"Now for facts. In the gaol of R. the superintendent discovered a number of phalli in the females" inclosure; they were made of clay and sun-dried and bore marks of use. In the gaol of S. was a woman who (as is usual with tribades in India) wore male attire, and was well known for her s.e.xual proclivities. An examination revealed the following: Face much lined, mammae of masculine type, but nipples elongated and readily erectile; gluteal and iliac regions quite of masculine type, as also the thighs; c.l.i.toris, with enlarged glands, readily erectile; nymphae thickened and enlarged; v.u.l.v.ar orifice patent, for she had in early youth been a prost.i.tute; the voice was almost contralto. Her partner was of low type, but eminently feminine in configuration and manner. In this case I heard that "the man" went to a local ascetic and begged his intercession with the deity, so that she might impregnate her partner. ("The Hindoo medical works mention the possibility of a woman uniting with another woman in s.e.xual embraces and begetting a boneless fetus." Short History of Aryan Medical Science, p. 44.)
"In the town of D. there "lived apart" two women, one a Brahmin, the other a grazier; their modus operandi was tribadism, as an eyewitness informed me. In S. I was called in to treat the widow of a wealthy Mohammedan; I had occasion to examine the pudenda, and found what Martineau would have called the indelible stigmata of early masturbation and later sapphism. She admitted the impeachment and confessed that she was on the best of terms with her three remarkably well-formed and good-looking handmaidens. This lady said that she began masturbation at an early age, "just like all other women," and that sapphism came after the age of p.u.b.erty. Another Mohammedan woman whom I knew, and who had a very large c.l.i.toris, told me that she had been initiated into Lesbian love at 12 by a neighbor and had intermittently practised it ever since. I might also instance two sisters of the gardener caste, both widows, who "lived apart" and indulged in simultaneous sapphism.
"That sometimes the actors in tribadism are most vigorous is shown by the fact that, in the central gaol of --, swelling of the v.u.l.v.a was admitted to have been caused by the embraces of two female convicts. The subordinate who told me this mentioned it quite incidentally while relating his experiences as hospital a.s.sistant at this gaol. When I questioned him he stated that the woman, whom he was called to treat, told him that she could never "satisfy herself" with men, but only with women. He added that tribadism was "quite common in the gaol.""
The foregoing sketch may serve to show that h.o.m.os.e.xual practices certainly, and probably definite s.e.xual inversion, are very widespread among women in very many and various parts of the world, though it is likely that, as among men, there are variations-geographical, racial, national, or social-in the frequency or intensity of its obvious manifestations. Thus, in the eighteenth century, Casanova remarked that the women of Provence are specially inclined to Lesbianism.
In European prisons h.o.m.os.e.xual practices flourish among the women fully as much, it may probably be said, as among the men. There is, indeed, some reason for supposing that these phenomena are here sometimes even more decisively marked than among men.[154] This prevalence of h.o.m.os.e.xuality among women in prison is connected with the close relationship between feminine criminality and prost.i.tution.
The frequency of h.o.m.os.e.xual practices among prost.i.tutes is a fact of some interest, and calls for special explanation, for, at the first glance, it seems in opposition to all that we know concerning the exciting causes of h.o.m.os.e.xuality. Regarding the fact there can be no question.[155] It has been noted by all who are acquainted with the lives of prost.i.tutes, though opinion may differ as to its frequency. In Berlin, Moll was told in well-informed quarters, the proportion of prost.i.tutes with Lesbian tendencies is about 25 per cent. This was almost the proportion at Paris many years ago, according to Parent-Duchatelet; today, according to Chevalier, it is larger; and Bourneville believes that 75 per cent, of the inmates of the Parisian venereal hospitals have practised h.o.m.os.e.xuality. Hammer in Germany has found among 66 prost.i.tutes that 41 were h.o.m.os.e.xual.[156] Hirschfeld thinks that inverted women are specially p.r.o.ne to become prost.i.tutes.[157] Eulenburg believes, on the other hand, that the conditions of their life favor h.o.m.os.e.xuality among prost.i.tutes; "a h.o.m.os.e.xual union seems to them higher, purer, more innocent, and more ideal."[158] There is, however, no fundamental contradiction between these two views; they are probably both right.
