[588]Havelock Ellis, “Studies in the Psychology of Sex,” vol. iii., “Analysis of the Sexual Impulse.”[589]A special account of this matter is found in an interesting work by G. H. Schneider, “Joy and Sorrow of the Human Race: a Social and Psychological Investigation of the Fundamental Problems of Ethics” (Stuttgart, 1883).[590]Cf.Eugen Dühren (Iwan Bloch), “Recent Researches regarding the Marquis de Sade and his Time” (Berlin, 1904). I refer the reader to this, my second, work on the Marquis de Sade, as a critical description of the true de Sade based upon contemporary sources. My former work upon this subject I now regard as inadequate, youthful, and containing numerous errors.[591]See the description of this in G. Hirth’s “Ways to Love,” p. 638.[592]They are still more clearly to be observed in animals.[593]Havelock Ellis, “Eroticism and Pain,” in his “Analysis of the Sexual Impulse.”[594]Friedrich S. Krauss, “Procreation in the Morals, the Customs, and the Beliefs of the Southern Slavs,” published inKryptadia, vol. vii., pp. 208, 209 (Paris, 1899).[595]A. Eulenburg, “Sadism and Masochism,” published in “Borderland Questions of Nervous and Mental Life,” No. 19, pp. 9, 10 (published by Loewenfeld and Kurella, Wiesbaden, 1902).[596]Ch. Féré, “Sadism in the Bull-fight,” published in theRevue de Médecine, 1900, No. 8.[597]The sadistic element in lynch law has recently been most vividly described by Feliz Baumann in his interesting book, “In Darkest America: Manners and Customs in the United States.” (Dresden, 1902).[598]Francisque Bouiller,Du Plaisir et de la Douleur, p. 72 (Paris, 1865).[599]A. Horwicz, “Psychological Analysis on Psychological Grounds,” p. 361 (Magdeburg, 1878).[600]Michel Montaigne, “Essais,” p. 35 (Paris, 1886).[601]Havelock Ellis, “Analysis of the Sexual Impulse.”[602]J. J. Virey, “Woman,” p. 347.[603]This point of view has been especially insisted on by Felix von Luschan.Cf.Politsch-anthropologische Revue, 1902, No. 1 p. 71.[604]K. von don Steinen, “The Savage Races of Central Brazil,” p. 332 (Berlin, 1894).[605]S. R. Steinmetz, “Ethnological Studies regarding the First Development of Punishment,” vol. i., p. 23 (Leiden and Leipzig, 1894).[606]Cf.also Albert Eulenburg, “Sadism and Masochism,” pp. 57-68 (with a good bibliography; Wiesbaden, 1902); Iwan Bloch, “Contributions to the Etiology of Psychopathia Sexualis,” vol. ii., pp. 75-97; Pierre Guénolé, “L’étrange Passion. La Flagellation dans les Mœurs d’Aujourd’hui. Études et Documents” (Paris, 1904); Don Brennus Aléra, “La Flagellation Passionelle” (Paris, 1905); Lord Drialys, “Les Délices du Fouet. Précédé d’un Essai sur la Flagellation et le Masochisme par Jean de Villiot” (contains numerous interesting details; Paris, 1907).[607]Especially at the time when flogging as a judicial punishment was still practised in Germany. The sadistic influence of this punishment is described by W. Reinhard in his celebrated book “Lenchen im Zuchthause” (“Lenchen in the Penitentiary”), reprinted 1901 (Karlsruhe, 1840). In Russia these conditions remain unaltered.[608]P. Näcke, “Forensic, Psychiatrical, and Psychological Aspects of the Trial of Dippold, especially in Connexion with Sadism,” published in theArchives for Criminal Anthropology, 1903, vol. xiii., No. 4, pp. 350-372.[609]Regarding the English flagellation brothels, and regarding Theresa Berkley, see my work, “The Sexual Life in England,” vol. ii., pp. 429-443.[610]H. Lawes, “Die Weibliche Reize,” p. 180 (Leipzig,circa1877).[611]Siegfried Türkel (“Sexual Pathological Cases,” published in theArchives for Criminal Anthropology, vol. xi., pp. 219, 220) reports the case of an actor, who, known under the name of “The Ravisher,” induced prostitutes, whom he paid liberally, to resist him sometimes for hours, and then apparently to yield to his superior force. He once took a young girl into his dwelling, bound her suddenly, and violated her in this state.[612]In this case, according to von Krafft-Ebing, the life of his victim depended on the fact whether ejaculation occurred soon or late.[613]Cf.Santlus, “The Psychology of Human Impulses,” published in theArchives for Psychiatry, 1864, vol. vi., p. 255.[614]Cf.regarding sadistic arson my “Contributions to the Etiology of Psychopathia Sexualis,” vol. ii., pp. 116-118.[615]G. Chr. Lichtenberg, “Miscellaneous Writings,” edited by L. Chr. Lichtenberg and Friedrich Kries, vol. ii., p. 447 (Göttingen, 1801).[616]To this category belongs also the peculiar case reported by Siegfried Türkel (“Sexual Pathological Cases,” published in theArchives for Criminal Anthropology, 1903, vol. xi., pp. 215-218) of a historian who became sexually excited by the view of a woman suffering from sexual deprivation, and of her mental trouble. Another man (ibid., p. 222, 223) obtained sexual excitement and gratification only by watching the anxiety of women—for example, of such as he had himself falsely accused of theft![617]Cf.the reference to erotic dictionaries in my “Contributions to the Etiology of Psychopathia Sexualis,” vol. ii., pp. 104, 105. Recently F. S. Krauss, in his “Anthropophyteia,” has devoted special attention to this peculiar manifestation of the popular soul.[618]R. Schwaeblé, “Les Détraquées de Paris,” pp. 3-10.[619]The typical literary advocate of masochism, who in actual life was a passionate worshipper of the whip, was Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895).Cf.regarding him, his life, his sexual perversions, and his writings, C. F. von Schlichtegroll, “Sacher-Masoch and Masochism” (Dresden, 1901); Wanda von Sacher-Masoch, “Confessions of my Life” (Berlin and Leipzig, 1906); C. F. von Schlichtegroll, “‘Wanda’ without Fur and Mask. An Answer to ‘Wanda’ von Sacher-Masoch’s ‘Confessions of My Life,’ with extracts from Sacher-Masoch’s Diary” (Leipzig, 1906).[620]A. de Musset, “Confessions of a Child of his Time.”[621]Ertel, “A ‘Slave,’” published in theArchives for Criminal Anthropology, issued by Hans Gross, vol. xxv., Nos. 1 and 2, p. 107 (Leipzig, 1906). Hamburg appears to be the chief centre of masochistic prostitution. See also the report given by D. Hausen, “The Cane and the Whip,” second edition, pp. 164, 165 (Dresden, 1902).[622]Regarding the voluptuous sensations connected with hanging, see my “Contributions to the Etiology of Psychopathia Sexualis,” vol. ii., p. 173, and more especially my “Sexual Life in England,” vol. iii., pp. 94-99 (Berlin, 1903); also Havelock Ellis, “Analysis of the Sexual Impulse.”[623]Cf.Castor and Pollux, “The Masseuse Improprieties of Berlin” (Berlin, 1900).[624]This is a favourite masochistic situation. Hans Baldung has immortalized it in a picture, in which Phyllis rides upon Aristotle. I owe to the kindness of my colleague Dr. Kantorowicz, in Hanover, the knowledge that J. von Falke describes an ivory relief representing the same scene. King Alexander looks on, and “rejoices at the scene—how the bearded old man, controlled by the beauty, with the bit in his mouth, is crawling about on all-fours, carrying the lady, armed with a whip.” In Semrau-Lübke’s “Elements of the History of Art,” vol. iii., p. 532 (Stuttgart, 1903), a picture on glass, from the Rahn Collection in Zurich, is described, which represents the same history.[625]Ertel,op. cit., pp. 105, 106.[626]The following extremely valuable contribution to the psychology of the Russian revolution now in progress was sent in September, 1906, from Russia to my colleague Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. He most kindly gave me this extremely interesting sketch for publication in this place. It throws a very clear light upon the nature of algolagnia. We have here a unique psychological document, which deserves the attention of politicians and sociologists no less than that of anthropologists and psychologists.
