Sexuality: Anatomy Is Not Destiny

Sex, according to Freud, is a biological drive clamoring for gratification from the moment of birth. In normal human beings, its imperatives can be throttled by the rules of morality, but they can never really be denied. In the current issue of Transaction magazine, Sociologists William Simon, 38, and John Henry Gagnon, 37, argue heretically that Freud was mistaken: the sex drive is not strong but weak, and can be easily resisted. Moreover, sex forms no integral part of man's inherited endowment; sexual behavior is something he must learn.

Where Freud went...

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