SEX AND MODERNITY IN THE SECOND SPANISH REPUBLIC. THE SCIENCE DISCOURSES

The aim of this article is to explore the scientific content of the "sexual reform" movement which took place in Spain during the 1920s and 1930s, culminating during the Second Republic. It covers three essential aspects of this subject: 1) the introduction of the new science of sexology; 2) the interest in sex education for children; and 3) the passing of new marriage legislation (the Divorce Law of 1932). Areas of scientific discourse are identified, associated with a "modernization" of mores and based on secular and progressive assumptions. The conflict between biological or endocrinological approaches and psychoanalytical methods is discussed, with encouragement of a healthy, aware experience of sexuality becoming established as the central argument. Issues such as responsible parenting, birth control, prevention of mental disorders (linked to traumatic sexual experiences), etc. are analysed in the light of medical, psychological and legal sources, in relation to the reform of sexual mores and overcoming the bourgeois moral double standard.