[588]Havelock Ellis, “Studies in the Psychology of Sex,” vol. iii., “Analysis of the Sexual Impulse.”
[589]A special account of this matter is found in an interesting work by G. H. Schneider, “Joy and Sorrow of the Human Race: a Social and Psychological Investigation of the Fundamental Problems of Ethics” (Stuttgart, 1883).
[590]Cf.Eugen Dühren (Iwan Bloch), “Recent Researches regarding the Marquis de Sade and his Time” (Berlin, 1904). I refer the reader to this, my second, work on the Marquis de Sade, as a critical description of the true de Sade based upon contemporary sources. My former work upon this subject I now regard as inadequate, youthful, and containing numerous errors.
[591]See the description of this in G. Hirth’s “Ways to Love,” p. 638.
[592]They are still more clearly to be observed in animals.
[593]Havelock Ellis, “Eroticism and Pain,” in his “Analysis of the Sexual Impulse.”
[594]Friedrich S. Krauss, “Procreation in the Morals, the Customs, and the Beliefs of the Southern Slavs,” published inKryptadia, vol. vii., pp. 208, 209 (Paris, 1899).
[595]A. Eulenburg, “Sadism and Masochism,” published in “Borderland Questions of Nervous and Mental Life,” No. 19, pp. 9, 10 (published by Loewenfeld and Kurella, Wiesbaden, 1902).
[596]Ch. Féré, “Sadism in the Bull-fight,” published in theRevue de Médecine, 1900, No. 8.
[597]The sadistic element in lynch law has recently been most vividly described by Feliz Baumann in his interesting book, “In Darkest America: Manners and Customs in the United States.” (Dresden, 1902).
[598]Francisque Bouiller,Du Plaisir et de la Douleur, p. 72 (Paris, 1865).
[599]A. Horwicz, “Psychological Analysis on Psychological Grounds,” p. 361 (Magdeburg, 1878).
[600]Michel Montaigne, “Essais,” p. 35 (Paris, 1886).
[601]Havelock Ellis, “Analysis of the Sexual Impulse.”
[602]J. J. Virey, “Woman,” p. 347.
[603]This point of view has been especially insisted on by Felix von Luschan.Cf.Politsch-anthropologische Revue, 1902, No. 1 p. 71.
[604]K. von don Steinen, “The Savage Races of Central Brazil,” p. 332 (Berlin, 1894).
[605]S. R. Steinmetz, “Ethnological Studies regarding the First Development of Punishment,” vol. i., p. 23 (Leiden and Leipzig, 1894).
[606]Cf.also Albert Eulenburg, “Sadism and Masochism,” pp. 57-68 (with a good bibliography; Wiesbaden, 1902); Iwan Bloch, “Contributions to the Etiology of Psychopathia Sexualis,” vol. ii., pp. 75-97; Pierre Guénolé, “L’étrange Passion. La Flagellation dans les Mœurs d’Aujourd’hui. Études et Documents” (Paris, 1904); Don Brennus Aléra, “La Flagellation Passionelle” (Paris, 1905); Lord Drialys, “Les Délices du Fouet. Précédé d’un Essai sur la Flagellation et le Masochisme par Jean de Villiot” (contains numerous interesting details; Paris, 1907).
[607]Especially at the time when flogging as a judicial punishment was still practised in Germany. The sadistic influence of this punishment is described by W. Reinhard in his celebrated book “Lenchen im Zuchthause” (“Lenchen in the Penitentiary”), reprinted 1901 (Karlsruhe, 1840). In Russia these conditions remain unaltered.
[608]P. Näcke, “Forensic, Psychiatrical, and Psychological Aspects of the Trial of Dippold, especially in Connexion with Sadism,” published in theArchives for Criminal Anthropology, 1903, vol. xiii., No. 4, pp. 350-372.
[609]Regarding the English flagellation brothels, and regarding Theresa Berkley, see my work, “The Sexual Life in England,” vol. ii., pp. 429-443.
[610]H. Lawes, “Die Weibliche Reize,” p. 180 (Leipzig,circa1877).
[611]Siegfried Türkel (“Sexual Pathological Cases,” published in theArchives for Criminal Anthropology, vol. xi., pp. 219, 220) reports the case of an actor, who, known under the name of “The Ravisher,” induced prostitutes, whom he paid liberally, to resist him sometimes for hours, and then apparently to yield to his superior force. He once took a young girl into his dwelling, bound her suddenly, and violated her in this state.
[612]In this case, according to von Krafft-Ebing, the life of his victim depended on the fact whether ejaculation occurred soon or late.
[613]Cf.Santlus, “The Psychology of Human Impulses,” published in theArchives for Psychiatry, 1864, vol. vi., p. 255.
[614]Cf.regarding sadistic arson my “Contributions to the Etiology of Psychopathia Sexualis,” vol. ii., pp. 116-118.
[615]G. Chr. Lichtenberg, “Miscellaneous Writings,” edited by L. Chr. Lichtenberg and Friedrich Kries, vol. ii., p. 447 (Göttingen, 1801).
