Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 588 pages of information about Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2.

Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 588 pages of information about Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2.

In the opinion of some, English homosexuality has become much more conspicuous during recent years, and this is sometimes attributed to the Oscar Wilde case.  No doubt, the celebrity of Oscar Wilde and the universal publicity given to the facts of the case by the newspapers may have brought conviction of their perversion to many inverts who were before only vaguely conscious of their abnormality, and, paradoxical though it may seem, have imparted greater courage to others; but it can scarcely have sufficed to increase the number of inverts.  Rather, one may say, the development of urban life renders easier the exhibition and satisfaction of this as of all other forms of perversion.  Regarding the proportion of inverts among the general population, it is very difficult to speak positively.  The invert himself is a misleading guide because he has formed round himself a special coterie of homosexual persons, and, moreover, he is sometimes apt to overestimate the number of inverts through the misinterpretation of small indications that are not always conclusive.  The estimate of the ordinary normal person, feeling the ordinary disgust toward abnormal phenomena, is also misleading, because his homosexual acquaintances are careful not to inform him concerning their proclivities.  A writer who has studied the phenomena of homosexuality is apt to be misguided in the same way as the invert himself, and to overestimate the prevalence of the perversion.  Striving to put aside this source of fallacy, and only considering those individuals with whom I have been brought in contact by the ordinary circumstances of life, and with whose modes of feeling I am acquainted, I am still led to the conclusion that the proportion is considerable.  Among the professional and most cultured element of the middle class in England, there must be a distinct percentage of inverts which may sometimes be as much as 5 per cent., though such estimates must always be hazardous.  Among women of the same class the percentage seems to be at least double, though here the phenomena are less definite and deep-seated.  This seems to be a moderate estimate for this class, which includes, however, it must be remembered, a considerable proportion of individuals who are somewhat abnormal in other respects.  As we descend the scale the phenomena are doubtless less common, though when we reach the working class we come to that comparative indifference to which allusion has already been made.  Taken altogether we may probably conclude that the proportion of inverts is the same as in other related and neighboring lands, that is to say, slightly over 2 per cent.  That would give the homosexual population of Great Britain as somewhere about a million.

FOOTNOTES: 

[1] Taking all its forms en bloc, as they are known to the police, homosexuality is seen to possess formidable proportions.  Thus in France, from official papers which passed through M. Carlier’s bureau during ten years (1860-70), he compiled a list of 6342 pederasts who came within the cognizance of the police; 2049 Parisians, 3709 provincials, and 584 foreigners.  Of these, 3432, or more than the half, could not be convicted of illegal acts.

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Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.