"Jag har låtsat en värme som jag aldrig känt". RFSU:s sexualrådgivning under 1930- och 1940-talen

Abstract

RFSU, Riksförbundet för sexuell upplysning ("The Swedish Association for Sex Education") was founded in 1933 by the journalist and syndicalist Elise Ottesen-Jensen (1886- 1973) and a group of left-wing doctors. Sexual reform was its mission. The organisation wanted information, contraceptives and abortion to be accessible, the introduction of sexual education in schools and a decriminalization of homosexual acts. In this artide, RFSU'S views on sexuality and gender in the 1930's and 1940's, are discussed. I focus on what at the time was seen as major dysfunctions in sexual life, women's frigidity and men's impotence. RFSU was of the opinion that women were oppressed in society, but gave no political explanation to frigidity. Frigidity was seen as a psychological and relational problem, caused by ignorance, sexual inhibitions, fear of unwanted pregnancies or male negligence. The artide also focuses upon the concept of sexuality. Within RFSU, different perspectives on sexuality were put forward - biological, psychological, social - that is, there was not one exclusive concept or definition of sexuality. But some ideas were shared: that sexuality was a distinctive force throughout life, that it was primarily directed towards pleasure and only secondly towards reproduction, that women's sexuality was as powerful as men's (but possibly different), and that heterosexual intercourse was the ideal and normal sexual act even though expressions of sexuality could vary.