[616]To this category belongs also the peculiar case reported by Siegfried Türkel (“Sexual Pathological Cases,” published in theArchives for Criminal Anthropology, 1903, vol. xi., pp. 215-218) of a historian who became sexually excited by the view of a woman suffering from sexual deprivation, and of her mental trouble. Another man (ibid., p. 222, 223) obtained sexual excitement and gratification only by watching the anxiety of women—for example, of such as he had himself falsely accused of theft!
[617]Cf.the reference to erotic dictionaries in my “Contributions to the Etiology of Psychopathia Sexualis,” vol. ii., pp. 104, 105. Recently F. S. Krauss, in his “Anthropophyteia,” has devoted special attention to this peculiar manifestation of the popular soul.
[618]R. Schwaeblé, “Les Détraquées de Paris,” pp. 3-10.
[619]The typical literary advocate of masochism, who in actual life was a passionate worshipper of the whip, was Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895).Cf.regarding him, his life, his sexual perversions, and his writings, C. F. von Schlichtegroll, “Sacher-Masoch and Masochism” (Dresden, 1901); Wanda von Sacher-Masoch, “Confessions of my Life” (Berlin and Leipzig, 1906); C. F. von Schlichtegroll, “‘Wanda’ without Fur and Mask. An Answer to ‘Wanda’ von Sacher-Masoch’s ‘Confessions of My Life,’ with extracts from Sacher-Masoch’s Diary” (Leipzig, 1906).
[620]A. de Musset, “Confessions of a Child of his Time.”
[621]Ertel, “A ‘Slave,’” published in theArchives for Criminal Anthropology, issued by Hans Gross, vol. xxv., Nos. 1 and 2, p. 107 (Leipzig, 1906). Hamburg appears to be the chief centre of masochistic prostitution. See also the report given by D. Hausen, “The Cane and the Whip,” second edition, pp. 164, 165 (Dresden, 1902).
[622]Regarding the voluptuous sensations connected with hanging, see my “Contributions to the Etiology of Psychopathia Sexualis,” vol. ii., p. 173, and more especially my “Sexual Life in England,” vol. iii., pp. 94-99 (Berlin, 1903); also Havelock Ellis, “Analysis of the Sexual Impulse.”
[623]Cf.Castor and Pollux, “The Masseuse Improprieties of Berlin” (Berlin, 1900).
[624]This is a favourite masochistic situation. Hans Baldung has immortalized it in a picture, in which Phyllis rides upon Aristotle. I owe to the kindness of my colleague Dr. Kantorowicz, in Hanover, the knowledge that J. von Falke describes an ivory relief representing the same scene. King Alexander looks on, and “rejoices at the scene—how the bearded old man, controlled by the beauty, with the bit in his mouth, is crawling about on all-fours, carrying the lady, armed with a whip.” In Semrau-Lübke’s “Elements of the History of Art,” vol. iii., p. 532 (Stuttgart, 1903), a picture on glass, from the Rahn Collection in Zurich, is described, which represents the same history.
[625]Ertel,op. cit., pp. 105, 106.
[626]The following extremely valuable contribution to the psychology of the Russian revolution now in progress was sent in September, 1906, from Russia to my colleague Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. He most kindly gave me this extremely interesting sketch for publication in this place. It throws a very clear light upon the nature of algolagnia. We have here a unique psychological document, which deserves the attention of politicians and sociologists no less than that of anthropologists and psychologists.
“With respect to the evolution of physiological love, it is probable that its germ is always to be sought and to be found in an individual fetichistic charm which a person of one sex exercises upon a person of the other sex.”—R. von Krafft-Ebing.
Physiological foundation of sexual fetichism — Definition — “Partial attraction” — Theory of fetichism — Psychological process by which it originates — Idealization and accentuation in love — The ideal isolation of certain parts — “Lesser” and “greater” fetichism — The most frequent forms of sexual fetichism — Racial fetichism — Peculiar inclinations towards exotic individuals — Hair fetichism — Various forms of this — The “plait-cutters” — Trial of a plait-cutter — Hair fetichism in women — Baldness fetichism — Fetichism for other parts of the body — Breast fetichism — Genital fetichism — The phallus cult — Cunnilinctus and fellatio — A case of genital fetichism — A hermaphrodite fetichist — Hand fetichism — Buttock fetichism — Smell fetichism — Red hair and the odour of the body — A passage from d Annunzio’s “Lust” — Axillary-odour fetichism — The odour of the entire body as a fetich — Influence of specific genital odours — Skatological fetiches — “Skatology” in folk-lore — The “muse latrinal” — The “renifleurs” and “épongeurs” — Sexual perfumes — Influence of flowers and scents — Sexual taste fetichism — Priapistic means of enjoyment — Examples — Fetichism for horsewomen — For bodily defects — For old men — Voice fetichism — Object fetichism — Shoe fetichism, or “retifism” — Explanation of these — Peculiarities of shoe fetichism — Corset, stocking, and handkerchief fetichism — Fabric and costume fetichism.
Like algolagnia,sexual fetichismrests upon a physiological basis, and is merely a more or less abnormal increase of fetichistic ideas and perceptions, which are rooted in the very nature of the sexual attraction.
By fetichism (derived from the PortuguesefeiticoItalianfetisso—magic, charm) we understand the limitation of love, its transference from the entire personality to aportionof this personality, or, it may be, to somelifelessphysical objectrelatedto thepersonality.[627]This fascinating “portion” of the beloved personality, or the “object” associated with this personality, is the sexual “fetich.” Within physiological limits, the part concerned exercises a particular attraction, and is especially exciting, but in the ideas of the lover it remains associated with the entire personality to which it belongs. Fetichism first becomes abnormal, or pathological, when the partial representation becomes completely divorced from the general representation of the personality, so that, for example, a plait of hair or a pocket-handkerchief is loved alone and by itself, disconnected from the person to whom it belongs.
The development of love can always be referred to fetichistic ideas, for when we examine critically the first general impression which the beloved makes upon the lover, we always find that there are certainpartsorfunctionswhich have made thegreatestimpression, and have exercised a greater erotic influence than other portions. To the former of these, therefore, the imagination and the sensibility more especiallycleave. In my “Contributions to the Etiology of Psychopathia Sexualis” (vol. ii., p. 311), I defined sexual fetiches as peculiarsymbolsof theessenceof the beloved personality, with which the idea of the entire type is most readily associated. M. Hirschfeld later enunciated the same views.
As sexual fetiches we may have: (1)Portions of the body; (2)functions and emanations of the body; and (3)objects which have any kind of relation to the body.
