06 Jul Krafft-Ebing’s Views on Sexuality
Posted
in Industry Knowledge
I have written a couple of pieces already about the views of sexuality of early sexologists, including Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. But before Jung and Freud, there was another psychiatrist who really kicked off this area of scientific study, and that was Richard von Krafft-Ebing.
Krafft-Ebing was a German psychiatrist from the late 19th century who started out his career as a neurologist, having a major interest in the relationship between psychiatry and criminal law (what is known as forensic psychiatry today). His reputation was so great that he was frequently consulted outside of Germany, including in Italy, France and Russia. When it comes to his views on sexuality, Krafft-Ebing was at the forefront of developing a new understanding that moved any deviations from the norm away from being issues of morality to being a medical-psychiatric issue; that is, people’s diverse sexual interests were considered a mental disorder and a problem for doctors to solve. Although we can see that this has its problems, it was a huge shift for the time and helped develop our understanding of sexuality today. In this piece I will talk about his major contributions to the field of sexology, including his views on homosexuality, recreational sex and his coining of the terms sadism and masochism.
KRAFFT-EBING SAW RECREATIONAL SEX AS A PERVERSION AND PERVERSIONS AS MENTAL DISORDERS
Medical interest in sexuality prior to Krafft-Ebing and the advent of psychiatry was limited to masturbation, sex work and sexually transmitted diseases and extended to criminal acts such as non-consensual sex, sodomy and public indecency. The new field of psychiatry focussed on collecting case studies and talking with people, which in turn offered new perspectives to people such as Krafft-Ebing and changed the way they viewed sexual behaviours that differed from the norm. This resulted in differences in sexual behaviour and preferences as being viewed as mental disorders and short term, in that they could be treated by medical professionals.
Krafft-Ebing’s underpinning theory was that non-procreative sex was a perversion of the sex drive; this is because in a lot of cases it was focussed not on reproduction or intercourse, but for pleasure alone. He argued that sexual instinct is important for reproduction but also for developing bonds with partners to ensure support for the resulting offspring. Therefore, according to Krafft-Ebing, love without sexuality and sexual pleasure without love represented incompleteness. This is an example of an evolutionary focus and understanding of sexuality that placed recreational and casual sex as a perversion and pathological. It was actually the development of the belief in the importance of emotional bonds with sexual partners that began to change Krafft-Ebing’s conception of homosexuality.
KRAFFT-EBING’S VIEWS ON HOMOSEXUALITY
views on homosexuality were influenced by the German gay rights activist, lawyer and writer Karl Ulrichs. Ulrich argued that love between two men was natural and something that is innate and present from birth. He described himself as an “Urning”, a term he coined in rejection of the term homosexual. Krafft-Ebing drew on Ulrichs’ foundation, seeing same sex attraction as hereditary, and that people could not be held responsible for the innate “reversal” of sexual drive. Krafft-Ebing supported decriminalisation of homosexuality, arguing that homosexuality was best served by medical treatment and behaviour modification approaches and not punishment from the criminal justice system. Over the course of his life and increased study, he came to the conclusion that homosexuality was not inherently pathological.
Krafft-Ebing was considered a leading figure and expert in the field of forensic medicine and his views held in high regard. However, despite this, his public support of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the states of the German Confederation did not influence the change of laws he sought during his lifetime.
KRAFFT-EBING COINED THE TERMS MASOCHISM AND SADISM
One of the more interesting facts about Krafft-Ebing is that he coined the terms masochism and sadism when he defined them in his landmark book “Psychopathia Sexualis”. The book is a reference book for psychiatrists, doctors and judges, and was one of the first books about diverse sexual practices that included homosexuality and bisexuality.
Krafft-Ebing named sadism after the Marquis de Sade and the brutal sexual practice depicted in his novels. Krafft-Ebing defined it as sexual pleasure that is derived through inflicting pain, physical or mental cruelty, and domination on others. Masochism was coined by Krafft-Ebing, inspired by another author, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, who novel “Venus In Furs” delved into themes of subjugation. Krafft-Ebing defined it as sexual arousal motivated by the desire to be completely controlled by another, experiencing pain, humiliation or subjugation. We now understand that consensual sadomasochism and practices associated with BDSM to be non-pathological, and Krafft-Ebing was an important figure in developing the knowledge base around these kinks.
Rem Sequence is an Australian adult content creator, blogger, and internationally published alt model. She has a background in psychology, philosophy and political science and worked in health and sex education, youth work and trauma counselling for almost two decades. Now, she works full time in the adult industry, as well as indulging her passion for arts, writing and music in numerous side projects.
