L’impuissance sexuelle au cabinet du Docteur Bourguignon (1924-1953)

Abstract

As a leading figure in the fields of neurophysiology and electrodiagnostic during the first half of the 20th century in France, Dr Georges Bourguignon treated a hundred men for sexual impotence at his private practice between 1924 and 1953. He measured the reaction time of the vestibular nerve as a diagnostic tool to distinguish psychogenic from somatic and hormonal causes of impotence. Based on the analysis of these patient files, this article explores the construction of sexual impotence as a medical problem in Bourguignon’s clinic, produced by both the physician and his patients.

Keywords

• masculinities
• male sexualities
• sexual impotence
• electrotherapy