“Almighty God,” they will cry in desperation, “mercifully spared the bees our consciousness!”
CHAPTER IV
Future Woman
The picture, given in the last chapter, of the world that is likely to result from the extreme consequences of our present tendencies may seem overdrawn and fantastic; but it should not be too readily dismissed as absurd on that account. The fact that, as a whole, it may seem incredible is no argument against the inevitability of certain of its chief characteristics; for it should always be remembered that, since the main stream of human life as we now know it, is based upon the bodily relation of the sexes and upon the love which makes this relation a thing desired, all influences tending to deteriorate the human body or to upset that bodily relation, and all scientific technique and substitutes which tend to supersede it, must, if they are allowed to develop, lead to a dislocation so complete of the original scheme that there is no telling in what monstrous changes they may culminate.
Had we not already reached bodily degeneration, brought about and condoned by body-despising values; had we not a Puritanical tradition reinforced by Feminism; and, finally, had we not a group of sciences whose discoveries, either actual or potential, allow us to expect every kind of extra-corporeal substitute and aid for our defective corporeal functions and parts, we could afford to laugh at the dangers indicated in the previous chapter. In view, however, of the undeniable truth of the description of our state previously given, it is impossible lightly to reject the ultimate evanescence of sexual love, for instance, as a remote future development. And, if we admit that, we must reckon with the disappearance of our most effective protection against the instinctive hostility of the sexes.
It is for this reason that there is still a fight to be fought with Feminism, and why we ourselves, though heart and soul pro-feminine, still remain active anti-Feminists. People point to the victories of Feminism in recent years, and say: What is there left for active anti-Feminists to do? Now that women have the vote and that they sit in Parliament, now that they have practically the whole of the Press behind them, their battle is surely won, and anti-Feminism is a lost cause! Obviously, however, if anti-Feminism means resisting the further development of Feminism, to prevent it from culminating in some or all of the changes outlined in the previous chapter; if it means a struggle to maintain the natural relations of the sexes, together with the normal functioning of male and female in reproduction; and if it also means the retention of the family, the home, and some beauty in our social scheme, then it certainly cannot yet be a lost cause, and those who, like ourselves, remain anti-Feminists despite the Feminine Franchise, the Feminist Press, and the Woman Μ. P., feel that we have still much to protect and much to achieve before we can regard our position as hopeless.
Fortunately, however, there is an alternative to the developments described in the last chapter—an alternative which, if we so choose, we may well be able to bring about quite as certainly as the future already outlined. But, if we are in earnest about this alternative future, and if we seriously wish to realize it, we must not forget that, since the other is more or less implicit in our present trend, and will evolve automatically out of it if only we continue to acquiesce in everything that constitutes modernity, this other, or alternative, future will require to be actively fought for.
The future is in our hands, and we can mould it as we will—certainly! But, as we have seen, it is also as potential in the present as a flower is potential in the bud. While, therefore, the future sketched in the last chapter—or, at all events, very essential parts of it—will come without any special effort on our part, merely as a further growth of existing tendencies, the alternative future, which we now propose to describe, will, if it is to be realized, demand from us not only the hardness and determination of iconoclasts, but also the creative gifts, patience, and constructive energy of builders.
There is much in our present that must be destroyed, and even more that will subsequently require building and re-building.
Among the first things that we shall destroy is our table of value. We shall do this, however, not in the spirit of anarchists eager only for greater licence and more “freedom”—for that is always the temptation of the mob, and requires no particular courage or constructive programme; but in the spirit of builders who want more discipline for greater achievement.