In London, so far as my inquiries extend, h.o.m.os.e.xuality among prost.i.tutes is very much less prevalent, and in a well-marked form is confined to a comparatively small section. I am indebted to a friend for the following note: "From my experience of the Parisian prost.i.tute, I gather that Lesbianism in Paris is extremely prevalent; indeed, one might almost say normal. In particular, most of the chahut-dancers of the Moulin-Rouge, Casino de Paris, and the other public b.a.l.l.s are notorious for going in couples, and, for the most part, they prefer not to be separated, even in their most professional moments with the other s.e.x. In London the thing is, naturally, much less obvious, and, I think, much less prevalent; but it is certainly not infrequent. A certain number of well-known prost.i.tutes are known for their tendencies in this direction, which do not, however, interfere in any marked way with the ordinary details of their profession. I do not personally know of a single prost.i.tute who is exclusively Lesbian; I have heard vaguely that there are one or two such anomalies. But I have heard a swell cocotte at the Corinthian announce to the whole room that she was going home with a girl; and no one doubted the statement. Her name, indeed, was generally coupled with that of a fifth-rate actress. Another woman of the same kind has a little clientele of women who buy her photographs in Burlington Arcade. In the lower ranks of the profession all this is much less common. One often finds women who have simply never heard of such a thing; they know of it in regard to men, but not in regard to women. And they are, for the most part, quite horrified at the notion, which they consider part and parcel of "French beastliness." Of course, almost every girl has her friend, and, when not separately occupied, they often sleep together; but, while in separate, rare cases, this undoubtedly means all that it can mean, for the most part, so far as one can judge, it means no more than it would mean among ordinary girls."
It is evident that there must be some radical causes for the frequency of h.o.m.os.e.xuality among prost.i.tutes. One such cause doubtless lies in the character of the prost.i.tute"s relations with men; these relations are of a professional character, and, as the business element becomes emphasized, the possibility of s.e.xual satisfaction diminishes; at the best, also; there lacks the sense of social equality, the feeling of possession, and scope for the exercise of feminine affection and devotion. These the prost.i.tute must usually be forced to find either in a "bully" or in another woman.[159]
Apart from this fact it must be borne in mind that, in a very large number of cases, prost.i.tutes show in slight or more marked degree many of the signs of neurotic heredity,[160] and it would not be surprising if they present the germs of h.o.m.os.e.xuality in an unusually high degree. The life of the prost.i.tute may well develop such latent germs; and so we have an undue tendency to h.o.m.os.e.xuality, just as we have it among criminals, and, to a much less extent, among persons of genius and intellect.
h.o.m.os.e.xuality is specially fostered by those employments which keep women in constant a.s.sociation, not only by day, but often at night also, without the company of men. This is, for instance, the case in convents, and formerly, at all events,-however, it may be today,-h.o.m.os.e.xuality was held to be very prevalent in convents. This was especially so in the eighteenth century when very many young girls, without any religious vocation, were put into convents.[161] The same again is today the case with the female servants in large hotels, among whom h.o.m.os.e.xual practices nave been found very common.[162] Layc.o.c.k, many years ago, noted the prevalence of manifestations of this kind, which he regarded as hysterical, among seamstresses, lace-makers, etc., confined for hours in close contact with one another in heated rooms. The circ.u.mstances under which numbers of young women are employed during the day in large shops and factories, and sleep in the establishment, two in a room or even two in a bed, are favorable to the development of h.o.m.os.e.xual practices.
In England it is seldom that anyone cares to investigate these phenomena, though, they certainly exist. They have been more thoroughly studied elsewhere. Thus, in Rome, Niceforo, who studied various aspects of the lives of the working cla.s.ses, succeeded in obtaining much precise information concerning the manners and customs of the young girls in dressmaking and tailoring work-rooms. He remarks that few of those who see the "virtuous daughters of the people," often not more than 12 years old, walking along the streets with the dressmaker"s box under their arm, modestly bent head and virginal air, realize the intense s.e.xual preoccupations often underlying these appearances. In the work-rooms the conversation perpetually revolves around s.e.xual subjects in the absence of the mistress or forewoman, and even in her presence the slang that prevails in the work-rooms leads to dialogues with a double meaning. A state of s.e.xual excitement is thus aroused which sometimes relieves itself mentally by psychic onanism, sometimes by some form of masturbation; one girl admitted to Niceforo that by allowing her thoughts to dwell on the subject while at work she sometimes produced physical s.e.xual excitement as often as four times a day. (See also vol. i of these Studies, "Auto-erotism.") Sometimes, however, a vague kind of h.o.m.os.e.xuality is produced, the girls, excited by their own thoughts and their conversation, being still further excited by contact with each other. "In summer, in one work-room, some of the girls wear no drawers, and they unb.u.t.ton their bodices, and work with crossed legs, more or less uncovered. In this position, the girls draw near and inspect one another; some boast of their white legs, and, then the petticoats are raised altogether for more careful comparison. Many enjoy this inspection of nudity, and experience real s.e.xual pleasure. From midday till 2 P.M., during the hours of greatest heat, when all are in this condition, and the mistress, in her chemise (and sometimes, with no shame at the workers" presence, even without it), falls asleep on the sofa, all the girls, without one exception, m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e themselves. The heat seems to sharpen their desires and morbidly arouse all their senses. The voluptuous emotions, restrained during the rest of the day, break out with irresistible force; stimulated by the spectacle of each other"s nakedness, some place their legs together and thus heighten the spasm by the illusion of contact with a man." In this way they reach mutual masturbation. "It is noteworthy, however," Niceforo points out, "that these couples for mutual masturbation are never Lesbian couples. Tribadism is altogether absent from the factories and work-rooms." He even believes that it does not exist among girls of the working cla.s.s. He further describes how, in another work-room, during the hot hours of the day in summer, when no work is done, some of the girls retire into the fitting-room, and, having fastened their chemises round their legs and thighs with pins, so as to imitate trousers, play at being men and pretend to have intercourse with the others. (Niceforo, Il Gergo, cap. vi, 1897, Turin.) I have reproduced these details from Niceforo"s careful study because, although they may seem to be trivial at some points, they clearly bring out the very important distinction between a merely temporary h.o.m.os.e.xuality and true inversion. The amus.e.m.e.nts of these young girls may not be considered eminently innocent or wholesome, but, on the other hand, they are not radically morbid or vicious. They are strictly, and even consciously, play; they are dominated by the thought that the true s.e.xual ideal is normal relationship with a man, and they would certainly disappear in the presence of a man.
