Abstracts

Robert Pausch. Constitutional-biological Research and the Male Association: The Work and Contributions of Sexual Scientist Willhart S. Schlegel. („Konstitutionsforschung und Männerbund: Werk und Wirken des Sexualforschers Willhart S. Schlegel“). Zeitschrift für Sexualforschung 2016; 1: 1–20

In the historiography of German sexology as well as that of homosexual emancipation, the role of the sexual scientist and constitutional biologist Willhart Schlegel remains largely unexplored. The aim of the present article is to conceptualize Schlegel’s work as well as the impact that he has had. After a brief outline of his biographical background, his constitutional-biological conception of sexuality is then presented as the core of his studies. Moreover, it is demonstrated that whereas Schlegel‘s work is strongly influenced by biologistic and social Darwinist assumptions, his sexual-political standpoints in the 1960 s were actually perceived as comparatively progressive. After presenting his constitutional-biologist perspectives on homosexuality, the contribution illustrates how Schlegel’s work combines competing conceptions of emancipation. Finally, it argues that his notion is to be understood as a biologically-based renewal of the traditional masculinist ideology.

Key words: history of sexology; history of homosexuality; masculinism; pederasty; Willhart S. Schlegel