Internationale Zeitschrift für Arztliche Psychoanalyse

Contributions to the Analysis of Sadism and Masochism. Dr. Paul Federn. II. The Libidinous Sources of Masochism.

On the Nosology of Male Homosexuality (Homoerotocism). Dr. S. Ferenczi.

On the Constitutional Basis of Locomotor Anxiety. Dr. Karl Abraham.

Analysis of Sadism and Masochism: II. The Libidinous Sources of Masochism.—The author does not claim to lay bare any new etiology of masochism, rather to show its structure and mechanism. In the first place it is necessary to discriminate between “feminine” and “masochistic.” There are normal women who are not masochistic. While from the point of view of masculine sexuality, feminine sexuality has a strong passive component, “passive” and “masochistic” must be discriminated. As long as one speaks of the pleasant sensations which belong to the passive rǒle of the sexual act one speaks rightly of the passive component of sexuality, but as soon as one speaks of the sexual pleasure gotten from non-sexual suffering or endurance one speaks rightly of masochism. Similarly sadism must be distinguished from the active component of sexuality. “I distinguish sharply between masochism, the passive sexual component, and feminine sexuality.”1

In agreement with Krafft-Ebing, the author finds that masochism mostly manifests itself before puberty. In exceptional cases its advent is later, and sometimes it shows itself in old age. But in these cases also many experiential elements go back to childhood.

The next and most important question is, what part of the normal, infantile, “polymorphous perverse,” sexuality of the child contains the germ of masochism, and under what conditions will it develop?1 P. 109.

Krafft-Ebing, without realizing the importance of infantile sexuality, found the root of masochism in the feminine component of sexuality. According to the author it is in the infantile passive component of sexuality that becoming fixed accounts for masochism. This single mechanism is, however, not the only explan