New

Book

THE

EROTIC

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MINORITIES

Dr. Lars Ullerstam

Reviewed by: D.R. Winterhalter

A book discussing human sexuality which created a bit of an uproar in Sweden when it was published there two years ago has just been translated into English and published in this country by Grove Press. The Erotic Minorities by Dr. Lars Ullerstam is perhaps the most comprehensive plea for tolerance and acceptance of those persons who enjoy sexual activities other than marital, heterosexual coitus in the 'Missionary Position' that this country has seen in print.

Dr. Ullerstam's thesis is essentially that if there is anything which can be said with certainty about the "perversions" it is that they allow considerable chance to achieve human happiness. And there fore the "perversions" are in themselves good and ought to be encouraged. In beginning his discussion of perversions he comments that; "When an individual is called. a 'pervert' this means, as a rule, that he has the capacity for pleasure in a specific context. Whoever has as his concern the happiness of his fellow man ought therefore to appreciate and encourage 'perversions'. That, however, is rarely the case and it is precisely this selective enmity toward joy which I have chosen as my subject in this book. 11/

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What makes this book different from most pleas for the acceptance of varied human sexuality is that Dr. Ullerstam carries his discussion to its logical conclusion and leaves no perversion unturned. He remarks in his preface that when people think in terms of a humane attitude toward those who are sexually deviant they usually think in terms of the homosexual. But, in fact, the homophiles are today the most fortunate of the sexual eccentrics. They have places to meet, the public information media discuss their case, they have organizations working to increase their general acceptance and finally even the laws against their behavoir are being changed in their favor. But what of pedophilia, exhibitionism, scopophilia and the whole host of other deviations? The advocates of these sources of human joy have only a life of secrecy, guilt and superstition to look forward to thanks to their fellow man's selfish attitude that all men ought to get their sexual pleasure from the same source. The book is written in an informal, forthright, easy-to-read style that is a welcome relief from the usual psychological and legal treatises on human sexuality. Perhaps some will criticize it on this basis, saying that it lacks the dignity which is expected of the medical profession, but in Dr. Ullerstam's words: "One cannot attack prejudice by an accumulation of facts alone. What is needed is understanding and empathy, an insight into the fact that seemingly exceptional individuals want to satisfy cravings that are, essentially the same ones we have ...

In setting forth his case for the erotic minorities the author vigorously attacks three types of preconceptions, namely that: sexually deviant persons are inferior to others in human qualities; sexualldeviations are psychopathological phenomena;