Sexual Politics and Feminist Science: Women Sexologists in Germany, 1900–1933

392 Pages·2018·2.388 MB·English

by  Kirsten Leng

Sexual Politics and Feminist Science
Series editor: Peter Uwe Hohendahl, Cornell University
Signale: Modern German Letters, Cultures, and Thought publishes new
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intellectual history pertaining to the German-speaking world, as well as
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Sexual Politics and
Feminist Science
Women Sexologists in Germany,
1900–1933
Kirsten Leng
A Signale Book
Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library
Ithaca and London
Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library gratefully
acknowledge the College of Arts & Sciences, Cornell University, for
support of the Signale series.

Copyright © 2018 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
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First published 2018 by Cornell University Press and Cornell University
Library

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Leng, Kirsten, 1979– author.
Title: Sexual politics and feminist science : women sexologists in
Germany, 1900–1933 / Kirsten Leng.
Description: Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press : Cornell University
Library, 2017. | Series: Signale : modern German letters, cultures, and
thought | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2017031562 (print) | LCCN 2017036376 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501713248 (pdf) | ISBN 9781501713231 (epub/mobi) |
ISBN 9781501709302 | ISBN 9781501709302 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781501709319 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Women sexologists—Germany—History—20th century. |
Feminists—Germany—History—20th century. | Sexology—Germany—
History—20th century. | Women—Sexual behavior—Germany—
History—20th century. | Sex role—Germany—History—20th century. |
Feminism and science—Germany—History—20th century.
Classifi cation: LCC HQ60 (ebook) | LCC HQ60 .L46 2017 (print) |
DDC 305.420943/0904—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017031562
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For Max

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction. Women and Sexology: Knowledge,
Possibilities, and Problematic Legacies 1
1. T he Emergence of Sexology in Early Twentieth-Century
Germany 43
2. A s Natural as Eating, Drinking, and Sleeping:
Redefi ning the Female Sex Drive 63
3. C hallenging the Limits of Sex: Envisioning New
Gendered Subjectivities and Sexualities 115
4. T roubling Normal, Taking on Patriarchy: Criticizing
Male (Hetero)Sexuality 152
5. T he Erotics of Racial Regeneration: Eugenics, Maternity,
and Sexual Agency 184
6. “ New Social and Moral Values Will Have to
Prevail”: Negotiating Crisis and Opportunity
in the First World War 221
viii Contents
7. F luid Gender, Rigid Sexuality: Constrained Potential
in the Postwar Period 264
Conclusion 307
Appendix: Brief Biographies of Key Figures 321
Bibliography 333
Index 363
Acknowledgments
I am grateful for this opportunity to thank the many people and
institutions that helped this book come into being. At the Univer-
sity of Michigan, I thank Kathleen Canning, Scott Spector, Geoff
Eley, and Elizabeth Wingrove, whose insights have enriched my
work, and whose encouragement and support have been invalu-
able. I thank them for their thoughtful and lively engagement with
my arguments, and for modeling interdisciplinary scholarship. I
benefi ted enormously from the breadth of their knowledge, their
strong commitment to feminist scholarship, and their theoretical
and empirical rigor.
I couldn’t have asked for a better postdoctoral landing ground
than the Sexualities Project at Northwestern University (SPAN).
Steve Epstein and Héctor Carrillo provided an exciting and nurtur-
ing intellectual environment that enabled me to move between the
worlds of modern European history, gender and sexuality studies,
and science and technology studies. I am grateful to them for the