely Checked—The Menopause.
Looking Forward to Marriage—Importance of Prepaaration—Confusion of Ideals—Innocence and Modesty—Prudery—Marriage: Past and Future—Dual Moral Code—Status of Monogamy—Polygamy and Promiscuity—Fictitious Chivalry—True Love Must be Free Woman's Intellectual Liberation—Its Beneficial Effects—The Realities of Marriage—Courtship as a Preparation—Not an Educational Substitute—Period of Intimate Association—Tactless Lovers in Courtship—The Vehement Wooer and Defensive Partner—Courtship a Continual Preparation—The Pairing Hunger—Length of Engagements—Long Engagements Often Injurious—Proper Age to Marry—Economic Hindrance at Most Favorable Period—Consanguineous Marriage, or Marriage with Blood Relatives—Between First and Second Cousins—Not Harmful in Itself—Unless Family History is Bad—Hereditary Traits Accentuated in Offspring of Blood Relatives—Either Good or Bad Latent Traits May be Marked in Children .
The Conjugal Relations—Expressing Love Deepens the Love Feeling—Love Cannot Be Separated from Sexuality—Courtship and Married Lovers—Wooing as Essential Preparation—The Consummation of Love—Woman Must be Wooed Before Every Act of Coitus—Characteristics of Feminine Nature—Woman's Rôle in the Sex Relations—The Sex Act Means More to the Female—Woman's Subconscious Maternal Solicitude—Benefits of Sexual Expression—Key to Happiness in Marriage—Greater Longevity of Married Women—The Sexual Initiation of the Bride—Coitus the Fulfilment of a Natural Law—One of the Most Beautiful and Sacred Phenomena of Life—Gives Marriage its Wonderful Potentialities—Overcoming Sexual Coldness—Keeping Romance in Marriage—Jealousy the Destroyer—Frequency of Sex Relations—Intercourse During Menstruation—Intercourse During Pregnancy.
Right of Female to Enjoyment of Sexual Function—Recognized Among Savages—Erotic Import of "Marriage by Capture"—The Erogenous (Love-producing) Zones and Their Significance in Woman's Love-Life—Sensual Feeling of the Skin—Woman the Affectionate Sex—Effects of Unsatisfactory Marital Life—Woman Craves Love and Affection—"Love Has to Go to School"—The Bridal Night—Its Difficulties and Their Solution—Hygiene of the Honeymoon—Reciprocity in the Sex Relations—Mutual Rights of the Husband and Wife.
What Birth Control Really Means—Ignorant Confusion With Abortion—Legal Proscription of Contraception—Ban on Contraceptive Information Fosters Abortion—Religious Prejudice Against Contraception—Individual Clergymen Advocate Birth Control—Morality of Birth Control—Immorality of Excessive Child-bearing—Fallacy of Intercourse for Reproduction Only—Sexual Union Has a Value Aside from Procreation—Not Purely a Physical or Animal Function—Continuous Child—bearing a Primitive Practice—Trusting to "Instinct" and "Nature"—Fear of Pregnancy and Marital Disharmony—Coercion for a Morbid Ideal by Opponents of Birth Control.
The Phenomenon of Conception—The Beginning of Pregnancy—How to Calculate Date of Confinement—Ely's Table and Other Methods—Most Favorable Time for Conception—Changes in the Pregnant Woman—Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy—Probable and Direct Signs—Embryology—Month-by-Month Development of the Fetus—Labor Pains and Parturition—Maternal Impressions—Their Superstitions—Prenatal Care—Rest and Exercise—Diet—Care of Teeth—Care of the Nipples—How Sex Is Determined—Superstitions About Influencing Sex of Child—Sex Determination and Twins—Sex Development in the Embryo—The Chromosome Hypothesis of Sex Determination—Sex Determined by Male Fertilizing Element.
