Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex

A 1905 work by Sigmund Freud which advanced his theory of sexuality, in particular its relation to childhood. In short, Freud argued that "perversion" was present even among the healthy, and that the path towards a mature and normal sexual attitude began not at puberty but at early childhood (see psychosexual development). Looking at children, Freud claimed to find a number of practices which looked innocuous but were really forms of sexual activity (thumb sucking was a primary example, the implications being fairly obvious).