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Das Geschlechtsleben und seine Verirrungen - was junge Leute davon wissen sollten und Eheleute wissen müssten (English: the sexual life and its missleadings - what young people should know and married couples have to know) is a book published in 1903 by the German doctor Dr. Franz Schönenberger and W. Siegert in the Wilhelm Möller Verlag. The publisher was known for its specialisation on the Esperanto language and situated in Berlin.

The aim of the book was to raise awareness on the importance of sexual education for adults as well as the youth. The book furthermore delivers the contemporary knowledge one should have about sex in 16 different chapters, each treating a specific aspect of the human sexual life. It is part of one of the the Special Collections of old books that belong to the Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

Context

Dr. med. Franz Schönenberger (1865–1933) was a german doctor and professor at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Berlin, where he obtained the first professorship of naturopathy a German university ever offered. Schönenberger himself was an advocat of naturopathy as healing method and openly critiziced his medical colleagues for their missing acknowledgement of the same. Following 'Die Naturheilkunde - ein Wegweiser für Gesunde und Kranke' (english: 'the naturopathy - a guide for the healthy and the sick '), das Geschlechtsleben und seine Verirrungen is the second book he published in collaboration with W. Siegert. In 1909, a third book, ' Der Naturarzt ' (English: the nature doctor'), followed. It was published by the Deutscher Bund der Vereine für naturgemässe Lebens- und Heilweise (Naturheilkunde) e.V. and entails a collection of articles on naturopathy that were published by the equally named journal in the year 1909. Schönenberger himself was the main publisher of the journal for over 25 years. It still exists today under the Deutscher Naturheilbund e.V.

Sexual education before 1903

The topic of sex was up until the middle of the 20th century a taboo topic that people would try to avoid in public discourse. In 1897, however , Sigmund Freud re-interpreted the results he obtained in his famous approach of psychoanalysis and identified suppressed sexual desires of his patients as the origin of their diverse mental problems. He thereby, against the public norm, confronted the public directly with the topic of sexuality. Moreover, he raised pronounced indignation when he introduced his theory of the oedipus complex as it connects children to the topic of sexuality. Three years before das Geschlechtsleben und seine Verirrungen was published, the prußian government introduced sexual education as part of the curriculum of public schools. Despite a following increase in openness towards the topic by the public, the main aim transported in this new subject was to teach the children how to suppress their sexual desires and behave themselves with decency.

These events allowed the book to be published in a time where sexuality became a topic that was more and more accessible to the public. Even though the topic itself was increasingly accepted, sexual desire was still treated as something intrinsically dangerous that should be controlled and, at times, suppressed. Masturbation for example, used to be equated with self defilement/ -dilution and treated as a mental and moral illness.

Content

In the introduction the two authors present several arguments on why it is important to educate oneself and one's children about sex. Amongst others, their main argument is refering to the detrimental consequences that might come from practising sex without being informed priorly. The authors point out that avoidance of the topic, which was the common reaction at that time, does not protect their children. It instead awakens their curiosity and provokes them to find other sources of information, if their parents are not willing to provide any. Therefor, the authors strongly recommend to treat sex as an open toic that can be discussed without shame. The necessary information for these conversations are delivered in the following chapters.

Chapter I - Das Geschlechtsleben (the sexual life)

In the book's first chapter, the connection between one's sexual life and one's morality is illustrated. According to the authors, sexuality can, if it is not controlled, deterre one's judgements of what behavior is decent and adequat and what is not. Therefore, it is said to be crucial to control one's sexual drive so it cannot take over and influence one's judgements. A big part of that control is chastity before marriage, which, according to the authors, is a guarantee for good health, a happy family life and healthy offspring (''Nichts lohnt so sehr als die Keuschheit vor der Ehe. Du sicherst dir dadurch eine gute Gesundheit, ein glückliches Familienleben und eine gesunde Nachkommenschaft'').

Chapter II - V: sins - their causes and how to combat them

In the second chapter, the authors explain how the first sexual thoughts enter a child's mind and the idea of masturbation arises. They furthermore illustrate that this desire can be followed at times but should be suppressed whenever possible to beware from the unhealthy consequences it might have on one's physical as well as mental health and motivation. The authors warn their readers of headaches and back pains, nausea, heart arrhythmia and extended periods of apathy that can all be caused by too much masturbation. The following chapters treat other sexual sins such as the 'sins of men' under which they count adultery and misogamy and the social as well as physical consequences these sins can have. In this course many sexual diseases including gonorrhea and syphilis are thereby explained as the outcome of a prior act of adultery. A separate chapter is attributed to the alleged causes and possible solutions of the priorly named sind. The use of alcohol is thereby strongly prohibited whereas marriage is presented as a graceful solution to almost all problems of indecency.

