Bisexual Love

by Wilhelm Stekel

By the 1920s, when Wilhelm Stekel wrote Bisexual Love, the erotic capacity to desire both males and females could be envisioned as universal, if likely to be outgrown by adulthood. Stekel holds that homosexuality is a psychic disease based on the fear of love, and as such is curable This 1922 book was an important work in the history of psychology and psychoanalysis showing how this "science", while contributing to the growth of human understanding, also has blocked understanding and human growth. Stekel was a follower of Sigmund Freud, though Freud was not particularly enamored with him. In this general overview of bisexuality, the work exposes the author's differences with Bloch, Moll, Krafft-Ebing, Ellis, and Hirschfeld. The book is quite representative of 1930s thinking on sexuality.

Genres: Psychology

364 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1922

About the author

Wilhelm Stekel was an Austrian physician and psychologist, who became one of Sigmund Freud's earliest followers, and was once described as "Freud's most distinguished pupil". According to Ernest Jones, "Stekel may be accorded the honour, together with Freud, of having founded the first psycho-analytic society"; while he also described him as "a naturally gifted psychologist with an unusual flair for detecting repressed material." He later had a falling-out with Freud, who announced in November 1912 that "Stekel is going his own way". His works are translated and published in many languages.

Reviews

[Caeru · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting insight into how early 20th century psychologists viewed and attempted to explain homosexuality.

The author manages to be both surprisingly open-minded as well as deeply bigoted, quite often in the same sentence, and his attempt to convince the reader that homosexuality is NOT innate but caused by trauma or childhood experiences, or occasionally adult experiences (and overbearing mothers of course, the author is very much a Freudian disciple) leads to some very entertaining mental gymnastics.

Reading this book was like opening a tiny window into the somewhat fevered psyche of the neurotic middle classes from a century ago. Dreams are analysed in depth, everyone wants to sleep with their parents or siblings, playing with dolls is a sure sign of homosexuality in boys, wanting the vote will make you a lesbian and apparently misogyny is caused by gonorrhea. Prostitution is fine but having a wank will make you gay. As will the gonorrhea. And discovering that your mother has a sex life. Also, beer.

This was a wild ride.