Under (1) we may enumerate the hand, the foot, the nose, the ears, the eyes, the hair of the head, the hair of the beard,the throat and the back of the neck, the breasts, the hips, the genital organs, the buttocks, the calves. All these parts may constitute sexual fetiches.
The same is true of all the influences enumerated under (2)—viz., gait, movement, voice, glance, odour, complexion.
Under (3) we may enumerate the clothing as awhole(as costume) and in its individual parts, upper-clothing and underclothing, hat, eyeglasses, way of dressing the hair, necktie, bodice, corset, chemise, petticoat, stockings, shoes or boots, apron, handkerchief, clothing materials (fur, satin, silk), the colour of clothing (mourning, parti-coloured blouses, white clothing, uniform), fashion (cul de Paris,décolletéandretroussé,tricot); indeed, clothing fetichism goes so far that a particular shape of the heel of the shoe, a particular mode of ornamentation of some particular part of the clothing, and, finally, any striking part of the clothing, may become a sexual fetich.
This fetichistic influence is further increased by a peculiar characteristic of human love. This is its tendency towardsidealization,beautification, andenlargementof those parts which especially affect the senses. This beautification and idealization extends from the body to the clothing, and to articles in general, used by the beloved person, but normally remains associated with the entire personality. It is first by means of the enlargement and accentuation of a distinct part that this becomes separated from the general idea, and thus its removal and conversion into a “fetich” is prepared for. In the chapter on clothing we drew attention to this general anthropological phenomenon of the enlargement and accentuation of many parts by means of such measures as painting, articles of clothing, exposure, way of doing the hair, etc.
Inasmuch as now, by the ideal and actual accentuation of the part under consideration, it is projected as a more independent structure, and separates itself from the personality as a whole, it is involuntarilyisolatedin idea by the fetichist, and becomesgeneralizedto constitute an independent stimulus, which may now, temporarily or permanently, completely take the place of the personality as a whole.
This physiological process embraces both the “lesser” and the “greater” fetichism of Binet.
The lesser fetichism consists in this: that the lover, without going so far as to lose sight completely of the entire person of his beloved, still directs his attention toindividualspecial charms, or is in general first attracted to the beloved woman by meansofquite distinct qualities, such as the shape and smallness of the hand, the colour and sparkling of the eyes, the abundance and softness of the hair, the complexion, a distinct odour, a melodious voice, etc. In the “lesser” fetichism the partial representation plays, indeed, a very prominent part in the general picture, but does not entirely obliterate this picture.
In the “greater” fetichism, on the other hand, a particular portion, or function, or quality, or an article of clothing, or an object of customary use belonging to the beloved person, is isolated from this latter, and in a sense becomes transformed into the latter, and assumes wholly and completely the character of a being capable by itself of exercising a sexually exciting influence. This is genuine sexual fetichism.
Binet and von Schrenck-Notzing have referred the genesis of fetichism, as a rule, to somechance occurrenceduring childhood—to a fetichistic impression which chanced to coincide with sexual excitement, and thus obtained a permanently sexual coloration. The time of puberty and the first sexual relationships are especially dangerous for the formation of such associations of ideas. Von Schrenck-Notzing rightly draws attention to the fact that this perverse associative connexion, as a reaction to powerful external impressions, does not occur only, as Binet assumes, in predisposed individuals, but is alsoquite peculiarly characteristic of the childish mental life at the time when the brain is undergoing growth, as well as of the less-developed intellectual powers of savage races, among whom at the present time, in quite other provinces than the sexual, fetichism is cultivated in the most excessive manner; thus, fetichism is often manifested by persons with perfectly normal brains. Such chance occurrences for the origination of sexual fetichism occur in games, in reading, in solitary and mutual masturbation. Nearly always, in connexion with the genesis of fetichism, we can prove that there has been some such actual predisposing cause.
In numerous cases of the “greater” fetichism, especially in the category of the hair fetichists (“plait-cutters”), shoe fetichists, and handkerchief fetichists, there is also associated a more or less severe psychopathic constitution, on the foundation of which the fetichistic impulse has developed as a kind of “coercive idea” (obsession). These are the cases which have the greatest forensic importance, and which gain publicity.
We shall now proceed to give a brief account of the most important forms of sexual fetichism, and those most frequently encountered.
First of all,parts,functions, andqualitiesof the body may constitute sexual fetiches; the possibilities in this respect, extending from head to foot, have been enumerated above. Moreover, odd as it may sound, theentire human beingmay also become a sexual fetich, not as a whole personality—that would be normal love—but as anationalorracialindividual. In such a case we have the so-called “racial fetichism.” The European newspapers are full of interesting reports of the peculiar attractive force exercised by exotic individuals, female or male, such as negroes, Arabs, Abyssinians, Moors, Indians, Japanese, etc., upon European men and women respectively. Whenever members of such races come to stay in any European capital, we hear of remarkable love affairs between white girls and these strangers, of romantic abductions, and other mad adventures. The novelty, peculiarity, piquancy of the strange races has the effect of a fetich. The size, the figure, the physiognomy, tint of skin, smell, tattooing, adornment, costume, speech, dance, and song, of these savage men exercise a fascinating influence. White men have from very early times had a peculiar weakness for negroes and for mulatto women and girls. As early as the eighteenth century there existed in Paris negro brothels; and somewhat later, after Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition, negroes and negresses came in large numbers to Paris, and were utilized for the gratification of the lusts of both sexes.
Notwithstanding the deeply-rooted racial hatred, even in America racial fetichism gives rise to numerous connexions of this kind. The “coloured girl” exercises a powerful attractive force upon the American man; and even the proud American woman manifests, with an especial frequency in Chicago, a certain preference for the malenegro.[628]But much greater is the alluring force exercised by the white upon the negro. More especially among civilized negroes does the white woman play the part of a fetich. This is the explanation of the frequent rape, or attempted rape, of white girls on the part of negroes—one of the principal causes of the Southern lynchings.
Among the parts of the body which act as fetiches, we have especially to mention the hair of woman’s head. “Hair fetichism” is widely diffused, both in the physiological “lesser” form and in the pathological “greater” form. The abundance and the colour of the hair have an equal influence in normal love also as a “fetich.” Hair, “of sweetest flesh, the tenderest, Sweetest growth,” as Eduard Grisebach terms it in his “NeueTanhäuser,” has a profound sexual significance; with primitive man, also, it probably played the same rôle of a sexually stimulating “veil” which was later played by tattooing and clothing. The hair of the head, and special modes of arranging that hair, play an important part in sexual selection among the savage races. The odour of the hair also has a sexually stimulating influence, and remains persistent in the imagination. The softness also of the hair, the waving, curling movement of woman’s loosened hair, and the rustling of the hair, excite the imagination. But most important of all is the colour of the hair; and in this respectblondeor reddish-blonde hair unquestionably takes the first rank as a sexual fetich. Blonde hair exercised such an influence in the days of the Roman Empire. The demi-monde of all times has utilized this form of hair fetichism, felt by men, for its own purposes, either by dyeing the hair a fair colour, or by the wearing of fair-haired wigs. There exist, also, fetichistic impulses towards brown, black, and red hair respectively. Jon Lehmann tells (Breslauer Zeitung, August 24, 1906) of a great libertine who was happy with any or all pretty girls, as long as they had not red hair and were not the daughters of clergymen. Innumerable times had he made this assertion. Many years later Lehmann found him as the happy husband of—a red-haired clergyman’s daughter! “C’est l’amour qui a fait cela,” he answered laconically to the astonished question why he had been so unfaithful to the principles of his youth.
