First published in Britain in 1958, the original blurb read: ‘To those whose sex life is based on heterosexual relationships, the homosexual is a grotesque, shadowy creature – a person spoken of with scorn. If you are not one of us, it is impossible to realise our feelings when this occurs. It is incredible to us that a well-educated girl could make the following remark: "What do they look like? I wonder if I’ve ever seen one?"’
These words – written by a lesbian and taken from one of the personal histories of homosexual men and women which open this book – might be taken as its theme. In our statistically minded age, we are apt to forget that behind the word homosexual there is always a person. Widespread misconceptions about homosexuality are particularly startling when one considers the disturbing prevalence.
The purpose of this book is to bring into public light, the knowledge of the manifestations of the problem, so that they may be openly examined. The book is divided into two parts: Part One presents a collection of revealing autobiographies, diaries, letters and intimate observations in which the homosexuals speak for themselves. Part Two offers an examination of the cause and cure of homosexuality by important figures from all major schools of thought. It includes contributions by Sigmund Freud, C. G. Jung, George W. Henry, Magnus Hirschfield, Wilhelm Stekel and Sandor Ferenczi.
In editing this volume, Dr Berg has bridged a significant gap in the scientific approach to sexual behaviour. By bringing to life the feelings, fears, attitudes and anxieties of the human being behind the statistics of homosexual incidence, as well as the causes, it should become indispensable to the movement for intelligent sex education.
This book is a re-issue originally published in 1958. The language used is a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.
Editorial Survey by Dr Charles Berg. Preface by A. M. Krich Part 1: As Seen by Themselves The Women I am a Homosexual Woman Jane McKinnon; The Case of Miss Ilse Wilhelm Stekel; From the Casebook of a Gynaecologist Robert Latou Dickinson; Woman to Woman: Homosexual Letters Anonymous; Dreams of Masculine Regret Nandor Fodor; Mother and Daughter Charles Berg; A Jealous Wife Sandor Ferenczi. The Men ‘Better than the Love of Women…’ Ludwig Eidelberg; Autobiography of a Homosexual Writer Anonymous; Crisis in the Life of a Homosexual Anonymous; Letter of a Homosexual Husband Anonymous; The Perfect Servant Sandor Ferenczi Part 2: Cause and Cure The Psychobiological Approach The Homosexual as an Intersex Magnus Hirschfield; Homosexuality of Youth Oswald Schwarz; Homosexuality Among University Students Benjamin H. Glover; Psychogenic and Constitutional Factors George W. Henry; Varieties of Homosexual Manifestation George S. Sprague et al. The Psychoanalytic Approach Types of Male Homosexuality Sandor Ferenczi; On Homosexuality Paul Schilder; Incest and Homosexuality Gilbert V. Hamilton; Homosexuality and the Kinsey Report Edmund Bergler; Changing Concepts in Psychoanalysis Clara Thompson Types of Treatment A Case of Homosexuality in a Woman Sigmund Freud; Analysis of Two Homosexual Dreams C. G. Jung; Transvestism Christian Hamburger et al.; An Analytic Session Henri Flournoy; Psychosexual Development of a Female Morris W. Brody; A Case of Male Homosexuality Moshe Wulff. Notes on the Contributors. Index.
Biography
Charles Berg
A. M. Krich
