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Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6

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(of 6), by Havelock Ellis

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Title: Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 (of 6)

Author: Havelock Ellis

Release Date: October 8, 2004 [eBook #13615]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO−8859−1

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX,

VOLUME 6 (OF 6)***

E−text prepared by Juliet Sutherland and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

(http://www.pgdp.net)

STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX, VOLUME VI

Sex in Relation to Society

HAVELOCK ELLIS

1927

PREFACE.

In the previous five volumes of these Studies , I have dealt mainly with the sexual impulse in relation to its

object, leaving out of account the external persons and the environmental influences which yet may

powerfully affect that impulse and its gratification. We cannot afford, however, to pass unnoticed this

relationship of the sexual impulse to third persons and to the community at large with all its anciently

established traditions. We have to consider sex in relation to society.

In so doing, it will be possible to discuss more summarily than in preceding volumes the manifold and

important problems that are presented to us. In considering the more special questions of sexual psychology

we entered a neglected field and it was necessary to expend an analytic care and precision which at many

points had never been expended before on these questions. But when we reach the relationships of sex to

society we have for the most part no such neglect to encounter. The subject of every chapter in the present

volume could easily form, and often has formed, the topic of a volume, and the literature of many of these

Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6

subjects is already extremely voluminous. It must therefore be our main object here not to accumulate details

but to place each subject by turn, as clearly and succinctly as may be, in relation to those fundamental

principles of sexual psychology which−−so far as the data at present admit−−have been set forth in the

preceding volumes.

It may seem to some, indeed, that in this exposition I should have confined myself to the present, and not

included so wide a sweep of the course of human history and the traditions of the race. It may especially seem

that I have laid too great a stress on the influence of Christianity in moulding sexual ideals and establishing

sexual institutions. That, I am convinced, is an error. It is because it is so frequently made that the movements

of progress among us−−movements that can never at any period of social history cease−−are by many so

seriously misunderstood. We cannot escape from our traditions. There never has been, and never can be, any

"age of reason." The most ardent co−called "free−thinker," who casts aside as he imagines the authority of the

Christian past, is still held by that past. If its traditions are not absolutely in his blood, they are ingrained in the

texture of all the social institutions into which he was born and they affect even his modes of thinking. The

latest modifications of our institutions are inevitably influenced by the past form of those institutions. We

cannot realize where we are, nor whither we are moving, unless we know whence we came. We cannot

understand the significance of the changes around us, nor face them with cheerful confidence, unless we are

acquainted with the drift of the great movements that stir all civilization in never−ending cycles.

In discussing sexual questions which are very largely matters of social hygiene we shall thus still be

preserving the psychological point of view. Such a point of view in relation to these matters is not only

legitimate but necessary. Discussions of social hygiene that are purely medical or purely juridical or purely

moral or purely theological not only lead to conclusions that are often entirely opposed to each other but they

obviously fail to possess complete applicability to the complex human personality. The main task before us

must be to ascertain what best expresses, and what best satisfies, the totality of the impulses and ideas of

civilized men and women. So that while we must constantly bear in mind medical, legal, and moral

demands−−which all correspond in some respects to some individual or social need−−the main thing is to

satisfy the demands of the whole human person.

It is necessary to emphasize this point of view because it would seem that no error is more common among

writers on the hygienic and moral problems of sex than the neglect of the psychological standpoint. They may

take, for instance, the side of sexual restraint, or the side of sexual unrestraint, but they fail to realize that so

narrow a basis is inadequate for the needs of complex human beings. From the wider psychological standpoint

we recognize that we have to conciliate opposing impulses that are both alike founded on the human psychic

organism.

In the preceding volumes of these Studies I have sought to refrain from the expression of any personal opinion

and to maintain, so far as possible, a strictly objective attitude. In this endeavor, I trust, I have been successful

if I may judge from the fact that I have received the sympathy and approval of all kinds of people, not less of

the rationalistic free−thinker than of the orthodox believer, of those who accept, as well as of those who reject,

our most current standards of morality. This is as it should be, for whatever our criteria of the worth of

feelings and of conduct, it must always be of use to us to know what exactly are the feelings of people and

how those feelings tend to affect their conduct. In the present volume, however, where social traditions

necessarily come in for consideration and where we have to discuss the growth of those traditions in the past

and their probable evolution in the future, I am not sanguine that the objectivity of my attitude will be equally

clear to the reader. I have here to set down not only what people actually feel and do but what I think they are

tending to feel and do. That is a matter of estimation only, however widely and however cautiously it is

approached; it cannot be a matter of absolute demonstration. I trust that those who have followed me in the

past will bear with me still, even if it is impossible for them always to accept the conclusions I have myself

reached.

HAVELOCK ELLIS.

CHAPTER I.

Carbis Bay, Cornwall, England.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

THE MOTHER AND HER CHILD.