It must be remembered that Niceforo"s observations were made among girls who were mostly young. In the large factories, where many adult women are employed, the phenomena tend to be rarer, but of much less trivial and playful character. At Wolverhampton, some forty years ago, the case was reported of a woman in a galvanizing "store" who, after dinner, indecently a.s.saulted a girl who was a new hand. Two young women held the victim down, and this seems to show that h.o.m.os.e.xual vice was here common and recognized. No doubt, this case is exceptional in its brutality. It throws, however, a significant light on the conditions prevailing in factories. In Spain, in the large factories where many adult women are employed, especially in the great tobacco factory at Seville, Lesbian relationships seem to be not uncommon. Here the women work in an atmosphere which in summer is so hot that they throw off the greater part of their clothing, to such an extent that a bell is rung whenever a visitor is introduced into a work-room, in order to warn the workers. Such an environment predisposes to the formation of h.o.m.os.e.xual relationships. When I was in Spain some years ago an incident occurred at the Seville Fabrica de Tabacos which attracted much attention in the newspapers, and, though it was regarded as unusual, it throws light on the life of the workers. One morning as the women were entering the work-room and amid the usual scene of animation changing their Manila shawls for the light costume worn during work, one drew out a small clasp-knife and, attacking another, rapidly inflicted six or seven wounds on her face and neck, threatening to kill anyone who approached. Both these cigarreras were superior workers, engaged in the most skilled kind of work, and had been at the factory for many years. In appearance they were described as presenting a striking contrast: the aggressor, who was 48 years of age, was of masculine air, tall and thin, with an expression of firm determination on her wrinkled face; the victim, on the other hand, whose age was 30, was plump and good-looking and of pleasing disposition. The reason at first a.s.signed for the attack on the younger woman was that her mother had insulted the elder woman"s son. It appeared, however, that a close friendship had existed between the two women, that latterly the younger woman had formed a friendship with the forewoman of her work-room, and that the elder woman, animated by jealousy, then resolved to murder both; this design was frustrated by the accidental absence of the forewoman that day.
In theaters the abnormal s.e.xuality stimulated by such a.s.sociation in work is complicated by the general tendency for h.o.m.os.e.xuality to be connected with dramatic apt.i.tude, a point to which I shall have to refer later on. I am indebted to a friend for the following note: "Pa.s.sionate friendships among girls, from the most innocent to the most elaborate excursions in the direction of Lesbos, are extremely common in theaters, both among actresses and, even more, among chorus-and ballet-girls. Here the pell-mell of the dressing-rooms, the wait of perhaps two hours between the performances, during which all the girls are cooped up, in a state of inaction and of excitement, in a few crowded dressing-rooms, afford every opportunity for the growth of this particular kind of sentiment. In most of the theaters there is a little circle of girls, somewhat avoided by the others, or themselves careless of further acquaintanceship, who profess the most unbounded devotion to one another. Most of these girls are equally ready to flirt with the opposite s.e.x, but I know certain ones among them who will scarcely speak to a man, and who are never seen without their particular "pal" or "chum," who, if she gets moved to another theater, will come around and wait for her friend at the stage-door. But here, again, it is but seldom that the experience is carried very far. The fact is that the English girl, especially of the lower and middle cla.s.ses, whether she has lost her virtue or not, is extremely fettered by conventional notions. Ignorance and habit are two restraining influences from the carrying out of this particular kind of perversion to its logical conclusions. It is, therefore, among the upper ranks, alike of society and of prost.i.tution, that Lesbianism is most definitely to be met with, for here we have much greater liberty of action, and much greater freedom from prejudices."
With girls, as with boys, it is in the school, at the evolution of p.u.b.erty, that h.o.m.os.e.xuality usually first shows itself. It may originate in a way mainly peripheral or mainly central. In the first case, two children, perhaps when close to each other in bed, more or less unintentionally generate in each other a certain amount of s.e.xual irritation, which they foster by mutual touching and kissing. This is a spurious kind of h.o.m.os.e.xuality, the often precocious play of the normal instinct. In the girl who is congenitally predisposed to h.o.m.os.e.xuality it will continue and develop; in the majority it will be forgotten as quickly as possible, not without shame, in the presence of the normal object of s.e.xual love.
