Perfecting The Sexual Life

( Originally Published 1940 )

Among the lower classes of animals the female, as bearer of countless numbers of eggs, is frequently bigger and stronger than the male with his microscopic reproductive cells. It is only when we reach the vertebrates that we find the male decidedly the stronger. In him the sexual impulse and the obstacles to mating are increased to such an extent that the pro-creative act almost takes on the character of a rape. Furthermore, in the human race this process was continued first through hunting and then by warlike exercises.

In modern times the more our mental and ethical development proceeds on a higher scale, the more this difference in the sexes tends to disappear, while differences between individuals come to the fore.

Indeed, recent experience shows ever more clearly that with similar antecedents, training and exercise, the individuals of both sexes can prove of equal value. So the time will soon come in which presumptuous behaviour of the male partner will be considered as an anti-selective factor.

Until now, on account of his social position the initiative of a proposal of marriage lies with the man, and on account of his more aggressive sexuality the initiative in the procreative act also; but it must not be forgotten that just at the decisive moment of fertilisation, it is the egg-cell, so richly charged with nutrient contents, which takes the initiative towards the sperm-cells; just as it is primarily the woman's charm which draws the man to her.

Besides, Mendel's experiments (see chapter 4) teach us that in general the big egg-cells and the tiny sperm-cells are equally good carriers of hereditary traits. It really makes no difference either in the numbers or the characteristic of the descendants, whether for instance a cross-breed of sheep is started with a black ram and a white ewe, or vice versa, with a white ram and a black ewe, the result is the same.

This is indeed a most decisive proof of the fundamental equality of the two sexes.

We have still to speak of the secondary sexual characters.

The typical organochemical substances which are elaborated by the testes and ovaries act as powerful stimuli to all the epithelial tissues (see chapter 4) especially to the growth of hair. Secondly, through their influence in the above-mentioned organs, the descendants of the suppressed embryonic epithelial cells are reawakened and stimulated to fresh prolificacy. And then the sebaceous follicles are also irritated 3 sometimes so greatly as to cause formation of pus, which often causes acne and comedones in young adolescent men, while in young girls the mammary glands increase in size. So this principle obtains in both sexes. Thus too we see that the young people of both sexes are not all unjustified in their sexual selection in attaching great importance to thick glossy hair, smooth skin and fresh complexion. In many species of animals, too, the care bestowed on the fur during the wooing of the mate is remarkable.

But still there is one difference, and it is just these details which cause man's sexual pride, and which really seem to brand woman with inferiority. The woman remains as beardless as a child, has a high childish voice, and a slender bodily structure like a child. In several passages in his Descent of Man, Darwin states that where there are differences in the animal world, it is the female type that mostly resembles the infantile type.

But is that a disadvantage? Once the woman is old enough, she too grows a beard, although not such a flowing one, because the energy of growth of her entire body has declined; she also acquires a less graceful exterior, and a rougher, deeper voice. But man displays these phenomena of age much earlier than woman, but is that any reason for pride of sex?

Thus a priori considerations are a poor weapon in the battle of sex; this must be waged empirically. And the best solution of this problem will appear more clearly, the more it is rendered possible for all individuals of both sexes to fully develop their individual talents and to use them to advantage. And the sexual life will also come sooner to perfection.