Magnus Hirschfeld

"Are antisemitism and white supremacy manifestations of a general phenomenon? Why didn't racism appear in Europe before the fourteenth century, and why did it flourish as never before in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? Why did the twentieth century see institutionalized racism in its most extreme forms? Why are egalitarian societies particularly susceptible to virulent racism? What do apartheid South Africa, Nazi Germany, and the American South under Jim Crow have in common? How did the Holocaust advance civil rights in the United States?". "George Fredrickson surveys the history of Western racism from its emergence in the late Middle Ages to the present. Beginning with the medieval antisemitism that put Jews beyond the pale of humanity, he traces the spread of racist thinking in the wake of European expansionism and the beginnings of the African slave trade. And he examines how the Enlightenment and nineteenth-century romantic nationalism created a new intellectual context for debates over slavery and Jewish emancipation."--BOOK JACKET.

"Berlins Drittes Geschlecht" ist eine populärwissenschaftliche Beschreibung der LGBTQ+ Kultur im Berlin der Jahrhundertwende. Magnus Hirschfeld, der spätere Gründer des Berliner Instituts für Sexualwissenschaft, beschreibt anschaulich, sachlich und mit Herz den Alltag, die Sorgen und Freuden dieser Subkultur.

Transvestites are women and men who feel reluctant and even refuse to dress in the clothing of their own sex. For them, the inherent drive to cross-dress is often more powerful than sexual drive itself. This phenomenon has often been confronted with both ignorance and prejudice. Transvestites have been subjected not only to discrimination but also to criminal prosecution for following what, for them, was an inborn inclination. Dr. Hirschfeld created this book to establish a body of knowledge about an often misunderstood topic and to strip away long held prejudices. This classic gender study, first published in Germany in 1910 and newly translated, explores all aspects of transvestism: social, physical and emotional. Transvestism is a firmly rooted psychological phenomenon and cultural tradition, in spite of religious, legal and social sanctions. Written 80 years ago, this book was and still is the most comprehensive treatise on the subject of transvestism, illustrating that while styles have changed, the enthusiasm of devotees has not. Part I introduces transvestites with sympathetic, often amusing case histories, defines symptoms, and explains their basic, erotic character. Part II explores the forceful drive to cross-dress and examines clothing as a form of expression of personality. Part III addresses the historical, legal, anthropological, and social aspects of transvestism, and includes fascinating chapters on transvestism as it relates to the Bible, law and criminality, and women in the military. This book conclusively demonstrates that transvestism is a natural extension of the infinite variations of human personality.

In dieser Monographie stellt Hirschfeld seine Forschung zur Häufigkeit der Homo- und Bisexualität vor. Ausgehend von seiner medizinischen Arbeit stellt er eine statistische Hochrechnung für die Gesamtbevölkerung auf. Damit untermauert Hirschfeld auch sein politisches Anliegen, nämlich die Entkriminalisierung der Homosexualität.