The Child's Right to Choose Its Ancestry−−How This is Effected−−The Mother the Child's Supreme

Parent−−Motherhood and the Woman Movement−−The Immense Importance of Motherhood−−Infant

Mortality and Its Causes−−The Chief Cause in the Mother−−The Need of Rest During

Pregnancy−−Frequency of Premature Birth−−The Function of the State−−Recent Advance in

Puericulture−−The Question of Coitus During Pregnancy−−The Need of Rest During Lactation−−The

Mother's Duty to Suckle Her Child−−The Economic Question−−The Duty of the State−−Recent Progress in

the Protection of the Mother−−The Fallacy of State Nurseries.

CHAPTER II.

SEXUAL EDUCATION.

Nurture Necessary as Well as Breed−−Precocious Manifestations of the Sexual Impulse−−Are they to be

Regarded as Normal?−−The Sexual Play of Children−−The Emotion of Love in Childhood−−Are Town

Children More Precocious Sexually Than Country Children?−−Children's Ideas Concerning the Origin of

Babies−−Need for Beginning the Sexual Education of Children in Early Years−−The Importance of Early

Training in Responsibility−−Evil of the Old Doctrine of Silence in Matters of Sex−−The Evil Magnified

When Applied to Girls−−The Mother the Natural and Best Teacher−−The Morbid Influence of Artificial

Mystery in Sex Matters−−Books on Sexual Enlightenment of the Young−−Nature of the Mother's

Task−−Sexual Education in the School−−The Value of Botany−−Zoölogy−−Sexual Education After

Puberty−−The Necessity of Counteracting Quack Literature−−Danger of Neglecting to Prepare for the First

Onset of Menstruation−−The Right Attitude Towards Woman's Sexual Life−−The Vital Necessity of the

Hygiene of Menstruation During Adolescence−−Such Hygiene Compatible with the Educational and Social

Equality of the Sexes−−The Invalidism of Women Mainly Due to Hygienic Neglect−−Good Influence of

Physical Training on Women and Bad Influence of Athletics−−The Evils of Emotional Suppression−−Need of

Teaching the Dignity of Sex−−Influence of These Factors on a Woman's Fate in Marriage−−Lectures and

Addresses on Sexual Hygiene−−The Doctor's Part in Sexual Education−−Pubertal Initiation Into the Ideal

World−−The Place of the Religious and Ethical Teacher−−The Initiation Rites of Savages Into Manhood and

Womanhood−−The Sexual Influence of Literature−−The Sexual Influence of Art.

CHAPTER III.

SEXUAL EDUCATION AND NAKEDNESS.

The Greek Attitude Towards Nakedness−−How the Romans Modified That Attitude−−The Influence of

Christianity−−Nakedness in Mediæval Times−−Evolution of the Horror of Nakedness−−Concomitant Change

in the Conception of Nakedness−−Prudery−−The Romantic Movement−−Rise of a New Feeling in Regard to

Nakedness−−The Hygienic Aspect of Nakedness−−How Children May Be Accustomed to

Nakedness−−Nakedness Not Inimical to Modesty−−The Instinct of Physical Pride−−The Value of Nakedness

in Education−−The Æsthetic Value of Nakedness−−The Human Body as One of the Prime Tonics of

CHAPTER IV.

Life−−How Nakedness May Be Cultivated−−The Moral Value of Nakedness.

CHAPTER IV.

THE VALUATION OF SEXUAL LOVE.

The Conception of Sexual Love−−The Attitude of Mediæval Asceticism−−St. Bernard and St. Odo of

Cluny−−The Ascetic Insistence on the Proximity of the Sexual and Excretory Centres−−Love as a Sacrament

of Nature−−The Idea of the Impurity of Sex in Primitive Religions Generally−−Theories of the Origin of This

Idea−−The Anti−Ascetic Element in the Bible and Early Christianity−−Clement of Alexandria−−St.

Augustine's Attitude−−The Recognition of the Sacredness of the Body by Tertullian, Rufinus and

Athanasius−−The Reformation−−The Sexual Instinct Regarded as Beastly−−The Human Sexual Instinct Not

Animal−like−−Lust and Love−−The Definition of Love−−Love and Names for Love Unknown in Some Parts

of the World−−Romantic Love of Late Development in the White Race−−The Mystery of Sexual

Desire−−Whether Love is a Delusion−−The Spiritual as Well as the Physical Structure of the World in Part

Built up on Sexual Love The Testimony of Men of Intellect to the Supremacy of Love.

CHAPTER V.

THE FUNCTION OF CHASTITY.

Chastity Essential to the Dignity of Love−−The Eighteenth Century Revolt Against the Ideal of

Chastity−−Unnatural Forms of Chastity−−The Psychological Basis of Asceticism−−Asceticism and Chastity

as Savage Virtues−−The Significance of Tahiti−−Chastity Among Barbarous Peoples−−Chastity Among the

Early Christians−−Struggles of the Saints with the Flesh−−The Romance of Christian Chastity−−Its Decay in

Mediæval Times−− Aucassin et Nicolette and the New Romance of Chaste Love−−The Unchastity of the

Northern Barbarians−−The Penitentials−−Influence of the Renaissance and the Reformation−−The Revolt

Against Virginity as a Virtue−−The Modern Conception of Chastity as a Virtue−−The Influences That Favor

the Virtue of Chastity−−Chastity as a Discipline−−The Value of Chastity for the Artist−−Potency and

Impotence in Popular Estimation−−The Correct Definitions of Asceticism and Chastity.

