In the early years of the 20th century Vienna was one of the main intellectual centers in Europe.
Freud and Husserl were from Vienna. Around 1907 Adolf Hitler was exposed there to the racist ideas which were popular in Vienna.
There was something going on there in Vienna. Psychology was developing as a science. Before it was often a part of philosophy.
There is one interesting subject, that began to play an important role: sexuality. Not sex, but sexuality.
To begin with sex has no history. It is a natural fact, grounded in the functioning of the body, and, as such, it lies outside of history and culture.
Sexuality, by contrast, does not properly refer to some aspect or attribute of bodies. Unlike sex, sexuality is a cultural production:
it represents the appropriation of the human body and of its physiological capacities by an ideological discourse.
Sexuality is not a somatic fact; it is a cultural effect. Sexuality, then, does have a history and Vienna plays an important role in that history.
Freud started with defining it as part of the psychological make-up of a person and as a source of all kinds of behavior. Just think of the Oedipus- and Elektra-complex.
But there were other peculiar theories around. For instance those of Otto Weiniger (1880 - 1903).
In 1903 was his book published "Geschlecht und Charakter" (Gender and character). It was a big success, rabiate antisemitic and extremely woman unfriendly.
He invented new words, which had no scientific basis at all, like "idioplasma", the name for sexually undifferentiated body cells.
Male tissue he called arrhenoplasma and female tissue thelyplasma. And with ingenious calculations he "showed"
that things like geniality, prostitution, intellect etc. depend on. the relation between the arrhenoplasa and thelyplasma in the cells,
with of course the conclusion that science and arts, historical achievements and the liker were masculine and well represented in the Arier race
and that all bad and negative elements in man were feminine, an abundance of thelyplasma in the human tissue, which was the most obvious in Jews.
Otto Weiniger committed suicide when he was 23, but with his book he made his point and represented the trend of those times.
A catholic psychiatrist, Richard von Kraff-Ebing (1840-1902) was equally interested in sexuality and sexual issues.
In 1886 he published "Psychopathia Sexualis: Ein klinisch-forensische Studie" (A clinic-forensic study)
It was so popular that it was translated into seven languages.. He related sexual pathology to marital status, art and religion.
The only function of sexuality was to procreate during marriage, nothing else.
Everything about sex outside marriage was pervers and therefor we now still use the word he coined: masochism.
He derived the word from the name of a writer, named Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, who wrote some autobiographic story,
in which he tells how he had signed a contract with barones Fanny Pistor, in which he obliged himself to be here slave for 6 months.
It was in this world, where religion and science were in conflict, that the 20th century's concept of sexuality developed.
And thence became the inspiration of feminism and lives on today in a #MeToo movement.
Thank you for your attention.... ^_^
The Discussion
[13:21] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): thank you Herman
[13:21] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): or i would say reborn
[13:21] herman Bergson: reborn?
[13:21] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): th movements
[13:22] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): feminism reborn in the me too
[13:22] CB Axel: It sounds like Weiniger was trying to bring back imbalances in body humors as a cause for disease.
[13:22] herman Bergson: You mean MeToo is a reborn feminism?
[13:22] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): sort of languished a bit
[13:22] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i think so
[13:22] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): or reawakened
[13:22] herman Bergson: I see...
[13:23] herman Bergson: Weiniger assumed of course that males existed of arrhenoplasme and women mainly of thelyplasma :-)
[13:23] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): why did man through the years hate woman so much?
[13:23] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): thinks they did not hate... just underestimated them
[13:24] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): as human beings
[13:24] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): why?
[13:24] herman Bergson: But what more interesting is, is that in Vienna in the period 1900 - 1910 there must have exist a very peculiar intellectual world
[13:24] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:24] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:24] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): very peculiar
[13:24] Dien (djdien.bailey) is offline.
[13:24] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): something in the water
[13:24] herman Bergson: That is an interesting question Beertje....
[13:25] herman Bergson: I recently read an article about a group of men, who cheered that terrorist in Toronto who killed 10 people with a van....
[13:25] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i am sure there were more than that group
[13:25] herman Bergson: They cheered him because most of them were women.....
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): yes
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): and it seems purposeful
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): to go after women
[13:26] herman Bergson: There is a group on the internet who gather around hating women....I forgot the name
[13:26] CB Axel: Didn't the guy in Toronto aim for women because he couldn't get any woman to sleep with him?