The End of the Reproductive Period—Not the End of the Sexual Life—Age at Which Menopause Occurs—Various Manifestations of Approach—Premature Menopause, and its Treatment—Retarded Menopause—Characteristic Symptoms of Climacteric—Sudden Cessation of Menstruation—Other Common Symptoms—Menstrual Irregularity—Obesity—Cardiac or Heart Troubles—Digestive Disturbances—Disorders of the Skin—Pruritus—Cancer and Other Growths—Nervous and Mental Disorders—Climacteric Psychosis—Remarks on "The Dangerous Age"—Casting Out Fear—A Constructive Period Ahead—Woman's Greater Vitality and Longevity—Hygiene of the Menopause—Bathing—Exercise—Diet—Other Precautions for Health—Sexual Life After the Climacteric—Increased Sexual Desire in Post-Menopause Period.
Sexual Basis of Nervous Disorders—Neurasthenia—Anxiety Neurosis—Hysteria—Results of Unsatisfactory Marital Relations—Factors in Marriage that Influence Sexual Life—Sterility, or Barrenness—One-Child Sterility—Frigidity, or Sexual Coldness—Disorders Due to Abstinence—Coitus Interruptus—Common Disturbances of Women—Leucorrhea—Menstrual Disorders—Dysmenorrhea—Menorrhagia—Amenorrhea—Abortion: Spontaneous, Induced (Illegal or Criminal), and Therapeutic—Displacements of the Womb—Nymphomania—Masturbation—Exaggerated Statements of its Evils—Why It is a Bad Habit in Growing Boys and Girls.
Nervous Disturbances—Fatigue from Mental Effort Alone a Rare Phenomenon—Sexual Factors in Neuroses—Nervous Breakdown from Suppressing Sexual Life—Sexual Determinants of Anxiety Neurosis—Sexual Neurasthenia: Hereditary and Acquired—Neurasthenia Not so Much Actual Nervous Debility as Lack of Control—Coitus Interruptus a Factor in Male Neurasthenia—Sexual Impotence and Sterility—Impotence Resulting from Continence—Absolute and Irremediable Sterility—Relative and Transient Sterility—Prostatitis—Azoospermia—Aspermatism—Satyriasis—Masturbation—Confusion with "Onanism"—Prevalence Among Animals—Opinions of Some Famous Medical Scientists—Prostitution—Prostitutes Largely Subnormal—Clandestine Prostitution.
Universality of Venereal Diseases—Gonorrhea—the Most Prevalent of Adult Infectious Diseases—Discovery of the Germ, and its Description—Symptoms of the Disease—Infection of Innocent Wives—Effects of Gonorrhea on Women—"Honeymoon Appendicitis"—Gonorrheal Vulvo—vaginitis—Racial Effects of Gonorrhea—Gonorrhea as a Factor in Male Sterility—Ophthalmia Neonatorum—Syphilis—Description of its Germ—Symptoms of the Different Stages—Becomes a Constitutional Disease—Ravages of Tertiary Stage—Locomotor Ataxia and Paresis Among Late Effects—Hereditary Syphilis—May be Cured if Properly Treated in Time—Chancroid or "Soft Sore"—Gangrenous Balanitis.
Education Begins at Birth—Child Normally Looks First to Parents for Information—Sex Education Should Be Part of Child's General Education—Never Unduly Emphasized—Answering the Question: "Where Do Babies Come From?"—The Meaning of Education in Its Broad Sense—Tyranny of Excessive Affection—Personality of Child Should Be Developed, Not Stifled—Psychic Re education—Curiosity of the Small Child—Special Problems of the Boy—Puberty—Secondary Sexual Characteristics—Physical Changes Mental Changes—Sexual Development at Puberty—Night Emissions—Masturbation—Preparation for Manhood—Special Problems of the Girl—The Need for Self-Knowledge—Adolescence—Physical Changes—Mental Changes—Other Problems of the Sexual life.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1973, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 50 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