I have written a couple of pieces already about the views of sexuality of early sexologists, including Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. But before Jung and Freud, there was another psychiatrist who really kicked off this area of scientific study, and that was Richard von Krafft-Ebing.
Krafft-Ebing was a German psychiatrist from the late 19th century who started out his career as a neurologist, having a major interest in the relationship between psychiatry and criminal law (what is known as forensic psychiatry today). His reputation was so great that he was frequently consulted outside of Germany, including in Italy, France and Russia. When it comes to his views on sexuality, Krafft-Ebing was at the forefront of developing a new understanding that moved any deviations from the norm away from being issues of morality to being a medical-psychiatric issue; that is, people’s diverse sexual interests were considered a mental disorder and a problem for doctors to solve. Although we can see that this has its problems, it was a huge shift for the time and helped develop our understanding of sexuality today. In this piece I will talk about his major contributions to the field of sexology, including his views on homosexuality, recreational sex and his coining of the terms sadism and masochism.
KRAFFT-EBING SAW RECREATIONAL SEX AS A PERVERSION AND PERVERSIONS AS MENTAL DISORDERS
Medical interest in sexuality prior to Krafft-Ebing and the advent of psychiatry was limited to masturbation, sex work and sexually transmitted diseases and extended to criminal acts such as non-consensual sex, sodomy and public indecency. The new field of psychiatry focussed on collecting case studies and talking with people, which in turn offered new perspectives to people such as Krafft-Ebing and changed the way they viewed sexual behaviours that differed from the norm. This resulted in differences in sexual behaviour and preferences as being viewed as mental disorders and short term, in that they could be treated by medical professionals.
Krafft-Ebing’s underpinning theory was that non-procreative sex was a perversion of the sex drive; this is because in a lot of cases it was focussed not on reproduction or intercourse, but for pleasure alone. He argued that sexual instinct is important for reproduction but also for developing bonds with partners to ensure support for the resulting offspring. Therefore, according to Krafft-Ebing, love without sexuality and sexual pleasure without love represented incompleteness. This is an example of an evolutionary focus and understanding of sexuality that placed recreational and casual sex as a perversion and pathological. It was actually the development of the belief in the importance of emotional bonds with sexual partners that began to change Krafft-Ebing’s conception of homosexuality.
KRAFFT-EBING’S VIEWS ON HOMOSEXUALITY
views on homosexuality were influenced by the German gay rights activist, lawyer and writer Karl Ulrichs. Ulrich argued that love between two men was natural and something that is innate and present from birth. He described himself as an “Urning”, a term he coined in rejection of the term homosexual. Krafft-Ebing drew on Ulrichs’ foundation, seeing same sex attraction as hereditary, and that people could not be held responsible for the innate “reversal” of sexual drive. Krafft-Ebing supported decriminalisation of homosexuality, arguing that homosexuality was best served by medical treatment and behaviour modification approaches and not punishment from the criminal justice system. Over the course of his life and increased study, he came to the conclusion that homosexuality was not inherently pathological.
Krafft-Ebing was considered a leading figure and expert in the field of forensic medicine and his views held in high regard. However, despite this, his public support of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the states of the German Confederation did not influence the change of laws he sought during his lifetime.
KRAFFT-EBING COINED THE TERMS MASOCHISM AND SADISM
One of the more interesting facts about Krafft-Ebing is that he coined the terms masochism and sadism when he defined them in his landmark book “Psychopathia Sexualis”. The book is a reference book for psychiatrists, doctors and judges, and was one of the first books about diverse sexual practices that included homosexuality and bisexuality.
Krafft-Ebing named sadism after the Marquis de Sade and the brutal sexual practice depicted in his novels. Krafft-Ebing defined it as sexual pleasure that is derived through inflicting pain, physical or mental cruelty, and domination on others. Masochism was coined by Krafft-Ebing, inspired by another author, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, who novel “Venus In Furs” delved into themes of subjugation. Krafft-Ebing defined it as sexual arousal motivated by the desire to be completely controlled by another, experiencing pain, humiliation or subjugation. We now understand that consensual sadomasochism and practices associated with BDSM to be non-pathological, and Krafft-Ebing was an important figure in developing the knowledge base around these kinks.
Rem Sequence is an Australian adult content creator, blogger, and internationally published alt model. She has a background in psychology, philosophy and political science and worked in health and sex education, youth work and trauma counselling for almost two decades. Now, she works full time in the adult industry, as well as indulging her passion for arts, writing and music in numerous side projects.
