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

glace,"MARRIAGEthe woman of "pure psychic sexual anaesthesia,"went back to the case of a woman who died more than acentury before he was born and of whom no medical historyexists,Madame de Warens. Moreover, he relied onthe narrative of Rousseau, who was by no means an accomplishedlover, and he overlooks the recorded statementof M. de Warens that his wife was hysterical, a state, aswe now know, leading to many subtle transformations ofthe sexual impulse which cannot be traced in the absenceof a detailed medical history. We must be cautious inaccepting any of the alleged cases of complete sexualanaesthesia in women. It is doubtful whether such a casehas ever existed.The existence of sexual hyperaesthesia in both sexes is,under the conditions of civilization, even commoner thanhypoaesthesia, and is likewise largely due to those conditions.They tend to increase the excitations of sex while atthe same time they impede the channels of its expression.A certain degree of hyperaesthesia is normal in courtship;in animals this manifests itself in the extreme excitementa constant brood-they show at this period and in man bying on the charms of the beloved. Under the influence ofsexual abstinence, also, hyperaesthesia usually occurs, anderotic excitation is found in objects and actions whichhave no normal relationship to the sexual sphere. Whensexual hyperaesthesia goes beyond these limits it is abnormaland isusually associated with neurotic conditions.Abnormal sexual hyperaesthesia by no means indicatesany excess of genital force. The man of abnormal genitalforce, the sexual athlete, as Benedikt termed him, is notmarked by hyperaesthesia; strength requires repose, andthe sensations of the hyperaesthetic enjoy little repose. Theappearance of genital force in hyperaesthesia is mainly a