Psychology of sex - Total No. of Records in System :: 2032

SEXUAL DEVIATIONpre-judgments, to introduce the idea of "perversion."Biologically, many things are natural that are outside ourconventions, while ethnographically and historically thereis no uniformity in conventions. I find it quite impossible,therefore, and even mischievous, to describe the childin the term that was once frequently employed by Freudas "polymorph-perverse," though the term has since beenmore or less supplanted, as Jelliffe points out, by "autoerotic,"or, as some would prefer, "pre-genital." For, asFreud himself has more recently seen, the barriersgradually built up by development and education do notyet exist for children. There cannot therefore be anyquestion of "perversion," for that would be to judgethem precisely in the way in which Freud himself saysthey should not be judged "by the moral and legalcodes of mature and fully responsible persons." The impressionof "polymorphous perversity" is merely superficial;it is(as I have frequently had occasion to pointout) the kind of "perversity" which an ignorant observermight find in the twisted fronds of young ferns. The con*ditions of life demand that twisted shape in the youngwould be if thegrowing things, and the real "perversity"young thing were to exhibit the shape of that which isfully grown.It is necessary to emphasize this pointfor even wouldbepioneers and pedagogues of what is sometimes called"sexology" are often entangled in the meshes of the past.The extravagant horror of "perversity," the mania forfinding and dwelling on "perversions" in the young, isitself the most perverse of perversions. It is seldom found,so far as is yet known, among any people living a sane andreasonably natural life, whether we turn to the savages oftoday or to the races of classic civilizations in which wehave our own roots.We may indeed say as much of the