“I am over medium height, well developed, and look somewhat aged; and, therefore, when I wish to make conquests I use the arts of the toilet. My manner, movements, and face are masculine. Physically I feel as youthful as a boy of twenty. I love the theatre, and especially art. My interest in the stage is in the actresses, whose every movement and gesture I notice and criticise.
“In the society of gentlemen I am silent and embarrassed, while in the society of those like myself I am free, witty, and as fawning as a cat, if a man is sympathetic. If I am without love, I become deeply melancholic; but the favors of the first handsome man dispel my depression. In other ways I am frivolous; anything but ambitious. My profession is nothing to me. Masculine pursuits do not interest me. I prefer novels and going to the theatre. I am effeminate, sensitive, easily moved, easily injured, and nervous. A sudden noise makes my whole body tremble, and I have to collect myself in order to keep from crying out.”
Remarks: The foregoing case is certainly one of acquired contrary sexual instinct, since the sexual instinct and impulse were originally directed toward the female sex. Sch. became neurasthenic through masturbation.
As an accompanying manifestation of the neurasthenic neurosis, lessened impressionability of the erection-centre and consequent relative impotence came on. As a result of this, sexual sensibility toward the opposite sex was lessened, with simultaneous persistence of libido sexualis. The acquired contrary sexual instinct must be abnormal, since the first touch by a person of the same sex is an adequate stimulus for the erection-centre. The perverse sexual feeling became complete. At first Sch. felt like a man in the sexual act; but more and more, as the change progressed, the feeling and desire of satisfaction changed to the form which, as a rule, characterizes the (congenital) urning.
This eviration induces a desire for the passive rôle, and, further, for (passive) pederasty. It makes a deeper impress on the character. The character becomes feminine, inasmuch as Sch. now prefers to move in the society of actual females, has an increasing desire for feminine occupations, and, indeed, makes use of the arts of the toilet in order to improve his fading charms and make “conquests.”
The foregoing facts, concerning acquired contrary sexual instinct and effemination, find an interesting confirmation in the following ethnological data:—
Even Herodotus describes a peculiar disease which frequently affected the Scythians. The disease consisted in this: that men became effeminate in character, put on female garments, did the work of women, and even became effeminate in appearance. As an explanation of this insanity of the Scythians,[[103]] Herodotus relates the myth that the goddess Venus, angered by the plundering of the temple at Ascalon by the Scythians, had made women of these plunderers and their posterity.
Hippocrates, not believing in supernatural diseases, recognized that impotence was here a causative factor, and explained it, though incorrectly, as due to the custom of the Scythians, by attributing it to disease of the jugular veins induced by excessive riding. He thought that these veins were of great importance in the preservation of the sexual powers, and that when they were severed, impotence was induced. Since the Scythians considered their impotence due to divine punishment, and incurable, they put on the clothing of females, and lived as women among women.
It is worthy of note that, according to Klaproth (“Reise in den Kaukasus,” Berlin, 1812, v, p. 285) and Chotomski, even at the present time impotence is very frequent among the Tartars, as a result of riding unsaddled horses. The same is observed among the Apaches and Navajos of the Western Continent, who ride excessively, scarcely ever going on foot, and are remarkable for small genitals and mild libido and virility. Sprengel, Lallemand, and Nysten recognized the fact that excessive riding may be injurious to the sexual organs.
Hammond reports analogous observations of great interest concerning the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. These descendants of the Aztecs cultivate so-called “mujerados,” of which every Pueblo tribe requires one in the religious ceremonies (actual orgies in the spring), in which pederasty plays an important part. In order to cultivate a “mujerado,” a very powerful man is chosen, and he is made to masturbate excessively and ride constantly. Gradually such irritable weakness of the genital organs is engendered that, in riding, great loss of semen is induced. This condition of irritability passes into paralytic impotence. Then the testicles and penis atrophy, the hair of the beard falls out, the voice loses its depth and compass, and physical strength and energy decrease. Inclinations and disposition become feminine. The “mujerado” loses his position in society as a man. He takes on feminine manners and customs, and associates with women. Yet, for religious reasons, he is held in honor. It is probable that, at other times than during the festivals, he is used by the chiefs for pederasty. Hammond had an opportunity to examine two “mujerados.” One had become such seven years before, and was thirty-five years old at the time. Seven years before, he was entirely masculine and potent. He had noticed gradual atrophy of the testicles and penis. At the same time he lost libido and the power of erection. He differed in nowise, in dress and manner, from the women among whom Hammond found him. The genital hair was wanting, the penis was shrunken, the scrotum lax and pendulous, and the testicles were very much atrophied and no longer sensitive to pressure. The “mujerado” had large mammæ like a pregnant woman, and asserted that he had nursed several children whose mothers had died. A second “mujerado,” aged thirty-six, after he had been ten years in the condition, presented the same peculiarities, though with less development of mammæ. Like the first, the voice was high and thin. The body was plump.[[104]]