On the nameless love and infinite sexualities: John Henry Mackay, Magnus Hirschfeld and the origins of the sexual emancipation movement

Two prominent representatives of the sexual emancipation movement in Germany, John Henry Mackay (1864-1933) and Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) launched significant attacks on sexual binarism and its combinatories. Although Mackay defended the 'nameless love' against seminal Christian and su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of homosexuality 2005-01, Vol.50 (1), p.1-26
Main Author: Bauer, J Edgar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cultural history
Gender studies
Hirschfeld, Magnus
History of science
Homosexuality
Human nature
Love
Mackay, John Henry
Sexual behaviour
Social movements
Social psychology
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Summary:Two prominent representatives of the sexual emancipation movement in Germany, John Henry Mackay (1864-1933) and Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) launched significant attacks on sexual binarism and its combinatories. Although Mackay defended the 'nameless love' against seminal Christian and subsequent secularised misconstructions of its nature, he was unable to overcome the fundamental scheme of binomic sexuality. Hirschfeld, however, resolved the theoretical issue through his 'doctrine of sexual intermediaries' (Zwischenstufenlehre) which purports that-without exception-all human beings are intersexual variants, i.e., unique composites of different proportions of masculinity and femininity. Since these proportions vary from one sexual layer of description to another in the same individual and can alter or be altered in time, it is sensu stricto not possible to postulate discrete sexual categories. Hirschfeld's 'doctrine' implies a radical deconstruction of not only binomic sexuality but its supplementation through a 'third sex.' It offers a meta-theoretical framework for rethinking sexual difference beyond the fictional schemes and categorial closures of Western traditions of sexual identity. His assumption of potentially infinite sexualities anticipates some of the basic tenets forwarded by the philosophical and political agendas of queer studies. Reprinted by permission of Routledge, Taylor and Francis
ISSN:0091-8369
DOI:10.1300/J082v50n01UL01