Sometimes, however, functional retrogression or atavistic recurrence into the earlier hermaphroditic forms of the animal kingdom may take place, or traces of the conquered sexuality, at least so far as the mental characteristics are concerned, may remain; and it is these that provoke the manifestations of inverted sexuality. Individuals, thus affected, have a sexually abnormal instinct which is out of harmony with the physical sex and its rôle in the function of procreation. The man thus organized feels utter indifference to women, and conversely the woman to men, but they have a strong preference and pronounced sexual inclination toward their own sex. The man easily understands why a woman should love a man but he can not understand how a man could love a woman. The same is the case with the homosexual woman. She is at a loss to understand how a woman could love a man.
The anomaly of homosexuality is as old as history and was, in fact, oftener found among the ancients than it is nowadays. Plato, in his Banquet, tries to explain the enigmatical manifestation of homosexuality in men in the following poetical way: There is an Aphrodite without an Eros, but there are two goddesses of that name. The older Aphrodite, being the daughter of Uranos, and thus called Urania, came into being without a mother. The younger Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Artemis and is called Pandemonia. The Eros of the former is Eros Uranos, of the latter is Eros Pandemos. Eros Uranos did not choose a female, but a male, as his companion. Hence, whoever is inspired with the love of this deity turns to the male sex.
This Platonic explanation takes no notice of the existence of Lesbian love. His explanation of Lesbianism would have been that Aphrodite Urania did not choose a male but a female as her companion, and the woman inspired with the love of this deity turns to the female sex or Lesbian love. Lesbianism was as much in vogue in Greece in the days of Plato as paederastia.[BC]
The homosexual feeling is an abnormal, congenital manifestation of the cerebral part of the vita sexualis. The essential feature of this manifestation is the want of sexual sensibility for the opposite sex, even to the extent of being inspired with horror by it. This disease must not be confounded with vice. Perversity is not perversion. Sexual acts with the same sex are no proof of the presence of a real perversion. Homosexuality is prevalent in boarding-schools and colleges of both sexes, yet very few or none of these boys or girls are real inverts. Perverse acts occur when obstacles are in the way of natural sexual satisfaction. When the obstacles are removed the individuals return to normal sexual functions.
The perversity of homosexual acts is very common. Even among domesticated animals it is easy to find evidences of homosexual attraction in the absence of the other sex.
Male dogs, rams and bulls, when isolated, become restless and attempt conjugium together. Male monkeys when long kept away from their females will try conjugium.
Female monkeys behave in a sexual way to each other.
Deville found that female dogs, when isolated, become restless, and when in the state of sexual excitement attempt conjugium. The presence of the opposite sex restores at once normal conditions.
In cows the sexual desire is often directed to the same sex.
Buffon observed that the females of doves or other birds when set together would soon begin to have conjugium among themselves.