Magnus Hirschfeld Was A Rice Queen, Who Knew?

[Jingthing]

Just watched the movie The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld which is basically a movie about the life of a truly great man, the German Jewish gay man who was a pioneer in scientific sexual research and a fearless champion of gay civil rights. He was eventually lucky to be forced into exile by the Nazis (because the alternative was worse). I highly recommend the film. Of course he was also a man and had a personal life. His tastes when he got older were for young men, and the lover he eventually ended up with (and named as an heir) was a young Chinese man, Li Shiu Tong, he met in Shanghai (with the blessing of his elite family).

Sometimes its good to remember some of the great heroes of our past. They are an inspiration for the present especially in places like Iran and Uganda.

This link provides some background on the influence of Asia in his writings. He never visited Thailand but did visit Japan, China, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines.

http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue14/bauer.html

Edited February 20, 2010 by Jingthing

[geriatrickid]

Jingles, sometimes you make me laugh because you mean so well, but end up blowing chunks.

I remember this fellow from a seminar. Someone made a joke about transvestites and the prof. blew a gasket and called the student a product of Hirschfeld. This then sparked a lively and informative discussion. I never knew that this was the fellow that came up with the term Transvestite, however he also had a rating system where homosexuals were put on a scale using their mannerisms. If I recall, this man held the view that homosexuals were inherently effeminate. How you like them apples?

I did a bit of digging, and came up with a nice commentary on his famous book.

Sexuality and Gender in Hirschfeld's Die Transvestiten : A Case of the "Elusive Evidence of the Ordinary" Journal of the History of Sexuality - Volume 14, Number 3, July 2005, pp. 316-332 Hill, Darryl B.,

Although the primary data for these cases was destroyed by Nazis in 1933, the book remains, rich with detail, offering crucial aspects of his respondents' experiences. Yet even a cursory examination of these lives shows how our current understanding of "transvestite" (often narrowly considered as someone who crossdresses for sexual excitement) is different from Hirschfeld's. Moreover, Hirschfeld often ignored or simply failed to understand what his participants were telling him. Even when his informants were clear about an issue, he discounted crucial aspects of their stories.

Edited March 5, 2010 by geriatrickid

[PeaceBlondie]

If I am not off topic, did the famous sex researcher Havelock Ellis claim he'd never had an orgasm?

[Jingthing]

GK, he was a pioneer at applying the current scientific method to variant sexuality, as well as a political pioneer for sexual minority civil rights in Germany. He became a huge propaganda target for Hitler; of course his books were among the first to be burned. I never said his work was perfect or the absolute truth, or that more modern work exists. Also, indeed, his life story in the context of his times is fascinating.

On the gay angle, I think it is rather amusing that his most long term lover was an Asian man. BTW, his will named Li Shiu Tong as his heir but under German anti-gay laws it was impossible for that wish to actually be effected. In my anecdotal experience in the US with gay Jews, it is rare for them to be drawn to other gay Jews romantically, they tend to usually go for the more "exotic" which of course includes Asians but many other groups as well (Latinos are quite popular). So Hirschfeld would have fit right in ... ha ha.

Edited March 5, 2010 by Jingthing

[twschw]

PB, this was the closest I coud find to answer your question. Perhaps someone can do better.

According to Ellis in My Life, his friends were much amused at his being considered an expert on sex, what with the fact that he suffered from impotence until the age of 60, when he discovered that he was able to become aroused by the sight of a woman urinating. Ellis named the interest in urination "Undinism" but it is now more commonly called urolagnia.

[tombkk]

Jingles, sometimes you make me laugh because you mean so well, but end up blowing chunks.

I remember this fellow from a seminar. Someone made a joke about transvestites and the prof. blew a gasket and called the student a product of Hirschfeld. This then sparked a lively and informative discussion. I never knew that this was the fellow that came up with the term Transvestite, however he also had a rating system where homosexuals were put on a scale using their mannerisms. If I recall, this man held the view that homosexuals were inherently effeminate. How you like them apples?

I did a bit of digging, and came up with a nice commentary on his famous book.

Sexuality and Gender in Hirschfeld's Die Transvestiten : A Case of the "Elusive Evidence of the Ordinary" Journal of the History of Sexuality - Volume 14, Number 3, July 2005, pp. 316-332 Hill, Darryl B.,

Although the primary data for these cases was destroyed by Nazis in 1933, the book remains, rich with detail, offering crucial aspects of his respondents' experiences. Yet even a cursory examination of these lives shows how our current understanding of "transvestite" (often narrowly considered as someone who crossdresses for sexual excitement) is different from Hirschfeld's. Moreover, Hirschfeld often ignored or simply failed to understand what his participants were telling him. Even when his informants were clear about an issue, he discounted crucial aspects of their stories.

No, I don't think Magnus Hirschfeld published a book in 2005: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Hirschfeld

Lots of information there, including his death in 1935. Let me just say that while I don't agree with all of his theories ("Third Gender" comes to mind), he was revolutionary for the times and has curageously set some ground stones in Germany.