Italian sexology, Nicola Pende’s biotypology and hormone treatments in the 1920s

Beccalossi, Chiara (2017) Italian sexology, Nicola Pende’s biotypology and hormone treatments in the 1920s. Histoire, Médecine et Santé, 12 . pp. 73-97. ISSN 2263-8911

Full content URL: https://doi.org/10.4000/hms.1173

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Abstract

By focussing on a selection of Nicola Pende’s studies from the 1920s on ‘endocrinological abnormalities’ associated with impotence, lack of virility for men, and lack of femininity for women and finally homosexuality, this essay aims to illustrate the ways in which hormone research introduced an innovative approach to the study of sexual behaviour in Italian sexology, and to show how it was used to normalise individuals. It will demonstrate how endocrinology promoted an understanding of the body and sexual desire in which the attributes of masculinity and femininity, and even of sexual orientation, were malleable and subject to deliberate engineering.

Additional Information:The open access version of this article is available at https://journals.openedition.org/hms/1173?lang=en
Keywords:Sexology, Italy, Medicine, 1920s, Nicola Pende, Hormones, History
Subjects:V Historical and Philosophical studies > V223 Italian History
V Historical and Philosophical studies > V220 European History
V Historical and Philosophical studies > V146 Modern History 1920-1949
V Historical and Philosophical studies > V380 History of Science
Divisions:College of Arts > School of History & Heritage > School of History & Heritage (History)
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ID Code:30180
Deposited On:22 Dec 2017 09:47

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