Hair fetichism manifests itself in various ways. Many people are, properly speaking, rather smell fetichists than hair fetichists; they content themselves simply with smelling the hair, and this constitutes their only, or their principal, sexual gratification. Other hair fetichists obtain sexual enjoyment by looking at the hair, or by passing the fingers through it. The following case, reported by Archenholtz (“England and Italy,” vol. i., p. 448; Leipzig, 1785), is typical:
“I was acquainted with an Englishman who was an honourable man; but he had a very peculiar taste, which, as he frequently assured me, was deeply rooted in his soul. His greatest pleasure, which alone could intoxicate his senses, was to comb the hair of a beautiful woman. He kept a very handsome mistress for this purpose only.Love and woman did not, in the ordinary sense, come under consideration; he had nothing to do except with her hair.In the hours that suited him, she must take down her hair and let him pass his hands through it. This operation produced in him the most intense degree of physical voluptuousness.”
“I was acquainted with an Englishman who was an honourable man; but he had a very peculiar taste, which, as he frequently assured me, was deeply rooted in his soul. His greatest pleasure, which alone could intoxicate his senses, was to comb the hair of a beautiful woman. He kept a very handsome mistress for this purpose only.Love and woman did not, in the ordinary sense, come under consideration; he had nothing to do except with her hair.In the hours that suited him, she must take down her hair and let him pass his hands through it. This operation produced in him the most intense degree of physical voluptuousness.”
The most remarkable class of hair-fetichists are the so-called “plait-cutters.” The transition to this morbid state depends upon the custom, widely diffused in earlier times, of cutting off and preserving locks of hair as erotic fetiches. This sexual reliquary cult flourished especially in the eighteenth century, during the period of “sentiment.” Friedrich S. Krauss reports (“Anthropophyteia,” vol. i., p. 163) that among the Southern Slavs young men and women gave one another tufts of pubic hair as sexual fetiches. The “wig-collectors” also belong to the category of harmless hair fetichists. More serious are the genuine “plait-cutters”—persons who are accustomed to cut plaits of hair from the heads of girls, who are happy in the possession of these plaits, and who obtain sexual gratification simply by looking at and touching them. These plait-cutters are almost unquestionably pathological individuals, who act under the influence of coercive impulses. Recently, in Berlin, two such cases attracted public attention. The judicial proceedings connected with the former of these cases elicited such interesting details regarding the development, psychology, and activity of plait fetichism that it is worth preserving, and is therefore given here at length, quoted from a report in theBerliner Tageblatt, No. 118, of March 6, 1906.
Perversities before the Law Courts.The plait-cutter whose arrest attracted so much attention appeared yesterday in the Assessor’s Court, under the presidency of the judicial assessor Förster. The accused, Robert S., was a student of the Technical High School at Charlottenburg. The accused was prosecuted and defended by counsel. He was born at Valparaiso in the year 1883. The accusation was that, between the months of November and January last, he had, in sixteen cases, in the public streets, cut plaits of hair from the heads of young girls, taking also the ribbons with which their hair was tied; this charge was one of theft. In twelve cases also he was accused of bodily maltreatment and actual injury. Two medical experts were present to advise the court. During the inquiry the public was excluded from the court, but the representatives of the Press were admitted.The accused replied to the inquiries of the President, that he had come to Germany in the year 1888, and that he had been at school in Thorn, Bergedorf, and Hamburg. In Hamburg he had passed his final examination, and had received a good report on leaving. He had always had a special fondness for mathematics; he had studied for one term at Munich. He had always worked very hard. He admitted that in sixteen cases he had cut plaits of hair from the heads of girls in the streets of Berlin. In his roomsthirty-one plaitshad been found.—President: Had you such tendencies in earlieryears?—Accused: Yes; at the age of sixteen years I secretly, one evening, cut some hair from the head of my sister, thirteen years of age, and kept it. I have always had a desire for beautiful long hair; finally, this desire became so strong that I was unable to resist it any longer. The first time that I cut some hair from the head of a girl was the day of the entrance of the Crown Princess. I do not know why I suddenly was unable to resist the impulse. It became more powerful after I returned from a journey to South America, which I made as a voluntary machinist. The voyage lasted five months. I had worked very hard while on board. During the whole voyage I was in a gloomy mood, and when I returned the impulse became continually greater.—President: In what way did the impulse affect you?—Accused: I frequently ran after little girls without being able to gratify the desire to possess their hair. Then I succeeded, amid the crowd at the entrance festivities Unter den Linden, to cut some loose hair from the head of a girl with a pair of scissors, without the girl becoming aware of it.—President: What did you do with the hair?—Accused: Nothing at all.—President: What did you think about while you where doing it?—Accused: Nothing. I simply put the hair into my pocket.—President: And afterwards?—Accused: Several times Unter den Linden I cut loose hair from girls’ heads.—President: When did you begin to cut off entire plaits?—Accused: In November, at the entrance of the King of Spain. Then, in the “Opernplatz,” I cut a plait from the head of a child; the girl did not notice it, and I remained quiet. The plait was fastened with ribbon.—President: What did you do with the plait?—Accused: I took it home, combed it, and put it in a box on my writing-table, on which was the inscription “Mementoes.” I afterwards frequentlytook the hair out and kissed it. Often I laid it on my pillow and rested my head on it.—President: Were you not fully aware that you were doing something wrong, and that you were interfering profoundly with the rights of another individual?—Accused: I did not think about it.—President: If the proceedings were now to come to an end, and if you were discharged, would you do the same thing again?—Accused: I do not think that I should do it again, now that I have experienced what the consequences are.—President: Can you give security that in the future your will will be stronger than the impulse?—Accused: I cannot give any guarantee.