Description
The book is the first volume of a series of six, written by the English physician Havelock Ellis on different psychological aspects of human sexuality.
Three essays treating very interesting themes are included in the treatise, the first of them speaking of modesty in men, women and children. At the time the author published his work, the term “modesty” had a very different meaning than today, being used for defining decency in dressing.
One of the greatest things about this first essay is that it contains a great amount of information about how people from different parts of the world perceive nakedness. The readers have the opportunity to find out that what was considered natural in one society was forbidden in another one.
The best example in this direction is offered by a conversation that doctor Ellis had with a Japanese nobleman, about men and women who are not married bathing together. Although very open minded, the author was still the product of the conservative English society from the Victorian era, and he was really shocked by such ideas. On the other hand, his partner of conversation was very amused by the physician’s reaction.
The other two essays, The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity and Auto-Erotism deal with some very controversial subjects for the time the book was written. The former is a detailed presentation of one of the most interesting theories of the author. According to it, the sexual appetite of men and women is directly influenced by seasonal cycles and by moon phases.
The theme of the last essay included in the study, attaining sexual pleasure by auto-satisfaction, is by far the most controversial. However, it is also the one that pays the greatest tribute to the conservative education of the author.
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