Is nymphomania a recognized medical condition, and if so, what is its definition? –J., via the Internet
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Although wacky theories about female sexuality have circulated since ancient times, as a medical diagnosis nymphomania is only a couple centuries old. According to Carol Groneman, author of Nymphomania: A History (2000), the concept of nymphomania was first laid out by the French physician Bienville in his 1771 treatise Nymphomania, or a Dissertation Concerning the Furor Uterinus. Among the behaviors Bienville cited as conducive to or symptomatic of nymphomania: dwelling on impure thoughts, reading novels, and eating too much chocolate. Oh, and indulging in “secret pollutions” (masturbation).
Freud and his followers injected new crackpot ideas into the discussion with their pseudoscientific theories about female sexuality. Freud drew a distinction (later dismissed) between clitoral and vaginal orgasms–in his view, the former was the mark of immature women, the latter a characteristic of mature ones. Building on this idea, Freud’s disciples claimed that, far from being a sign of excessive carnality, nymphomania really sprang from frigidity. The sexually immature woman, they argued, was unable to have orgasms during intercourse and so took frequent lovers in a futile quest for satisfaction.