I may quote as fairly typical the following observation supplied by a lady who cannot be called inverted: "Like so many other children and girls, I was first taught self-indulgence by a girl at school, and I pa.s.sed on my knowledge to one or two others, with one of whom I remember once, when we were just 16, spending the night sensually. We were horribly ashamed after, and that was the only time. When I was only 8 there was a girl of 13 who liked to play with my body, and taught me to play with hers, though I rather disliked doing so. We slept together, and this went on at intervals for six months. These things, for the sake of getting enjoyment, and not with any pa.s.sion, are not uncommon with children, but less common, I think, than people sometimes imagine. I believe I could recall without much difficulty, the number of times such things happened with me. In the case I mentioned when I did for one night feel-or try to excite in myself and my girl-companion of 16-sensual pa.s.sion, we had as little children slept together a few times and done these things, and meeting after an absence, just at that age, recalled our childish memories, and were carried away by s.e.xual impulse. But I never felt any peculiar affection or pa.s.sion for her even at the time, nor she for me. We only felt that our sensual nature was strong at the time, and had betrayed us into something we were ashamed of, and, therefore, we avoided letting ourselves sleep too close after that day. I think we disliked each other, and were revolted whenever we thought of that night, feeling that each had degraded the other and herself."
The cases in which the source is mainly central, rather than peripheral, nevertheless merge into the foregoing, with no clear line of demarcation. In such cases a girl forms an ardent attachment for another girl, probably somewhat older than herself, often a schoolfellow, sometimes her schoolmistress, upon whom she will lavish an astonishing amount of affection and devotion. There may or not be any return; usually the return consists of a gracious acceptance of the affectionate services. The girl who expends this wealth of devotion is surcharged with emotion, but she is often unconscious or ignorant of the s.e.xual impulse, and she seeks for no form of s.e.xual satisfaction. Kissing and the privilege of sleeping with the friend are, however, sought, and at such times it often happens that even the comparatively unresponsive friend feels more or less definite s.e.xual emotion (pudendal turgescence, with secretion of mucus and involuntary twitching of the neighboring muscles), though little or no attention may be paid to this phenomenon, and in the common ignorance of girls concerning s.e.x matters it may not be understood. In some cases there is an attempt, either instinctive or intentional, to develop the s.e.xual feeling by close embraces and kissing. This rudimentary kind of h.o.m.os.e.xual relationship is, I believe, more common among girls than among boys, and for this there are several reasons: (1) a boy more often has some acquaintance with s.e.xual phenomena, and would frequently regard such a relationship as unmanly; (2) the girl has a stronger need of affection and self-devotion to another person than a boy has; (3) she has not, under our existing social conditions which compel young women to hold the opposite s.e.x at arm"s length, the same opportunities of finding an outlet for her s.e.xual emotions; while (4) conventional propriety recognizes a considerable degree of physical intimacy between girls, thus at once encouraging and cloaking the manifestations of h.o.m.os.e.xuality.
The ardent attachments which girls in schools and colleges form to each other and to their teachers const.i.tute a subject which is of considerable psychological interest and of no little practical importance.[163] These girlish devotions, on the borderland between friendship and s.e.xual pa.s.sion, are found in all countries where girls are segregated for educational purposes, and their symptoms are, on the whole, singularly uniform, though they vary in intensity and character to some extent, from time to time and from place to place, sometimes a.s.suming an epidemic form. They have been most carefully studied in Italy, where Obici and Marchesini-an alienist and a psychologist working in conjunction-have a.n.a.lyzed the phenomena with remarkable insight and delicacy and much wealth of ill.u.s.trative material.[164] But exactly the same phenomena are everywhere found in English girls" schools, even of the most modern type, and in some of the large American women"s colleges they have sometimes become so acute as to cause much anxiety.[165] On the whole, however, it is probable that such manifestations are regarded more indulgently in girls" than in boys" schools, and in view of the fact that the manifestations of affection are normally more p.r.o.nounced between girls than between boys, this seems reasonable. The head mistress of an English training college writes:-
"My own a.s.sumption on such, matters has been that affection does naturally belong to the body as well as the mind, and between two women is naturally and innocently expressed by, caresses. I have never therefore felt that I ought to warn any girl against the physical element in friendship, as such. The test I should probably suggest to them would be the same as one would use for any other relation-was the friendship helping life as a whole, making them keener, kinder, more industrious, etc., or was it hindering it?"