—President: Have you never read in the papers that the citizens of Berlin were very much agitated by this cutting off of girls’ hair?—Accused: I have read nothing of the kind.—President: When were you arrested?—Accused: On January 27. From a girl whose hair was plaited in two plaits I cut one plait; when she came near me again, I wanted to cut off the other plait, and then I was arrested.—President: Is it true that you put a ribbon round each plait of hair, and marked it with the date you had cut it off?—Accused: To some extent I did so.—President: Have you ever had sexual relations with woman?—Accused: No, never. I have only had a strong impulse to gain possession of beautiful long hair.—President: Would not long beautiful men’s hair have satisfied you as well?—Accused: Yes.—Counsel for the Defence: Did you not have this morbid impulse in quite early youth? You told me that you remembered the hair of many girls from the time that you were at school in Thorn. At that time you were eight years old. You saidto me that you had thought no more about the persons to whom the hair belonged, but only, and all the more, about their hair.—Accused: That is correct. It is indifferent to me whether the person to whom the hair belonged is young and beautiful or old and ugly: my only interest is in the hair.—President: Have you the same interest in white hair?—Accused: My attraction is only to fair hair.—In reply to a further question on the part of the President, the accused declared that he had been a very active member of the academic gymnastic club, and that he belonged to a students’ purity alliance.—Counsel for the Defence: The accused has stated that, while he is at work, it often happens that suddenly plaits of hair seem to appear before his eyes. He often has reveries in which it seems to him that in all countries women and girls with beautiful hair are at his disposal, and that he is able to rob them of their hair. Among his colleagues the accused has always felt himself to be thrust into the background. He had the feeling that he wasdestined for great things, and that his comrades would not recognize this. The accused, whose father is dead, had received assistance for his studies; his brother is an officer at sea; one of his sisters is mentally disordered.—Of the witnesses who had been summoned to attend, three only were examined. Captain von W., whose daughter, when walking in the Leipzigerstrasse, had been robbed of part of her hair by the accused, gave evidence that the affair had had very disagreeable consequences to his daughter. Since that time the child had suffered from a terrible feeling of anxiety; she had experienced a nervous shock, and frequently cried out anxiously in the middle of the night, because she was dreaming of the plait-cutter.—The next witness, Frau Gall, an old acquaintance of the family of the accused, described his character as exceptionally good. All who knew him had been astonished to hear of his actions; no one who knew him had ever observed this passion for hair. Recently he had obviously been overstrained mentally, and very distrait; generally speaking, he was not high-spirited and happy, like other young fellows. According to further evidence given by this witness, regarding the family history, it appeared that the accused was affected with congenital taint.—Undergraduate Schmeding, President of “the Alliance for the Maintenance of Chastity,” had become intimately acquainted with the accused, in consequence of their holding similar views. He described him as having a good character, but as dreamy, melancholy, and reserved, and unfamiliar with harmless cheerfulness and joy.—Dr. Hoffmann, one of the medical advisers to the court, said: We have in this case to do with a peculiar mode of activity of the sexual impulse. Although such an impulse does not completely abrogate responsibility, still, in this case, normal responsibility is greatly limited from early youth onwards. The accused has an imaginative belief that he is not sufficiently esteemed; he believes that he could make himself invisible; he believes that he could build a great castle, and furnish the rooms of this castle with innumerable plaits of hair. Moreover, he ishereditarily tainted with insanity, and bodily examination shows that he hasnumerous stigmata of degeneration. § 51 of the Criminal Code should apply to this case. Since the accused can hardly be supposed to have the power of controlling his impulse, it would appear necessary that he should be treated in a lunatic asylum.—Dr. Leppmann, the other medical adviser, said: The case before usis one of extreme rarity. The accused suffers from severe congenital taint, and exhibits a number of stigmata of degeneration. At the time his offences were committed the accused was certainly emotionally disturbed, and at the present time is still ill. Von Krafft-Ebing reports only a few such cases, and the same is true of Dr. Moll. The accused was incapable of free voluntary determination; he is still unhealthy, and must be treated as a sick man.—Counsel for the Prosecution: If the accused had been in possession of normal mental health, it would have been necessary to punish him with exceptional severity, for such offences as his profoundly endangered public security; it would not be right for any gaps to exist in our Criminal Code which made the punishment of such an offence impossible. We may dispute in detail under which paragraph the offence comes, but there can be no question but that it is a punishable offence. The medical experts had, however, shown that the accused was not fully sane, and he must be dealt with from this standpoint.The President summed up as follows: The public sense of justice naturally demands severe punishment for such an offence. The accused, however, is not criminally responsible. In view of the evidence given by the medical experts, the accused must be discharged, on the understanding that his family will immediately take steps to have him confined in an asylum. It was possible that this decision would not satisfy every one, but in view of the evidence before the court, no other course was possible.
The plait-cutter whose arrest attracted so much attention appeared yesterday in the Assessor’s Court, under the presidency of the judicial assessor Förster. The accused, Robert S., was a student of the Technical High School at Charlottenburg. The accused was prosecuted and defended by counsel. He was born at Valparaiso in the year 1883. The accusation was that, between the months of November and January last, he had, in sixteen cases, in the public streets, cut plaits of hair from the heads of young girls, taking also the ribbons with which their hair was tied; this charge was one of theft. In twelve cases also he was accused of bodily maltreatment and actual injury. Two medical experts were present to advise the court. During the inquiry the public was excluded from the court, but the representatives of the Press were admitted.
