The Use of the Term 'Active' in the Definition of Masculinity—A Critical Study

In psycho-analytical literature we often find 'masculinity' correlated with 'activity'. For instance, one definition runs as follows: 'The term active is applied to the individual who advances upon and subjugates his sexual object, while the individual who surrenders to the sexual partner is termed passive. We are all familiar with the fact that as a rule it is the male who adopts the former attitude in erotic relations, whereas the behaviour of the female is generally passive.'1 In recent writings it has even been suggested that the 'only' libido (in that it is active) is 'male libido'.

These statements I believe to be erroneous and for this reason I would draw attention to the following fundamental considerations:

• 1Libido is defined as the quantitatively variable energy of the sexual instincts. According to this definition it is neither exclusively male nor exclusively female, and I believe that this is the view held by Freud. Either it is similar and sexually neutral in male and female, or there is qualitative difference in the energy, in which case, according to our definition, there must be both a male and a female libido.

• 2In using such terms as 'active' and 'passive', which indicate general concepts with no clearly defined content, we must bear in mind several possibilities. In the present instance I would suggest the following:

• a.It is possible that there are certain preconceptions which do violence to the facts and cause these general terms to be used in a restricted or garbled sense. For instance, 'activity' is taken to denote a special mode of activity, while the fact that there is another kind of activity in the female (as evidenced, e.g. in coquetry and seduction), that is not even repressed or denied, is nevertheless ignored.

• b.The notion of the 'passive woman 'is not true to facts but is of the nature of an 'ideal'. At certain periods in the history