Pa.s.sionate friendships, of a more or less unconsciously s.e.xual character, are common even outside and beyond school-life. It frequently happens that a period during which a young woman falls in love at a distance with some young man of her acquaintance alternates with periods of intimate attachment to a friend of her own s.e.x. No congenital inversion is usually involved. It generally happens, in the end, either that relationship with a man brings the normal impulse into permanent play, or the steadying of the emotions in the stress of practical life leads to a knowledge of the real nature of such feelings and a consequent distaste for them. In some cases, on the other hand, such relationships, especially when formed after school-life, are fairly permanent. An energetic emotional woman, not usually beautiful, will perhaps be devoted to another who may have found some rather specialized lifework, but who may be very unpractical, and who has probably a very feeble s.e.xual instinct; she is grateful for her friends"s devotion, but may not actively reciprocate it. The actual specific s.e.xual phenomena generated in such cases vary very greatly. The emotion may be latent or unconscious; it may be all on one side; it is often more or less recognized and shared. Such cases are on the borderland of true s.e.xual inversion, but they cannot be included within its region. s.e.x in these relationships is scarcely the essential and fundamental element; it is more or less subordinate and parasitic. There is often a semblance of a s.e.x-relationship from the marked divergence of the friends in physical and psychic qualities, and the nervous development of one or both the friends is sometimes slightly abnormal. We have to regard such relationships as hypertrophied friendships, the hypertrophy being due to unemployed s.e.xual instinct.
The following narrative is written by a lady who holds a responsible educational position: "A friend of mine, two or three years older than myself (I am 31), and living in the same house with me, has been pa.s.sing through a very unhappy time. Long nervous strain connected with this has made her sleep badly, and apt to wake in terrible depression about 3 o"clock in the morning. In the early days of our friendship, about eight months ago, she occasionally at these times took refuge with me. After a while I insisted on her consulting a doctor, who advised her, amongst other things, not to sleep alone. Thenceforth for two or three months I induced her to share my room. After a week or two she generally shared my bed for a time at the beginning of the night, as it seemed to help her to sleep.
"Before this, about the second or third time that she came to me in the early morning, I had been surprised and a little frightened to find how pleasant it was to me to have her, and how reluctant I was that she should go away. When we began regularly to sleep in the same room, the physical part of our affection grew rapidly very strong. It is natural for me generally to caress my friends, but I soon could not be alone in a room with this one without wanting to have my arms round her. It would have been intolerable to me to live with her without being able to touch her. We did not discuss it, but it was evident that the desire was even stronger in her than in me.
"For some time it satisfied us fully to be in bed together. One night, however, when she had had a cruelly trying day and I wanted to find all ways of comforting her, I bared by breast for her to lie on. Afterward it was clear that neither of us could be satisfied without this. She groped for it like a child, and it excited me much more to feel that than to uncover my breast and arms altogether at once.
"Much of this excitement was s.e.xually localized, and I was haunted in the daytime by images of holding this woman in my arms. I noticed also that my inclination to caress my other women friends was not diminished, but increased. All this disturbed me a good deal. The h.o.m.os.e.xual practices of which I had read lately struck me as merely nasty; I could not imagines myself tempted to them;-at the same time the whole matter was new to me, for I had never wanted anyone even to share my bed before; I had read that s.e.x instinct was mysterious and unexpected, and I felt that I did not know what might come next.
"I knew only one elder person whom (for wide-mindedness, gentleness, and saintliness) I could bear to consult; and to this person, a middle-aged man, I wrote for advice. He replied by a long letter of the most tender warning. I had better not weaken my influence with my friend, he wrote, by going back suddenly or without her consent, but I was to be very wary of going further; there was fire about. I tried to put this into practice by restraining myself constantly in our intercourse, by refraining from caressing her, for instance, when I wanted to caress her and knew that she wanted it. The only result seemed to be that the desire was more tormenting and constant than ever.
"If at this point my friend had happened to die or go away, and the incident had come to an end, I should probably have been left nervous in these matters for years to come. I should have faltered in the opinion I had always held, that bodily expressions of love between women were as innocent as they were natural; and I might have come nearer than I ever expected to the doctrine of those convent teachers who forbid their girls to embrace one another for fear an incalculable instinct should carry them to the edge of an abyss.
"As it was, after a while I said a little on the subject to my friend herself. I had been inclined to think that she might share my anxiety, but she did not share it at all. She said to me that she did not like these thoughts, that she cared for me more than She had ever done for any person except one (now causing most of her unhappiness), and wanted me in all possible ways, and that it would make her sad to feel that I was trying not to want her in one way because I thought it was wrong.
"On my part, I knew very well how much she did need and want me. I knew that in relations with others she was spending the greatest effort in following a course that I urged on her, and was doing what I thought right in spite of the most painful pressure on her to do wrong; and that she needed all the support and comfort I could give her. It seemed to me, after our conversation, that the right path for me lay not in giving way to fears and scruples, but in giving my friend straightforwardly all the love I could and all the kinds of love I could. I decided to keep my eyes open for danger, but meanwhile to go on.
"We were living alone together at the time, and thenceforward we did as we liked doing. As soon as we could, we moved to a bed where we could sleep together all night. In the day when no one was there we sat as close together as we wished, which was very close. We kissed each other as often as we wanted to kiss each other, which was very many times a day.
"The results of this, so far as I can see, have been wholly good. We love each other warmly, but no temptation to nastiness has ever come, and I cannot see now that it is at all likely to come. With custom, the localized physical excitement has practically disappeared, and I am no longer obsessed by imagined embraces. The spiritual side of our affection seems to have grown steadily stronger and more profitable since the physical side has, been allowed to take its natural place."