The accused replied to the inquiries of the President, that he had come to Germany in the year 1888, and that he had been at school in Thorn, Bergedorf, and Hamburg. In Hamburg he had passed his final examination, and had received a good report on leaving. He had always had a special fondness for mathematics; he had studied for one term at Munich. He had always worked very hard. He admitted that in sixteen cases he had cut plaits of hair from the heads of girls in the streets of Berlin. In his roomsthirty-one plaitshad been found.—President: Had you such tendencies in earlieryears?—Accused: Yes; at the age of sixteen years I secretly, one evening, cut some hair from the head of my sister, thirteen years of age, and kept it. I have always had a desire for beautiful long hair; finally, this desire became so strong that I was unable to resist it any longer. The first time that I cut some hair from the head of a girl was the day of the entrance of the Crown Princess. I do not know why I suddenly was unable to resist the impulse. It became more powerful after I returned from a journey to South America, which I made as a voluntary machinist. The voyage lasted five months. I had worked very hard while on board. During the whole voyage I was in a gloomy mood, and when I returned the impulse became continually greater.—President: In what way did the impulse affect you?—Accused: I frequently ran after little girls without being able to gratify the desire to possess their hair. Then I succeeded, amid the crowd at the entrance festivities Unter den Linden, to cut some loose hair from the head of a girl with a pair of scissors, without the girl becoming aware of it.—President: What did you do with the hair?—Accused: Nothing at all.—President: What did you think about while you where doing it?—Accused: Nothing. I simply put the hair into my pocket.—President: And afterwards?—Accused: Several times Unter den Linden I cut loose hair from girls’ heads.—President: When did you begin to cut off entire plaits?—Accused: In November, at the entrance of the King of Spain. Then, in the “Opernplatz,” I cut a plait from the head of a child; the girl did not notice it, and I remained quiet. The plait was fastened with ribbon.—President: What did you do with the plait?—Accused: I took it home, combed it, and put it in a box on my writing-table, on which was the inscription “Mementoes.” I afterwards frequentlytook the hair out and kissed it. Often I laid it on my pillow and rested my head on it.—President: Were you not fully aware that you were doing something wrong, and that you were interfering profoundly with the rights of another individual?—Accused: I did not think about it.—President: If the proceedings were now to come to an end, and if you were discharged, would you do the same thing again?—Accused: I do not think that I should do it again, now that I have experienced what the consequences are.—President: Can you give security that in the future your will will be stronger than the impulse?—Accused: I cannot give any guarantee.—President: Have you never read in the papers that the citizens of Berlin were very much agitated by this cutting off of girls’ hair?—Accused: I have read nothing of the kind.—President: When were you arrested?—Accused: On January 27. From a girl whose hair was plaited in two plaits I cut one plait; when she came near me again, I wanted to cut off the other plait, and then I was arrested.—President: Is it true that you put a ribbon round each plait of hair, and marked it with the date you had cut it off?—Accused: To some extent I did so.—President: Have you ever had sexual relations with woman?—Accused: No, never. I have only had a strong impulse to gain possession of beautiful long hair.—President: Would not long beautiful men’s hair have satisfied you as well?—Accused: Yes.—Counsel for the Defence: Did you not have this morbid impulse in quite early youth? You told me that you remembered the hair of many girls from the time that you were at school in Thorn. At that time you were eight years old. You saidto me that you had thought no more about the persons to whom the hair belonged, but only, and all the more, about their hair.—Accused: That is correct. It is indifferent to me whether the person to whom the hair belonged is young and beautiful or old and ugly: my only interest is in the hair.—President: Have you the same interest in white hair?—Accused: My attraction is only to fair hair.—In reply to a further question on the part of the President, the accused declared that he had been a very active member of the academic gymnastic club, and that he belonged to a students’ purity alliance.—Counsel for the Defence: The accused has stated that, while he is at work, it often happens that suddenly plaits of hair seem to appear before his eyes. He often has reveries in which it seems to him that in all countries women and girls with beautiful hair are at his disposal, and that he is able to rob them of their hair. Among his colleagues the accused has always felt himself to be thrust into the background. He had the feeling that he wasdestined for great things, and that his comrades would not recognize this. The accused, whose father is dead, had received assistance for his studies; his brother is an officer at sea; one of his sisters is mentally disordered.—Of the witnesses who had been summoned to attend, three only were examined. Captain von W., whose daughter, when walking in the Leipzigerstrasse, had been robbed of part of her hair by the accused, gave evidence that the affair had had very disagreeable consequences to his daughter. Since that time the child had suffered from a terrible feeling of anxiety; she had experienced a nervous shock, and frequently cried out anxiously in the middle of the night, because she was dreaming of the plait-cutter.—The next witness, Frau Gall, an old acquaintance of the family of the accused, described his character as exceptionally good. All who knew him had been astonished to hear of his actions; no one who knew him had ever observed this passion for hair. Recently he had obviously been overstrained mentally, and very distrait; generally speaking, he was not high-spirited and happy, like other young fellows. According to further evidence given by this witness, regarding the family history, it appeared that the accused was affected with congenital taint.—Undergraduate Schmeding, President of “the Alliance for the Maintenance of Chastity,” had become intimately acquainted with the accused, in consequence of their holding similar views. He described him as having a good character, but as dreamy, melancholy, and reserved, and unfamiliar with harmless cheerfulness and joy.—Dr. Hoffmann, one of the medical advisers to the court, said: We have in this case to do with a peculiar mode of activity of the sexual impulse. Although such an impulse does not completely abrogate responsibility, still, in this case, normal responsibility is greatly limited from early youth onwards. The accused has an imaginative belief that he is not sufficiently esteemed; he believes that he could make himself invisible; he believes that he could build a great castle, and furnish the rooms of this castle with innumerable plaits of hair. Moreover, he ishereditarily tainted with insanity, and bodily examination shows that he hasnumerous stigmata of degeneration. § 51 of the Criminal Code should apply to this case. Since the accused can hardly be supposed to have the power of controlling his impulse, it would appear necessary that he should be treated in a lunatic asylum.—Dr. Leppmann, the other medical adviser, said: The case before usis one of extreme rarity. The accused suffers from severe congenital taint, and exhibits a number of stigmata of degeneration. At the time his offences were committed the accused was certainly emotionally disturbed, and at the present time is still ill. Von Krafft-Ebing reports only a few such cases, and the same is true of Dr. Moll. The accused was incapable of free voluntary determination; he is still unhealthy, and must be treated as a sick man.—Counsel for the Prosecution: If the accused had been in possession of normal mental health, it would have been necessary to punish him with exceptional severity, for such offences as his profoundly endangered public security; it would not be right for any gaps to exist in our Criminal Code which made the punishment of such an offence impossible. We may dispute in detail under which paragraph the offence comes, but there can be no question but that it is a punishable offence. The medical experts had, however, shown that the accused was not fully sane, and he must be dealt with from this standpoint.
The President summed up as follows: The public sense of justice naturally demands severe punishment for such an offence. The accused, however, is not criminally responsible. In view of the evidence given by the medical experts, the accused must be discharged, on the understanding that his family will immediately take steps to have him confined in an asylum. It was possible that this decision would not satisfy every one, but in view of the evidence before the court, no other course was possible.
This case appears to have had a suggestive influence, for shortly afterwards a cashier, Alfred L., was arrested, who had cut plaits of hair from the heads of two young girls. In his home were found, in addition, seventeen plaits of hair, which he hadbought, among these the queue of a Chinese! Already when a schoolboy L. had been affected with this morbid impulse.
