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

PSYCHOLOGY OF SEXbe done to a boy's nervous and mental character,to saynothing of his future reputation, by the over-hasty assumptionthat such manifestations are diseased or vicious. Theycan adequately be dealt with, when they need to be dealtwith at all, by a kindly teacher or guardian, who in thecourse of imparting general sexual information inculcatesin the boy self-respect and regard for the welfare of others.In girlsthese manifestations usually escape serious treatment,partly because they are so common, and partly becausewomen, more often than men, are disposed to viewthem indulgently, if not indeed sometimes to share them.It remains, however, of considerable importance to distinguishbetween these temporary manifestations of homosexualityand the congenital sexual inversion which islikely to indicate a permanent life-long direction of thesexual impulse and ideals. In some children the sexualimpulse, far from being either undifferentiated or directeddirected towards thetowards the opposite sex, is definitelysame sex from the first. A diagnosis of congenital inversioncannot, however, always be made with certainty until theperiod of adolescence is entirely completed. A refined andwith aesthetic tastes, atintellectual youththe University,for instance, surrounded by attractive and congenial personsof his own sex, may remain indifferent to women andcontinue to cherish ardent sentimental friendships andadmirations, reaching the conclusion that he must be aninvert by nature. Yet, when he leaves the University forhe shares the com-the world, he discovers that, after all,mon passions of ordinary humanity. It is not, indeed, untilthe age of twenty-five has been reached or even later, thatwe can be fairly sure that homosexual impulses are not aphase of normal development. Even after maturity haslong been reached the homosexual impulse may veer[236]