A cla.s.s in which h.o.m.os.e.xuality, while fairly distinct, is only slightly marked, is formed by the women to whom the actively inverted woman is most attracted. These women differ, in the first place, from the normal, or average, woman in that they are not repelled or disgusted by lover-like advances from persons of their own s.e.x. They are not usually attractive to the average man, though to this rule there are many exceptions. Their faces may be plain or ill-made, but not seldom they possess good figures: a point which is apt to carry more weight with the inverted woman than beauty of face. Their s.e.xual impulses are seldom well marked, but they are of strongly affectionate nature. On the whole, they are women who are not very robust and well developed, physically or nervously, and who are not well adapted for child-bearing, but who still possess many excellent qualities, and they are always womanly. One may, perhaps, say that they are the pick of the women whom the average man would pa.s.s by. No doubt, this is often the reason why they are open to h.o.m.os.e.xual advances, but I do not think it is the sole reason. So far as they may be said to const.i.tute a cla.s.s, they seem to possess a genuine, though not precisely s.e.xual, preference for women over men, and it is this coldness, rather than lack of charm, which often renders men rather indifferent to them.
The actively inverted woman usually differs from the woman of the cla.s.s just mentioned in one fairly essential character: a more or less distinct trace of masculinity. She may not be, and frequently is not, what would be called a "mannish" woman, for the latter may imitate men on grounds of taste and habit unconnected with s.e.xual perversion, while in the inverted woman the masculine traits are part of an organic instinct which she by no means always wishes to accentuate. The inverted woman"s masculine element may, in the least degree, consist only in the fact that she makes advances to the woman to whom she is attracted and treats all men in a cool, direct manner, which may not exclude comradeship, but which excludes every s.e.xual relationship, whether of pa.s.sion or merely of coquetry. Usually the inverted woman feels absolute indifference toward men, and not seldom repulsion. And this feeling, as a rule, is instinctively reciprocated by men. At the same time bis.e.xual women are at least as common as bis.e.xual men.
HISTORY x.x.xIV.-Miss S., aged 38, living in a city of the United States, a business woman of fine intelligence, prominent in professional and literary circles. Her general health is good, but she belongs to a family in which there is a marked neuropathic element. She is of rather phlegmatic temperament, well poised, always perfectly calm and self-possessed, rather retiring in disposition, with gentle, dignified bearing.
She says she cannot care for men, but that all her life has been "glorified and made beautiful by friendship with women," whom she loves as a man loves women. Her character is, however, well disciplined, and her friends are not aware of the nature of her affections. She tries not to give all her love to one person, and endeavors (as she herself expresses it) to use this "gift of loving" as a stepping-stone to high mental and spiritual attainments. She is described by one who has known her for several years as "having a high nature, and instincts unerringly toward high things."
HISTORY x.x.xV.-Miss B., artist, of German ancestry on the paternal side. Among her brothers and sisters, one is of neurotic temperament and another is inverted. She is herself healthy. She has no repugnance to men, and would even like to try marriage, if the union were not permanent, but she has seldom felt any s.e.xual attraction to a man. In one exceptional instance, early in life, realizing that she was not adapted for heteros.e.xual relationships, she broke off the engagement she had formed. Much later in life, she formed a more permanent relationship with a man of congenial tastes.
She is attracted to women of various kinds, though she recognizes that there are some women to whom only men are attracted. Many years since she had a friend to whom she was very strongly attached, but the physical manifestations do not appear to have become p.r.o.nounced. After that her thoughts were much occupied by several women to whom she made advances, which were not encouraged to pa.s.s beyond ordinary friendship. In one case, however, she formed an intimate relationship with a girl somewhat younger than herself, and a very feminine personality, who accepted Miss B."s ardent love with pleasure, but in a pa.s.sive manner, and did not consider that the relationship would stand in the way of her marrying, though she would on no account tell her husband. The relationship for the first time aroused Miss B."s latent s.e.xual emotions. She found s.e.xual satisfaction in kissing and embracing her friend"s body, but there appeared to be no o.r.g.a.s.m. The relationship made a considerable change in her, and rendered her radiant and happy.
In her behavior toward men Miss B. reveals no s.e.xual shyness. Men are not usually attracted to her. There is nothing striking in her appearance; her person and manners, though careless, are not conspicuously man-like. She is fond of exercise and smokes a good deal.
HISTORY x.x.xVI.-Miss H., aged 30. Among her paternal relatives there is a tendency to eccentricity and to nervous disease. Her grandfather drank; her father was eccentric and hypochondriacal, and suffered from obsessions. Her mother and mother"s relatives are entirely healthy, and normal in disposition.
