Cauldwell
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Two people may witness an act or an accident and each of them will see something different. I have often observed two persons making entirely different interpretations of common cartoons and gags. On many questions highly qualified scientists differ in opinion.
A prominent surgeon-author of London, England, Dr. Kenneth Walker, does not view numerous acts of infancy and early childhood as being of a sexual nature. He regards various impulses in the small child as manifestations of the pleasure-pain principle. This has been explained as though the sole preoccupation of the small child (including the infant) is the seeking for bodily satisfaction and the avoidance of pain.
Dr. Walker's “Physiology of Sex,” explains:
“Thus the infant obtains complete satisfaction from the exercise of its bodily activities .. sucking, defecation, micturition, and stimulation of the skin, the pre-masturbatory playing with the genitals, together with pleasure taken in the display of the nude body. [This was taken from Strauss. ] It is neither advantageous nor accurate, then, to call such infantile attempts at sensual gratification, sexual,”
Dr. Walker felt that Freud's application of the term, libido, was untimely, for the reason, apparently, that it suggested the libidinous or licentious. From this I judge that Dr. Walker has a tendency to temporize on the subject of various natural phenomena and manifestations, and that he does not regard the carnal and voluptuous nature of that which he mentioned as sensual gratification, as being sexual.
Writers who do not quibble over terms are not in accord with Dr. Walker's views. It is to be wondered if Dr. Walker would regard the gratification of the rapist's sensual leanings as non-sexual.
The infant laughs at the wise man. While the wise man argues over what an act represents, the infant smiles and goes on with his preoccupation. He does not know anything about whether a thing is sensual or sexual. He is unfamiliar with the words and their meanings, and he is not concerned. He knows what his impulses are and he learns to gratify them. He has consciousness but he has no idea of conscience. That he would, untutored, develop a conscience, i.e., a sense of values as applied to actions and relations to others, appears inevitable. Instead of being given the opportunity to develop such a sense of values, however, a conscience is artificially supplied to him by others. The kind of conscience he is usually supplied with teaches him that conscience means that he must seek to avoid displeasing certain people. Thus, the growing child often develops a higher sense of values which he applies in his relations with those who are not his tutors — those who are not self-appointed guardians of his conscience.
As to various acts and impulses of children, must the adult always seek to judge the infant by his, the adult's, sense of values and ideas of purity? Nothing of value comes of such judgment. It has often been said that the majority of us find it difficult to understand why others are, in their judgments, opinions and even in their sensations, different, to any great extent, from us.
The highly potent male knows that impotency exists, yet he finds it somewhat difficult to understand why other males are less potent than himself. The passionate woman finds it difficult to understand her so-called frigid sister. The pure heterosexual finds it difficult to imagine homosexuality although he knows that it exists. The homosexual feels that the heterosexual is unfair. It is difficult for him to understand heterosexuality.
The arch criminal just does not believe that other people are different. His philosophy is that some people do not get caught or that getting caught they buy out or pay off. The criminal does not believe that others are different because he has built (or has had built for him and made-to-order) a philosophy that there actually is nothing wrong in what he does. In court or in jail, he may profess to have the most tender conscience.
People who have an exalted opinion of themselves differ somewhat. They find it more difficult to judge upward than downward. This is to say that they are able to understand why others are less brilliant than they, but they deny that others are more brilliant. Their conclusion is that others have managed to appear more brilliant.
If we consider these modes of reasoning and failure to reason, we may better understand why it is so difficult for people of certain inclinations to accept the fact of infant sexuality and sexual impulses in the young. They view the urinary erection in the infant or small male child but regard this as but a local manifestation. To them it represents a full bladder. This is true as far as it goes. The mechanics of the urinary erection are somewhat different. As the bladder fills, impulses are sent over the nerves to the sexual center in the brain. The sexual center in the brain relays the message to the erection center in the spine. The message or impulse then travels to the genital area and the prostate gland becomes slightly congested, and more blood reaches the area. The muscles of control and the congestion of the prostate gland cause a constriction of the neck of the bladder. Extra blood enters the penis. The penis erects. Urination of an involuntary nature (enuresis) is less likely to occur. In some children an excessive excitation occurs. The subconscious mind (wrongly trained) fails to react in a suitable manner, and urination occurs in a manner comparable to the sexual climax in older and more mature males.
With the exception of the prostatic congestion (because the prostate is absent in the female) a somewhat similar set of phenomena occur in the female. The clitoris becomes erected even though the urinary channel is located beneath it. It has become congested by the various mechanics described.
People observe these manifestations and yet, applying their personal ideas to what should and what should not be, aver that the child is an asexual creature. It is to be wondered at what time they think the sexual center in the brain develops.
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