[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): that is what he was supposed to say
[13:27] herman Bergson: Yes indeed CB.....that was it.....
[13:27] CB Axel: All he did was prove that the women were right to shun him.
[13:27] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): but that is not now, it was the same a century ago
[13:27] herman Bergson: Rodger was his name.....now I recall
[13:27] herman Bergson: That is the point Beertje.....
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): humans have some things in them that carry from century to century
[13:28] herman Bergson: It has to do with the position of women in society, which largely is defined by our concept of sexuality...
[13:28] CB Axel: I don't know what it was like in early 20th c. Vienna, but I think part of the problem today is that women no longer require a man to protect her and provide for her.
[13:29] herman Bergson: After the Victorian sexuality, it became a part of psychopathology....
[13:29] CB Axel: Men are becoming superfluous in the day to day lives of women.
[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): very true
[13:29] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): was that in the earlier centuries also the case< like in 1500 or so?
[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): lets not go too far tho
[13:30] herman Bergson: There is a much larger freedom of choice of how to organize your life today
[13:30] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): worse then beertje
[13:31] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Even the Saudi women have made progress in freedom
[13:31] herman Bergson: In the 17th century there was a freeer way of dealing with sexuality.....think of Marquise de Sade for instance and his 120 days of Sodom...
[13:32] herman Bergson: But yet he went to jail for that book, if I am not mistaken
[13:32] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:32] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:32] CB Axel: Were women more free back then?
[13:32] CB Axel: Probably not.
[13:32] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): no
[13:32] herman Bergson: Sexuality is part of the political discourse....
[13:33] herman Bergson: The rights of women.....they were allowed to vote since 1919
[13:33] CB Axel: Only because men want to control women. At least in the US they do.
[13:33] herman Bergson: but they belang in the kitchen....
[13:33] herman Bergson: Yes.....the relation controller and controlled person is part of the discourse....
[13:33] Ciska Riverstone is online.
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i have never understood why people in sl have kitchens... a lot of them
[13:34] CB Axel: I have a kitchen. °͜°
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): lololol
[13:34] CB Axel: It makes the house look like a home.
[13:34] herman Bergson: yes......and bedrooms are also redundant here
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ok
[13:34] CB Axel: And bathrooms, but I have one of those, too.
[13:34] herman Bergson: a home for a woman CB?
[13:34] CB Axel: A home for anyone who eats.
[13:35] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i have never had a kitchen in sl but i love ot cook
[13:35] herman Bergson: me too :-)
[13:35] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): and eat
[13:35] herman Bergson: I have no bed here either :-))
[13:35] CB Axel: Now I'm getting hungry. °͜°
[13:36] CB Axel: I enjoy decorating my sl house the way I can't afford to in rl.
[13:36] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): woman belong in the kitchen you said..but
[13:36] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): oh yes
[13:36] CB Axel: Hi, Ciska.
[13:36] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): on tv it's all man who cook
[13:36] CB Axel: Yes. The great chefs have almost all been men.
[13:37] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): oops
[13:37] Ciska Riverstone whispers: hello
[13:37] CB Axel: My father used to cook our Sunday dinners.
[13:37] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ciska
[13:37] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): I think they are jealous on us , woman
[13:38] herman Bergson: Main point still is how the concept of sexuality is about control
[13:38] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): it does
[13:38] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): yes
[13:38] herman Bergson: in the personal and also political sphere
[13:38] CB Axel: I never understood why it was thought that men could do any job they wanted and were good at, but all women were expected to be were housewives and mothers. Even women who weren't good at either.
[13:38] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): yes
[13:38] herman Bergson: That is this control thing, CB....
[13:39] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): but what drives man to control woman that much?
[13:39] herman Bergson: If women were meant to deliver babies, and take care of the children they could not work...
[13:39] herman Bergson: This was strongly supported by christian churches
[13:39] CB Axel: Well, men ruined it for themselves, imo. They started wars that sent men away leaving women to do the jobs the men couldn't do while fighting.
[13:40] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): which were mostly run by men
[13:40] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): there wasn't any woman who startet a war
[13:40] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): it's always a man
[13:40] CB Axel: Once women learned that they could do jobs outside of the home, that was the beginning of the end of women as slaves to men.
