Psychopathia Sexualis

Like "Wisconsin Death Trip," this book provides strangely familiar tales of madness, perversion, and death from the 19th century. Part of the fascination of the book is that it was written *before* Freud, and that it not biased by the views of Freud or his critics. As such, it almost reads like the dispassionate report of visitors from another planet.Much of the subject matter is familiar grist for modern tabloids. And some of it rather amusing, especially the idea that masturbation leads to illness, insanity, and death. As in "Death Trip," this was an age when science was still groping for the causes of many types of mental illness that are still not truely cureable.It is also interesting to compare modern standards to those of a hundred years ago. Sexual acts that were considered beyond the bounds of decency a hundred years ago even for married couples are likely to be recomended by a minister today. But many stories in which sexual acting out (infidelity, sudden change of sexual orientation) is part of a general pattern of self-destruction seem as relevant and cautionary as ever. The authors are also very matter of fact about transexuals and some very "modern" activities, which psycholanalysts seem to have given wide berth for decades. On the other hand, it isn't clear what has happened to bustle fetishists. And before we congratulate ourselves on our sophisitication, it is also interesting that Krafft-Ebing found well established networks of dedicated pedophiles, and that a hundred years later we have not solved the problem and barely acknowledge it. Also, they were found many instances of adult female nannies and teachers molesting male children and students, which has only recently been getting much attention.

That some readers still take Krafft-Ebing at face value is testament to the strength of the sexual prejudices that he helped re-formulate at the end of the 19th century. Anyone seeking to understand the ideological basis of present-day sexual prejudices, or the official pathologization of human sexual diversity should become familiar with Krafft-Ebing's seminal work. Anyone seeking to understand human sexuality, on the other hand, should be warned that Krafft-Ebing is more joke than role model for modern-day sex researchers. The book is viewed by historians of sexuality as largely a (very influential) re-formulation of existing folk-lore. Unfortunately, the resulting formulas were used by Krafft-Ebing (a court psychiatrist) and his peers for the purpose of channelling people into either prisons or equally confining asylums. He set a pattern that is still widely used, and that is still viewed with horror by both sexual non-conformists and true scientists alike.

Though it is difficult to obtain nowadays, this is a classic compendium of some 230 case histories dealing with sexual perversions, presented in often fascinating detail. The terminology may have changed since the compilation of these "pathologies", which range from lustmurder, "contrary sexual instinct", (homosexuality) frottage, masochism, sadism, sadomasochism, ideal sadism and pederasty. Though presented in a spare, descriptive, purportedly detached tone, it cannot be denied that Krafft-Ebing's purpose is not to offer an objective analysis, but to assume also the role of a guardian of moral order: a prognostician and theraputician of the deviances and illnesses that menace society. This role can only be fully understood in the context of his time, which unambiguously asserted the type of patriarchal masculinity and the sanctity of the monogamous bourgeois family. Under this standard, any "deviance" from these norms was not to be simply addressed by curative means, but also punitive ones. It would be interesting to put into contraposition the rhetorics and paradigms of Krafft-Ebing and Foucault, who, in more recent years, provided masterful and penetrating insights into the epistemic and discursive formations that have been used in modern society to regulate and police sexual behaviour, as in the nineteenth century's obligation to pathologise homosexuality as an "aberration", a category rejected in the mainstream of the West. Though it must be of great interest to students of forensic medicine and clinical psychiatry, this study would also be equally appreciated by non-specialist readers who are interested in the subject of sexual deviance.

Preceding Freud's work over twenty years, Krafft-Ebing's works are classic, and should be mandatory for anyone interested in human sexuality, especially sexual deviance. Psychopathia Sexualis is a compilation of Krafft-Ebing's casework (over 200 cases documented) involving bizarre, perverse, and sexually confused subjects. In reading this, I found that the questions I thought I clearly had answers to, I really did not, and that in fact, I had more questions about human sexuality than ever before. The cases dive deep into the personal history of each subject, and Krafft-Ebing objectively provides physiological aspects (that you may or may not take as explanatory factors) and the subject's reasoning for their deviant behavior. Instead of providing direct answers that are more likely to be declared in postmodern literature, Krafft-Ebing presents only facts, understanding that one single evaluation could never explain the "why's" and the "how's" of human behavior.

Basically a catalogue in case history form of almost all sexual perversions, but written a century ago, this book is informative for those who wish to learn about deviant or unconventional sexuality or those who have an interest in the history of sex or psychiatry. It is especially remarkable how little has changed in terms of actual perversions since the book was first written, most case histories could easily be transplanted to the year 2000 without substantial change. Why there is such a variety of perversions in human (male, mostly) affairs, some quite useless and/or bizarre, and why these have remained in the human species (despite an apparent natural selective pressure against them since these unfortunate individuals are less likely to reproduce), is truly a great mystery of psychology, one which few if any are willing to confront directly. From a historical perspective, it is interesting to see how homosexuality is treated as a deviance, which of course it isn't, and how persistent the author is in attempting to cure everyone of their unnatural desires, whereas today it is unlikely (except in the obviously criminal situations of pedophilia, etc.), any psychiatrist would try to reform the sadist, masochist, fetishist, etc., knowing it is a virtually impossible undertaking. In short, very entertaining in general, very disgusting in places, informative and revealing: perfect reading.