Havelock Ellis, Eonism and the patient's discourse; or, writing a book about sex

This paper argues that an analysis of the use of the case study in the sexological writings of Havelock Ellis is essential for a proper understanding of how texts about sex were written out of the patient's 'confessions'. It is maintained that by focusing on the construction of the book Eonism, rather than on just the patients' discourse, a fuller understanding of the processes necessary for the field of sexology to operate is achieved. In order to argue this, attention has been paid to archival and published sources, with the aim showing the social processes behind Ellis's writing activities.