There exist also homosexual or pseudo-homosexual hair fetichists, especially among women, to whom the hair of another woman’s head becomes a fetich. Remarkable is the following passage in Gabriele d’Annunzio’s romance “Lust” (pp. 210-212; Berlin, 1902):
“‘Do you remember,’ asked Donna Francesca (of her friend Donna Maria), ‘at school, how we all wished to comb your hair? how we used to fight about it every day? Imagine, Andreas, that blood used actually to flow! Ah, I shall never forget the scenes between Carlotta Fiordelise and Gabriella Vanni. It was maniacal! To comb the hair of Maria Bandinelli was the one ardent desire of all the girls, great and small alike. The infection spread through the whole school. There followed prohibitions, warnings, severe punishment; we were even threatened with having our own hair cut off. Do you remember, Maria? All our heads were bewitched by the black snake which hung from your head to your heels. What passionate tears every evening! And when Gabriella Vanni, from jealousy, made that treacherous cut with a pair of scissors! Gabriella had really lost her wits. Do you remember?...’”“Andreas remarked that none of his lady friends had had such a growth of hair, so thick, so dark a forest, in which she could conceal herself. The history of all these young girls, in love with a plait of hair, filled with passion and jealousy, who burned to lay comb and hands upon this living treasure, seemed to him a most stimulating and poetic episode of cloistral life.”
“‘Do you remember,’ asked Donna Francesca (of her friend Donna Maria), ‘at school, how we all wished to comb your hair? how we used to fight about it every day? Imagine, Andreas, that blood used actually to flow! Ah, I shall never forget the scenes between Carlotta Fiordelise and Gabriella Vanni. It was maniacal! To comb the hair of Maria Bandinelli was the one ardent desire of all the girls, great and small alike. The infection spread through the whole school. There followed prohibitions, warnings, severe punishment; we were even threatened with having our own hair cut off. Do you remember, Maria? All our heads were bewitched by the black snake which hung from your head to your heels. What passionate tears every evening! And when Gabriella Vanni, from jealousy, made that treacherous cut with a pair of scissors! Gabriella had really lost her wits. Do you remember?...’”
“Andreas remarked that none of his lady friends had had such a growth of hair, so thick, so dark a forest, in which she could conceal herself. The history of all these young girls, in love with a plait of hair, filled with passion and jealousy, who burned to lay comb and hands upon this living treasure, seemed to him a most stimulating and poetic episode of cloistral life.”
There exists also a negative hair fetichism. Hirschfeld reports the case of a prostitute who was a well-developed fetichist for baldness. Among many races, removal of the hair is a means of sexual stimulation.
Nose, lips, mouth (cf.Belot’s novel, “La Bouche de Madame X.”), and ears, can all become the objects of sexual fetichism, though in most cases only of the lesser fetichism; the eyes also, which as fetichistic charms play an important part, and are effective especially through their colour. It is uncertain if, in this relationship, clear blue eyes or sparkling black eyes have the greater importance. The female breast is a natural physiological fetich for the male sex. But over and above this there exists a remarkable variety of breast fetichists, who employ the isolated breast, separated from the body, for the binding of books. According to Witkowski (“Tetoniana,” p. 35; Paris, 1898), certain bibliomaniacs and erotomaniacs have books bound with women’s skin taken from the region of the breast, so that the nipple forms a characteristic swelling on the cover! A further account of these human skin fetichists is given by Dr. Picard in theGazette Médicale de Paris, July 19, 1906.
Von Krafft-Ebing contests the existence of a special “genital fetichism”; but the universal diffusion of the phallus-cult contradicts his opinion; the phallus-cult is unquestionably connected with fetichistic ideas, which are embodied in the symbols of the lingam and the yoni. According toWeininger,[629]woman, speaking generally, isonlya phallus fetichist; man exists for her only as a sexual organ.
“I think people have been unwilling to see—or they have been unwilling to say; they have hardly formed accurate idea for themselves—what the copulatory organ of a man is for a woman, as wife, even as virgin; what it psychologically signifies; how it dominates to the uttermost the entire life of woman, although she herself may be completely unconscious of the fact. I do not mean at all that woman regards the male penis as beautiful, or even pretty. She regards it as man regards the Gorgon’s head, as the bird regards the snake—it exercises upon her a hypnotizing, magical, fascinating influence.”
“I think people have been unwilling to see—or they have been unwilling to say; they have hardly formed accurate idea for themselves—what the copulatory organ of a man is for a woman, as wife, even as virgin; what it psychologically signifies; how it dominates to the uttermost the entire life of woman, although she herself may be completely unconscious of the fact. I do not mean at all that woman regards the male penis as beautiful, or even pretty. She regards it as man regards the Gorgon’s head, as the bird regards the snake—it exercises upon her a hypnotizing, magical, fascinating influence.”
Goethe lays stress on the beauty which the male penis has in woman’s eyes, when, in the paralipomena to the first part of “Faust” (Weimar edition, vol. xiv., p. 307), he makes Satan say in his address to women:
“Für euch sind zwei DingeVon köstlichem Glanz,Das leuchtende GoldUnd ein glänzender....”
“Für euch sind zwei DingeVon köstlichem Glanz,Das leuchtende GoldUnd ein glänzender....”
“Für euch sind zwei DingeVon köstlichem Glanz,Das leuchtende GoldUnd ein glänzender....”
Georg Hirth also (“Ways to Love,” pp. 566, 567) speaks of an instinctive belief on the part of woman in the “beauty and the paradisaical force of the phallus,” and he regrets “the unnatural depreciation and mendacious concealment of this portion of the male body” by the conventional morality discovered by the world of men.
The wide diffusion of the genital fetichistic tendencies in man and woman is clearly manifested by the extremely frequent occurrence of isolated adoration of the genital organs in the practices of cunnilinctus and fellatio, which in numerous individuals completely replace normal coitus.
Very rare is a case, which came under my own observation, of isolated penis-foreskin fetichism in a heterosexual man. He is thirty years of age, and a student of natural science, in whom at the age of four years the first manifestation of sexual excitement occurred; later, towards the age of puberty, sexual excitement became always associated with the mental representation of a male penis, and more especially of the foreskin of that organ, whilst he felt antipathy to the idea of actual sexual intercourse with men, and felt attracted to women. Still, from time to time the imaginative representation of the membrum virile takes possession of his mind as a sort of coercive idea, and when this happens the patient masturbates, at the same time often making sketches of a penis.
Very rare is a case, which came under my own observation, of isolated penis-foreskin fetichism in a heterosexual man. He is thirty years of age, and a student of natural science, in whom at the age of four years the first manifestation of sexual excitement occurred; later, towards the age of puberty, sexual excitement became always associated with the mental representation of a male penis, and more especially of the foreskin of that organ, whilst he felt antipathy to the idea of actual sexual intercourse with men, and felt attracted to women. Still, from time to time the imaginative representation of the membrum virile takes possession of his mind as a sort of coercive idea, and when this happens the patient masturbates, at the same time often making sketches of a penis.
A singular case of exclusively genital fetichism is reported by P. Garnier (“Les Fetichistes,” pp. 170-174; Paris, 1896).