At the age of 4 she liked to see the nates of a little girl who lived near. When she was about 6, the nurse-maid, sitting in the fields, used to play with her own parts, and told her to do likewise, saying it would make a baby come; she occasionally touched herself in consequence, but without producing any effect of any kind. When she was about 8 she used to see various nurse-maids uncover their children"s s.e.xual parts and show them to each other. She used to think about this when alone, and also about whipping. She never cared to play with dolls, and in her games always took the part of a man. Her first rudimentary s.e.x-feelings appeared at the age of 8 or 9, and were a.s.sociated with dreams of whipping and being whipped, which were most vivid between the ages of 11 and 14, when they died away on the appearance of affection for girls. She menstruated at 12.
Her earliest affection, at the age of 13, was for a schoolfellow, a graceful, coquettish girl with long golden hair and blue eyes. Her affection displayed itself in performing all sorts of small services for this girl, in constantly thinking about her, and in feeling deliciously grateful for the smallest return. At the age of 14 she had a similar pa.s.sion for a girl cousin; she used to look forward with ecstasy to her visits, and especially to the rare occasions when the cousin slept with her; her excitement was then so great that she could not sleep, but there was no conscious s.e.xual excitement. At the age of 15 or 16 she fell in love with another cousin; her experiences with this girl were full of delicious sensations; if the cousin only touched her neck, a thrill went through her body which she now regards as s.e.xual. Again, at 17, she had an overwhelming, pa.s.sionate fascination for a schoolfellow, a pretty, commonplace girl, whom she idealized and etherealized to an extravagant extent. This pa.s.sion was so violent that her health was, to some extent, impaired; but it was purely unselfish, and there was nothing s.e.xual in it. On leaving school at the age of 19 she met a girl of about the same age as herself, very womanly, but not much attracted to men. This girl became very much attached to her, and sought to gain her love. After some time Miss H. was attracted by this love, partly from the sense of power it gave her, and an intimate relation grew up. This relation became vaguely physical, Miss H. taking the initiative, but her friend desiring such relations and taking extreme pleasure in them; they used to touch and kiss each other tenderly (especially on the mons veneris), with equal ardor. They each experienced a strong pleasurable feeling in doing this, and s.e.xual erethism, but no o.r.g.a.s.m, and it does not appear that this ever occurred. Their general behavior to each other was that of lovers, but they endeavored, as far as possible, to hide this fact from the world. This relation lasted for several years, and would have continued, had not Miss H."s friend, from religious and moral scruples, put an end to the physical relationship. Miss H. had been very well and happy during this relationship; the interference with it seems to have exerted a disturbing influence, and also to have aroused her s.e.xual desires, though she was still scarcely conscious of their real nature.
Soon afterward another girl of exceedingly voluptuous type made love to Miss H., to which the latter yielded, giving way to her feelings as well as to her love of domination. She was afterward ashamed of this episode, though the physical element in it had remained vague and indefinite. Her remorse was so great that when her friend, repenting her scruples, implored her to let their relationship be on the same footing as of old, Miss H., in her return, resisted every effort to restore the physical relation. She kept to this resolution for some years, and sought to divert her thoughts into intellectual channels. When she again formed an intimate relationship it was with a congenial friend, and lasted for several years.
She has never m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.ed. Occasionally, but very rarely, she has had dreams of riding accompanied by pleasurable s.e.xual emotions (she cannot recall any actual experience to suggest this, though fond of riding). She has never had any kind of s.e.xual dreams about a man; of late years she has occasionally had erotic dreams about women.
Her feeling toward men is friendly, but she has never had s.e.xual attraction toward a man. She likes them as good comrades, as men like each other. She enjoys the society of men on account of their intellectual attraction. She is herself very active in social and intellectual work. Her feeling toward marriage has always been one of repugnance. She can, however, imagine a man whom she could love or marry.
She is attracted to womanly women, sincere, reserved, pure, but courageous in character. She is not attracted to intellectual women, but at the same time cannot endure silly women. The physical qualities that attract her most are not so much beauty of face as a graceful, but not too slender, body with beautiful curves. The women she is drawn to are usually somewhat younger than herself. Women are much attracted to her, and without any effort on her part. She likes to take the active part and protecting role with them. She is herself energetic in character, and with a somewhat neurotic temperament.
She finds s.e.xual satisfaction in tenderly touching, caressing, and kissing the loved one"s body. (There is no cunnilinctus, which she regards with abhorrence.) She feels more tenderness than pa.s.sion. There is a high degree of s.e.xual erethism when kissing, but o.r.g.a.s.m is rare and is produced by lying on the friend or by the friend lying on her, without any special contact. She likes being herself kissed, but not so much as taking the active part.
She believes that h.o.m.os.e.xual love is morally right when it is really part of a person"s nature, and provided that the nature of h.o.m.os.e.xual love is always made plain to the object of such affection. She does not approve of it as a mere makeshift, or expression of sensuality, in normal women. She has sometimes resisted the s.e.xual expression of her feelings, once for years at a time, but always in vain. The effect on her of loving women is distinctly good, she a.s.serts, both spiritually and physically, while repression leads to morbidity and hysteria. She has suffered much from neurasthenia at various periods, but under appropriate treatment it has slowly diminished. The inverted instinct is too deeply rooted to eradicate, but it is well under control.
