CONTENTS OF CHAPTER IX
MONOGAMOUS MARRIAGE AND WOMAN
The false view of woman’s being instinctively monogamous—The Adam and Eve myth and what it symbolises—Woman’s inevitable power over man—The beginnings of marriage—The maternal form—The personal relationship in marriage dependent on patriarchy—Its advantages in fixing the father to the family and the service of the home—Polygamy the most ancient form of marriage under father-right—Polygamy tends to disappear as social life develops—Monogamy the permanent form of marriage—Its supreme advantage over all other marriage forms—Our preference for monogamy goes beyond laws and religion—It is the best way we have yet found of men and women living together—The stupidity of profligacy—False intellectual views of life and of right and wrong—The sexually masterful lover—Misuse of the word love—The function of passion—Women regard love from a standpoint of unreality—The Christian view of marriage too materialistic and too ascetic—How this has reacted disastrously on marriage—The immense disturbing power of the sex emotions—We need the limiting safeguards of legal marriage—The ideal of faithfulness—The refixing of moral standards.
CHAPTER IX
MONOGAMOUS MARRIAGE AND WOMAN
“It should be remembered that the progress of a nation is stimulated and the stability of society is increased by the most humanising of all institutions, marriage.”—Walter Heape.
It is commonly asserted—I am not sure whether it is really believed—that woman is instinctively monogamous, whereas man by his sexual nature is bent towards polygamy.