Homosexuality in a male proved to be a method of reaction to a very severe prohibition against masturbation. It appeared, furthermore, to be an erotized fixation to that part of the Oedipus complex in which the boy was unable to cope with his rivalry in relation to his father and his brothers. His castration anxiety stemmed originally from heterosexual incestuous strivings. Heterosexuality became a double threat of direct punishment from the vagina, and punishment by the father and brother. Unable to beat his superior rivals, he therefore took to a sexualized form of 'stabbing in the back' or 'hitting below the belt' (homosexuality). The unconscious castration anxiety was clinically expressed in phobic and compulsory symptoms. His behavior toward his wife was a mixture of belated obedience and revenge connected with his mother, nurse, and sister.