[13:41] herman Bergson: Don't forget education CB....
[13:41] CB Axel: Yes. Men should never have allowed women to be educated. °͜°
[13:41] CB Axel: You guys have brought all this down upon yourselves. LOL
[13:41] herman Bergson: Only in the early 1900 years women were allowed to study at the university....
[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:42] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): i still don't know why man act like this
[13:42] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): it's stupid
[13:42] CB Axel: What happened in the 1900's that made it ok for women to learn?
[13:43] herman Bergson: in the period 1900 - 1920 there must have been a strong racist, antisemitic and male dominated culture in Vienna
[13:43] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): some women woke up and looked around
[13:43] herman Bergson: It is culture, Beertje
[13:43] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): it seems to be returning today tho Herman
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): the racist and antisemetic
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): part anyway
[13:44] CB Axel: I wonder if some devices that made housework easier and faster were popular. Women had more free time then.
[13:44] herman Bergson: Yes Gemma, you sometimes begin to fear that...
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): very much so
[13:45] herman Bergson: So it is interesting to think about the concept of sexuality of today....
[13:45] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): very different now too
[13:45] herman Bergson: how much is has or has not changed since 1910
[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): i think it's still a struggle
[13:46] herman Bergson: Yes I think so too
[13:46] herman Bergson: women are not equally paid to begin with
[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): true
[13:46] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): yes even still
[13:47] herman Bergson: A minority reaches the top in companies and universities
[13:47] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): even if they have to take care of children alone
[13:47] CB Axel: Because men don't want women to succeed in the workplace.
[13:47] herman Bergson: Why don't they want that, CB?
[13:47] CB Axel: Because they still want women to need them.
[13:47] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): afraid to loose position
[13:48] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): afraid to have to listen to a woman boss
[13:48] CB Axel: I think men are afraid that if women don't need them to provide and protect, women will avoid marriage.
[13:48] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): hmmmm
[13:49] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): not sure
[13:49] herman Bergson: Marriage is already no longer the most favorite thing to do for couples
[13:49] CB Axel: I had an argument with a male friend of mine about the old song Two Out of Three Ain't Bad.
[13:49] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): dont know that one
[13:49] Ciska Riverstone: the masculine picture is still a "leading " one... if a man cannot lead in other parts of his life he still used to be the 2official" leader of the family
[13:50] Ciska Riverstone: that made him something in the hierarchy of men
[13:50] CB Axel: In the song the male singer said in effect, I want you, I need you, but I'll never love you.
[13:50] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ahha
[13:50] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): i would say ...GO HOME
[13:50] Ciska Riverstone: now this is al shifting but its still hard for men to define themselves in the western culture without referring to something like " at least i'm not a woman" ;)
[13:50] CB Axel: My friend thought that sounded about right. Being wanted and needed was more important than being loved.
[13:50] herman Bergson frowns
[13:51] herman Bergson: Indeed Ciska....
[13:51] CB Axel: I disagreed. I mean, no one really "needs" another person.
[13:51] herman Bergson: I agree CB :-)
[13:51] CB Axel: Trying to keep a woman by making her believe she "needs" a man is stupid.
[13:51] herman Bergson: I am on your side in this
[13:51] CB Axel: But that's what my friend felt.
[13:52] herman Bergson: a woman NEEDS a man?
[13:52] Ciska Riverstone: yes - thats a try to make a dominat position out of nothing cb
[13:52] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): some actually do
[13:52] herman Bergson: I get the impression it is precisely the other way around
[13:52] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): they go from one bad relationship to another
[13:52] CB Axel: Men need to stop expecting a woman to need a man and instead try to be the kind of man the woman can want and love.
[13:52] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): some cannot live without a man
[13:52] CB Axel: Oh, women are to blame, too.
[13:53] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): yep
[13:53] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): human frailties
[13:53] CB Axel: They want a man to take care of them. But then they're surprised when they have kids and the man leaves.
[13:53] CB Axel: Women have to stop depending on others to take care of them.
[13:54] CB Axel: Women also have to stop thinking that sex = love.
[13:54] herman Bergson: Would save me a lot of money indeed CB :-)))
[13:54] CB Axel: They think that if a man wants to sleep with her that it means he loves her.
