Impotence

impotence

[′im·pəd·əns]

(medicine)

Inability in the male to perform the sexual act.

Lack of sexual vigor.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Impotence

Chatterly, Sir Clifford

paraplegic from the war, unable to satisfy his wife sexually. [Br. Lit.: D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterly’s Lover in Benét, 559]

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Impotence

 

a symptom of various pathological conditions manifested by a weak erection, which interferes with the normal course of the sex act. Impotence may accompany organic and functional disorders of the nervous system. It may also be a symptom of a urological disease.

Many male sexual deviations are associated with impotence. These deviations range from infertility to various forms of sexual incompatibility between partners. There is a tendency in modern sexology to be more exact in defining concrete sexual disorders, especially in cases of sexual incompatibility. Soviet sex pathologists have shown that many who seek the help of a sexologist are suffering from imaginary deviations. The male may be making excessive demands upon himself. He may also be imagining nonexistent sexual defects or overreacting to changes in his sex drive. Failure to observe the elementary requirements of sexual psychohygiene and improper behavior on the woman’s part can also lead to male sexual deviations. Sexual neuroses may result if psychosomatic deviations are not treated promptly. The counseling of a sexologist is usually effective.

REFERENCES

Iakobzon, L. Ia. Polovoe bessilie, 2nd ed. Petrograd, 1918.
Aktual’nye voprosy seksopatologii. Managing editor, D. D. Fedotov. Moscow, 1967. Pages 183, 270.
Vasil’chenko, G. S. O nekotorykh sistemnykh nevrozakh i ikh patogeneticheskom lechenii Moscow, 1969.
Problemy sovremennoi seksopatologii (collection of works). Moscow, 1972.
Masters, W. H., and V. E. Johnson. Human Sexual Inadequacy. London, 1970.

G. S. VASIL’CHENKO

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.