CHAPTER VI.

THE PROBLEM OF SEXUAL ABSTINENCE.

The Influence of Tradition−−The Theological Conception of Lust−−Tendency of These Influences to Degrade

Sexual Morality−−Their Result in Creating the Problem of Sexual Abstinence−−The Protests Against Sexual

Abstinence−−Sexual Abstinence and Genius−−Sexual Abstinence in Women−−The Advocates of Sexual

Abstinence−−Intermediate Attitude−−Unsatisfactory Nature of the Whole Discussion−−Criticism of the

Conception of Sexual Abstinence−−Sexual Abstinence as Compared to Abstinence from Food−−No

Complete Analogy−−The Morality of Sexual Abstinence Entirely Negative−−Is It the Physician's Duty to

Advise Extra−Conjugal Sexual Intercourse?−−Opinions of Those Who Affirm or Deny This Duty−−The

Conclusion Against Such Advice−−The Physician Bound by the Social and Moral Ideas of His Age−−The

Physician as Reformer−−Sexual Abstinence and Sexual Hygiene−−Alcohol−−The Influence of Physical and

Mental Exercise−−The Inadequacy of Sexual Hygiene in This Field−−The Unreal Nature of the Conception of

Sexual Abstinence−−The Necessity of Replacing It by a More Positive Ideal.

CHAPTER VII.

PROSTITUTION.

I. _The Orgy:_−−The Religious Origin of the Orgy−−The Feast of Fools−−Recognition of the Orgy by the

Greeks and Romans−−The Orgy Among Savages−−The Drama−−The Object Subserved by the Orgy.

II. _The Origin and Development of Prostitution:_−−The Definition of Prostitution−−Prostitution Among

Savages−−The Conditions Under Which Professional Prostitution Arises−−Sacred Prostitution−−The Rite of

Mylitta−−The Practice of Prostitution to Obtain a Marriage Portion−−The Rise of Secular Prostitution in

Greece−−Prostitution in the East−−India, China, Japan, etc.−−Prostitution in Rome−−The Influence of

Christianity on Prostitution−−The Effort to Combat Prostitution−−The Mediæval Brothel−−The Appearance

of the Courtesan−−Tullia D'Aragona−−Veronica Franco−−Ninon de Lenclos−−Later Attempts to Eradicate

Prostitution−−The Regulation of Prostitution−−Its Futility Becoming Recognized.

III. _The Causes of Prostitution:_−−Prostitution as a Part of the Marriage System−−The Complex Causation

of Prostitution−−The Motives Assigned by Prostitutes−−(1) Economic Factor of Prostitution−−Poverty

Seldom the Chief Motive for Prostitution−−But Economic Pressure Exerts a Real Influence−−The Large

Proportion of Prostitutes Recruited from Domestic Service−−Significance of This Fact−−(2) The Biological

Factor of Prostitution−−The So−called Born−Prostitute−−Alleged Identity with the Born−Criminal−−The

Sexual Instinct in Prostitutes−−The Physical and Psychic Characters of Prostitutes−−(3) Moral Necessity as a

Factor in the Existence of Prostitution−−The Moral Advocates of Prostitution−−The Moral Attitude of

Christianity Towards Prostitution−−The Attitude of Protestantism−−Recent Advocates of the Moral Necessity

of Prostitution−−(4) Civilizational Value as a Factor of Prostitution−−The Influence of Urban Life−−The

Craving for Excitement−−Why Servant−girls so Often Turn to Prostitution−−The Small Part Played by

Seduction−−Prostitutes Come Largely from the Country−−The Appeal of Civilization Attracts Women to

Prostitution−−The Corresponding Attraction Felt by Men−−The Prostitute as Artist and Leader of

Fashion−−The Charm of Vulgarity.

IV. _The Present Social Attitude Towards Prostitution:_−−The Decay of the Brothel−−The Tendency to the

Humanization of Prostitution−−The Monetary Aspects of Prostitution−−The Geisha−−The Hetaira−−The

Moral Revolt Against Prostitution−−Squalid Vice Based on Luxurious Virtue−−The Ordinary Attitude

Towards Prostitutes−−Its Cruelty Absurd−−The Need of Reforming Prostitution−−The Need of Reforming

Marriage−−These Two Needs Closely Correlated−−The Dynamic Relationships Involved.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CONQUEST OF THE VENEREAL DISEASES.

The Significance of the Venereal Diseases−−The History of Syphilis−−The Problem of Its Origin−−The

Social Gravity of Syphilis−−The Social Dangers of Gonorrhoea−−The Modern Change in the Methods of

Combating Venereal Diseases−−Causes of the Decay of the System of Police Regulation−−Necessity of

Facing the Facts−−The Innocent Victims of Venereal Diseases−−Diseases Not Crimes−−The Principle of

Notification−−The Scandinavian System−−Gratuitous Treatment−−Punishment For Transmitting Venereal

Diseases−−Sexual Education in Relation to Venereal Diseases−−Lectures, Etc.−−Discussion in Novels and on

the Stage−−The "Disgusting" Not the "Immoral".

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