ABSTRACT
Krafft-Ebing agrees with Lombroso that a hereditary "taint", a physiological predisposition, sometimes contributes to inversion, but it is uncommon. As proof, he conducts physical examinations of his own, measuring the skulls, arms, hips, and chest cavities of his inverted patients. There are five degrees or levels of inversion. The first is mere "reversal of sexual feelings", mere physical attraction to members of one's own sex. Next comes masculinization or feminization, taking on the social roles and traits appropriate to the other sex. Krafft-Ebing's invert is not a master criminal like Lombroso's pederast. Several scandals of the late 19th century illustrated the "problem" of older, upper class inverts corrupting lower class boys. Inverts did not merely engage in violent and property crimes; they did not merely work to create more of their kind – even their sexual acts were intended not for procreation or pleasure, but for destruction. Their sexual acts represented the symbolic annihilation of an entire generation.