Chapter VI - VIII: marriage - the right choice, indecencies and the wedded life

The book's part on marriage is introduced by guideline on the things to consider when chosing a spouse. The main aspects that are put forward consider the qualities the partner brings into the marriage, material ones on the one hand but also health, sagacity and appearance as they are considered to influence the future offspring. A small part is devoted to the importance of love in the selection of a spouse. The authors claim that love in a marriage is a very rare luck, but some degree of sympathy is crucial to sustain a productive and successfull marriage. Several traditions regarding a wedding, including bachelor parties and the wedding reception are denounced as they include the use of alcohol, which decreases the ability to reproduce and the sense for decency. It follows a guide on how husband and wife should behave in order to make their marriage successful. The difficulties in interpersonal relationships and emotions as well as sexual relationships are taken into account.

Chapter IX - XII, XIV - XV: reproduction - heredity, contraception and impotence

The process of fertilization is explained with examples from the animal world which are then translated to what was known about the human body. The prevention of fertilization, which is according to the authors only justified to secure the health of a woman that is susceptible to diseases that might come along with pregnancy, is presented as unnatural and harmful as masturbation was before. It is described as harmful for society as well as the individuals as it diminishes the blooming of societies and families. Contraception is therefore strongly discouraged. The authors nevertheless introduce a couple of methods to have unfertile sex such as the condom made out of the air bladder of a fish. They thereby do not miss to point out that 'bedenkenloser sex' (sex without the risk of pregnancy) will lead men to have much more sex than would be good for their health. They as well mention that sex with contraception decreases the woman to a tool for pleasing the man's desire, as the intercourse no longer has the function reproduction. Impotence, either through erectile dysfunction or through infertile sperm, is explained to be the cause of many of the sins that were mentioned before, e.g. too much masturbation or the misuse of alcohol.

Chapter XIII, XVI: after the sexual life: quiet times, menstruation and menopause

Menstruation is highlighted as a topic that is especially important to be educated about so that the young girl is not scared by her bodily and emotional changes. The authors therefore advise parents as well as teachers to talk with their children and female students about the upcoming changes as soon as possible. They as well prepare their female readers for the bodily changes that come along with the start of the menopause. They recommmend the consumption of healthy foods and an active lifestyle as well as the refrain from alcohol to decrease the alterations. The book's last chapter is devoted to the down and quiet sides of the sexual life. Controversial topics such as too early or too late sexual drive, sexual attraction towards the same gender, unusual inclinations and fetishs as well as violent sexual attacs. Even though homosexual desires for example are thereby attributed to an inherent mechanism, they are said to be increased due to excessive masturbation and the misuse of alcoholic beverages. The same are explained to be the causes of delinquent sexual behavior such as public nudity and the defilement of animals. To punish this kind of behavior the authors point away from common prison sentences and towards the controlled disposession of all properities to force the criminial into a strutured working life that will reawaken his morality and composure.

Reception and influence

Even though the book was published in a seemingly supporting context (e.g. the implementation of sexual education in prußian schools), it did not receive a lot of attention in the German population. It was not until the sexual revolution in the second half of the 20th century that sex became a topic that was no longer frowned upon. When in 1945 Wilhelm Reich published his book The sexual revolution, in which the suppression of one's sexual desires is critizised and identified as the reason for several emotional and cognitive problems, the book's public reception was a lot more open minded. Up until today Dr. Franz Schönenberger is solely acknowledged for his pioneer work in naturopathy, but his attempt to promote sexual education did not find much attention.

Sexual education from 1903 until today

Along with the sexual revolution, sex and sexual dysfunctions became topics accepted enough to be scientifically studied. In 1957 the work of the research team consisting of the American Gynecologist Wiliam H. Masters and the sexologist Virginia E. Johnson was officially funded by the Washington University in St. Louis, which was a big step towards the acknowledgement of sexual education as an important topic for human kind. Reich's promotion of free love (freier Liebe) did again find attention when in the 1960s the hippie culture arose. Their mantra make love, not war publicly acknowledged sex as a desire that should not only be practised as a mean for reproduction but to embrace pleasure and love. This, along with the invention of the combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) at the same time, made sex a public topic that is, until now, no longer a taboo. The public awareness of the importance of sexual education drastically increased one more time when in the 1980s the sexually transmittable and mostly fatal Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was discovered as sexual education is a main factor in preventing the transmission of the disease.

Today Sexualkundeunterricht (english: sexual education in schools) is an obligatory part of every school's biology programme. The children are taught the main anatomy of the sexual organs as well as practical information on the sexual intercourse itself, inclduing contraception. Moreover, they are educated about the values sex has in the society and theoretical information on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).