HISTORY x.x.xVII.-Miss M., the daughter of English parents (both musicians), who were both of what is described as "intense" temperament, and there is a neurotic element in the family, though no history of insanity or alcoholism, and she is herself free from nervous disease. At birth she was very small. In a portrait taken at the age of 4 the nose, mouth, and ears are abnormally large, and she wears a little boy"s hat. As a child she did not care for dolls or for pretty clothes, and often wondered why other children found so much pleasure in them. "As far back as my memory goes," she writes, "I cannot recall a time when I was not different from other children. I felt bored when other little girls came to play with me, though I was never rough or boisterous in my sports." Sewing was distasteful to her. Still she cared little more for the pastimes of boys, and found her favorite amus.e.m.e.nt in reading, especially adventures and fairy-tales. She was always quiet, timid, and self-conscious. The instinct first made its appearance in the latter part of her eighth or the first part of her ninth year. She was strongly attracted by the face of a teacher who used to appear at a side-window on the second floor of the school-building and ring a bell to summon the children to their cla.s.ses. The teacher"s face seemed very beautiful, but sad, and she thought about her continually, though not coming in personal contact with, her. A year later this teacher was married and left the school, and the impression gradually faded away. "There was no consciousness of s.e.x at this time," she wrote; "no knowledge of s.e.xual matters or practices, and the feelings evoked were feelings of pity and compa.s.sion and tenderness for a person who seemed to be very sad and very much depressed. It is this quality or combination of qualities which has always made the appeal in my own case. I may go on for years in comparative peace, when something may happen, in spite of my busy practical life, to call it all out." The next feelings were experienced when, she was about 11 years of age. A young lady came to visit a next-door neighbor, and made so profound an impression on the child that she was ridiculed by her playmates for preferring to sit in a dark corner on the lawn-where she might watch this young lady-rather than to play games. Being a sensitive child, after this experience she was careful not to reveal her feelings to anyone. She felt instinctively that in this she was different from others. Her sense of beauty developed early, but there was always an indefinable feeling of melancholy a.s.sociated with it. The twilight, a dark night when the stars shone brightly; these had a very depressing effect upon her, but possessed a strong attraction nevertheless, and pictures appealed to her. At the age of 12 she fell in love with a schoolmate, two years older than herself, who was absorbed in the boys and never suspected this affection; she wept bitterly because they could not be confirmed at the same time, but feared to appear undignified and sentimental by revealing her feelings. The face of this friend reminded her of one of Dolce"s Madonnas which she loved. Later on, at the age of 16, she loved another friend very dearly and devoted herself to her care. There was a tinge of masculinity among the women of this friend"s family, but it is not clear if she can be termed inverted. This was the happiest period of Miss M."s life. Upon the death of this friend, who had long been in ill health, eight years afterward, she resolved never to let her heart go out to anyone again.
Specific physical gratification plays no part in these relationships. The physical s.e.xual feelings began to a.s.sert themselves at p.u.b.erty, but not in a.s.sociation with her ideal emotions. "In that connection," she writes, "I would have considered such things a sacrilege. I fought them and in a measure successfully. The practice of self-indulgence which might have become a daily habit was only occasional. Her image evoked at such times drove away such feelings, for which I felt a repugnance, much preferring the romantic ideal feelings. In this way, quite unconscious of the fact that I was at all different from, any other person, I contrived to train myself to suppress or at least to dominate my physical sensations when they arose. That is the reason why friendship and love have always seemed such holy and beautiful things to me. I have never connected the two sets of feelings. I think I am as strongly s.e.xed as anyone, but I am able to hold a friend in my arms and experience deep comfort and peace without having even a hint of physical s.e.xual feeling. s.e.xual expression may be quite necessary at certain times and right under certain conditions, but I am convinced that free expression of affection along sentimental channels will do much to minimize the necessity for it along specifically s.e.xual channels. I have gone three months without the physical outlet. The only time I was ever on the verge of nervous prostration was after having suppressed the instinct for ten months. The other feelings, which I do not consider as s.e.xual feelings at all, so fill my life in every department-love, literature, poetry, music, professional and philanthropic activities-that I am able to let the physical take care of itself. When the physical sensations come, it is usually when I am not thinking of a loved one at all. I could dissipate them by raising my thought to that spiritual friendship. I do not know if this was right and wise. I know it is what occurred. It seems a good thing to practise some sort of inhibition of the centers and acquire this kind of domination. One bad result, however, was that I suffered much at times from the physical sensations, and felt horribly depressed and wretched whenever they seemed to get the better of me."
"I have been able," she writes, "successfully to master the desire for a more perfect and complete expression of my feelings, and I have done so without serious detriment to my health." "I love few people," she writes again, "but in these instances when I have permitted my heart to go out to a friend I have always experienced most exalted feelings, and have been made better by them morally, mentally, and spiritually. Love is with me a religion."