The discussion of the sexual life of woman, which for many centuries was concealed by a thick veil from the eyes of the profane, or was viewed only through the frosted glass of poetical metaphor, has in recent times assumed a quite revolting character. Not only have the acquired liberties and the social aims of the present day a tendency to give to women in general a freer and higher position, to emancipate them from the bonds in which owing to the conditions of family life they have so long been shackled, but some members of the women’s rights party go even farther, and demand for women greater freedom in the sphere of sexual activity.
With this end in view the sexual life of woman is used as the fulcrum of the lever, and is withdrawn from the twilight into the open light of day, or indeed too often into a dazzling and altogether false illumination. Women writers especially, who have hitherto been accustomed to delude themselves and the world with sensational representations of the feminine soul, of feminine modesty, and the fineness of feminine sensibility in matters sexual, now find their greatest joy in unveiling themselves and their sisters before the face of all the world, and in discussing in the plainest language the most intimate processes of the genital organs. In writings exhibiting but little good taste, though all the more temperament, they emphasize again and again one side only of the sexual life, to wit, the sexual impulse, the force of which is intentionally exaggerated to a high degree, so that it is described as a mighty current of passion, which may with great pains be held in check for a season, but must ultimately break loose, and with devastating rage must overwhelm everything which has hitherto been regarded as discipline and good morals. Young girls, even, step down into the arena to take part in the contest concerning the reform that is to take place in the relations between men and women. Especially sensational in this connection was Eine für Viele. Aus dem Tagebuche eines Mädchens von Vera,[[18]] a book which, totally ignoring the biological differentiation of the sexes and their diverse sociological course of development, goes so far as to insist that from the man entering upon marriage, as from the woman, sexual purity and virginity are to be demanded. (The heroine of the book commits suicide because her lover has in earlier years had experience of sexual intercourse.)
From a mistaken standpoint other supporters of women’s rights oppose the ideal method in sex-relations, life-long monogamy, and the ideal of sexual sensibility, motherhood, and they put forward quite new sexual pretensions on behalf of women, as belonging to them by natural right. Upon these pretensions it is the duty of physicians, who truly know and truly prize womanhood, to pass their judgment, and that judgment, which will find ample justification in the ensuing descriptions of the individual phases of the sexual life of woman, is that the modern movement on behalf of the emancipation of women goes much too far. We do not, however, mean to imply that this movement is totally unjustified.
The growing girl must not, as has hitherto been the case, be kept in a state of ignorance (which is indeed in most cases apparent merely) regarding the sexual processes of her own body, she must no longer, when she asks to be informed concerning these matters, be put off with conventional lies and prevarication. But her enlightenment must not be effected in such a manner as to lead to excitement and excessive stimulation, to the awakening of slumbering feelings, and to the conversion of fantasy into a devouring flame. Sexual enlightenment must not be made an excuse for the unchaining of sensibility. When about to be married, a woman should certainly be instructed regarding her sexual duties and rights, and enter as one well informed into the act in which she is to play a leading part. But she ought not, with the excessive valuation of herself attained in recent times, to regard the man as her enemy, as one whom she is always justified in fighting and always ready to fight with the equal weapons of sexual transgression. It cannot be doubted that the ideal of “pure marriage” at an early age is one greatly to be prized as the foundation of a powerful future generation; but the real nature of the male must not be overlooked, nor must his sexual honor be put to too difficult a test. We regard as reasonable the modern demand of woman that in marriage her individuality should not be buried, and that space should be given for the development of her personality; but every sober-minded person will reject the “moral demand” for “ideal passion” in accordance with “entire mutual freedom” in the sexual relation between man and wife, and will regard such free love as social insanity and as a barbaric retrogression toward the rude sexual habits of savage peoples. Further, in view of the continually increasing intensity of the struggle for existence and in view of the difficulties of the task of rearing children, we cannot fail to recognize that it is not right for women to be overburdened with the task of reproduction, and that she does not live simply and solely for the bearing of children—but those rush to the other extreme who undervalue motherhood and the duties of maternity, who speak scornfully of the woman who is “a mother, and a mother only,” who despise women whom they regard merely as “means for the production of children,” and who employ all possible methods to free women from the pressing claims of nature and of society.
In all social circumstances, and in all times the great principle of sexual morality must dominate the sexual life of woman. As the ethical characteristics of the three great epochs in that sexual life we recognize the purity of the maiden, the faithfulness of the wife, and the love of the mother. But within the limits imposed by these demands it is still possible to satisfy the modern claim for a free development of the personality, and to accommodate the circumstances of the sexual life to the individual vital needs and vital claims of the present day.
I. THE SEXUAL EPOCH OF THE MENARCHE.
(PUBERTY.)
The term menarche (μήν, a month, ἀρχή, the beginning) was introduced by me into medical literature to denote the period of life in which, as a sign of puberty, menstruation first makes its appearance.
The age at which this occurs is subject to variations depending upon race, occupation, hereditary tendencies, and climate; but in Germany and Austria the average age at puberty is 14 or 15, the extreme limits being 12 to 19.
Until about the age of 13, the physical differentiation of the sexes, except for the anatomical peculiarities of the genital organs, is in our climates a trifling one. But at puberty the important changes occur by which the sexes are so strikingly differentiated. Whereas in the growing boy all physical change takes the form of increasing strength and energy, in the development of the girl, we note the appearances of the rounded outlines so characteristic of womanhood. At the same time the voice alters, becoming less sharp, with a softer quality, and yet a fuller tone; and we may observe that young brunettes have commonly a contralto voice, young blondes, more often a soprano. The intellectual changes undergone by the girl at puberty are no less extensive and characteristic than the physical changes. In brief, the undifferentiated, neuter girl is transformed into a young woman, endowed with all the attributes, mental and bodily, characteristic of femininity.