Summary

Chapter 16, titled “The Emotions of Normal People,” explicates the academic and professional careers of Marston, Holloway, and Byrne at the time of Holloway’s pregnancy and subsequent birth in 1928. Olive Byrne enrolled in a psychology dual Masters/Ph.D. program at Columbia in 1926. In 1927, she completed her master’s requirements. She nearly completed the doctorate in 1927-1928 but did not submit a dissertation, deciding to quit, “to take care of a baby. It wasn’t hers” (125). Marston was appointed as a lecturer in 1927 at Columbia and that same year published “Emotions of Normal People,” his defense of all kinds of sexual expression which are considered abnormal, including homosexuality, fetishism, and sadomasochism. The book was popular in the public domain but failed to receive any acclaim or attention from the academic community; the only positive review published in an academic journal was written by...