[13:54] CB Axel: All it means is that the man loves sex.
[13:54] herman Bergson: Yes that is a mistake....
[13:55] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): I have to run off
[13:55] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): fishing contest I have to host
[13:55] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:55] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:55] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): bye Gemma
[13:55] herman Bergson: Ok Gemma....
[13:55] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ♥ Thank Youuuuuuuuuu!! ♥
[13:55] CB Axel: Sleep with a man if you want to, but don't think it has any deeper meaning.
[13:55] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): bye for now
[13:55] CB Axel: Bye, Gemma.
[13:55] CB Axel: Happy fishing!
[13:55] herman Bergson: Enjoy, GEmma
[13:56] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): can't there be love between an man and a woman VB?
[13:56] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): CB
[13:57] CB Axel: Yes, Beertje, but they have to change their expectations from 19th c (and earlier) thinking.
[13:57] herman Bergson: Sex is a biological thing.....but love is at least for a great part a cultural thing, I'd say
[13:57] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Ik now at least 1 man who has changed his thinking CB :)
[13:57] CB Axel: I agree, but sex with someone you love is more meaningful than the casual sex I see people indulging in.
[13:58] herman Bergson: I agree CB
[13:58] CB Axel: Good for him, Beertje! Some men are making the change, but it's happening slowly.
[13:58] herman Bergson: I hope you are married to that man Beertje....lucky you ^_^
[13:59] CB Axel: The 20th c has made it necessary to look at men and women differently.
[13:59] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): I am:)
[13:59] CB Axel: What with 2 world wars, the Vietnam War, etc.
[13:59] CB Axel: You are lucky, Beertje!
[13:59] herman Bergson: We'll get to those subjects, I assume
[13:59] Ciska Riverstone: I think for many men in the west it really has to do with the "be a man" training which keeps them from understanding love till midlife crises
[14:00] CB Axel: That's probably true, Ciska.
[14:00] Ciska Riverstone: (which is much earlier these days for men too)
[14:00] CB Axel: But women expect men to "be a man" too.
[14:00] Ciska Riverstone: I still think hermans talk explains a lot there
[14:00] Ciska Riverstone: yes of course
[14:00] Ciska Riverstone: as much as men expect women to be women
[14:01] Ciska Riverstone: but that does not help
[14:01] CB Axel: The old male/female roles no longer apply.
[14:01] Ciska Riverstone: women need to define their womanhood and men their manhood and then live with the consequences
[14:02] herman Bergson: YEs Ciska and present day's definitions still have a lot of old ideas in them
[14:02] Ciska Riverstone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVI1Xutc_Ws
[14:02] CB Axel: I think it could be very freeing for men to not always having to be tough and brave and strong.
[14:02] Ciska Riverstone: they have often dimmed down their connection to feeling yes
[14:03] Ciska Riverstone: that does not help with love
[14:03] Ciska Riverstone: but it helps with career
[14:03] Ciska Riverstone: or with going over "dead" bodies
[14:03] herman Bergson: Well I guess we can go on about this subject as long as man and woman exist....:-)
[14:03] Ciska Riverstone: ;)
[14:03] herman Bergson: I wouldn't advise that :-)
[14:04] herman Bergson: So I better thank you again for your participation ...:-)
[14:04] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): thank you Herman :)
[14:04] herman Bergson: Class dismissed :-)
[14:04] Ciska Riverstone: thanx herman
[14:05] Ciska Riverstone: welterusten beertje ㋡
[14:05] CB Axel: Try this TED Talk, too: https://www.ted.com/talks/justin_baldoni_why_i_m_done_trying_to_be_man_enough
[14:05] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): welterusten Ciska, CB en Herman :)
[14:05] Ciska Riverstone: welterusten Herman
[14:05] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): slaap lekker
[14:05] herman Bergson: Bye Beertje....
[14:05] Ciska Riverstone: thanx cb
[14:05] herman Bergson: ohh....we got homework....:-)
[14:05] CB Axel: Welterusten, everyone. See you Tuesday.
[14:06] CB Axel: Yes! Two TED Talks to watch. °͜°
[14:06] CB Axel: Bye bye
[14:06] Ciska Riverstone: heheh byee
[14:06] herman Bergson: Ok...I'll go and do that
[14:06] Ciska Riverstone: enjoy
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