The Sexes in Science and History / An inquiry into the dogma of woman's inferiority to man

by Eliza Burt Gamble

We are living in a remarkable age. It is to be doubted if throughout the entire historic period there has been a time when passing events moved so swiftly or when they assumed the magnitude of those now taking place. Causes which were set up during prehistoric times have reached a climax. The inevitable results from those causes are upon us.

In order to compare the past and the present it becomes necessary briefly to recall some of the already recorded facts relative to existing conditions under early organized society.

When human beings lived closer to nature and before the natural checks to the lower or disintegrating forces had been withdrawn, the basic principles underlying human action were equality and liberty. No member of a communal group could claim any right or privilege not enjoyed by all. There was no poverty and no crime. Disease as we know it was unknown. As the lands were held in common, women were absolutely free and independent. They chose their mates and were responsible for the well-being of their offspring. As women controlled the sexual relation and themselves regulated prenatal conditions, the children inherited strong bodies and healthy minds. Dissensions over property did not occur, and jealousy and a desire for personal aggrandizement had not been developed.

The religious worship of primitive people consisted for the most part in invocations to the Great Mother, the fructifying principle throughout nature, from whom were derived all earthly benefits. Later the Great Mother came to be worshipped under various appellations, namely, Cybele, or Astarte, in Asia Minor, Athene in Greece, Minerva in Rome, and Isis or Neith in Egypt. Finally, as is well known, these goddesses were dethroned by an all-powerful male God, an anthropomorphic deity whose chief attribute was virile might. This change in the god-idea was coincident with, and dependent upon, a corresponding change in the relations of the sexes which took place at a certain period in human history. The god-idea is now and ever has been in strict accord with the existing conceptions concerning the relative importance of the sex-functions in human beings.

During thousands of years of life on “earth” the mother was the only recognized parent. As the giver of life and the protector of offspring she was regarded as the Creator and Preserver of the race. She represented the constructive element in human society. Later, however, when man began to contest the supremacy of woman, her hitherto unquestioned prerogatives began to be claimed by him. It was at this juncture in human affairs that the contention arose over the relative importance of the sexes in the processes of reproduction. Not only in the traditions and legends of early historic peoples but in their histories as well there is much evidence given to prove that this contention was as fierce as that which at the present time is going on between the sexes. As a result of this contention both female and male gods were worshipped. Those who recognized the mother as the giver of life continued to worship the female principle, while those who accepted the new doctrine enunciated by Apollo, namely, that the soul of the child is derived from the father and the mother is only a nurse to his heaven-born offspring, accepted the new religion. When the dominion of man over woman was complete the female principle throughout nature and in the god-idea was practically unrecognized or wholly ignored. Throughout the historic period male power has been supreme not only on the earth but also in heaven. Classical history is not wanting in references to this change in the relations of the sexes and in the god-idea which took place at a certain stage of human development.

We are informed that in Greece, probably about 1100 years B.C., Cecrops “instituted marriage and established a new religion.” The new religion instituted by Cecrops was the doctrine that the father is the only parent, that the soul of the child is derived from him, and that the mother performs simply the office of nurse to his offspring. Woman was no longer the creator or giver of life. She was matter while man, who was henceforth to be her lord and master, was spirit. Marriage as instituted by Cecrops was the natural and inevitable outcome of the new religion. It was the first attempt of the Greek tribes to legalize and control the sex-functions of women. The deeper one delves into the mysteries of the past the more apparent does it become that the sexual degradation of women is deeply rooted in religion.

For untold ages early organized society proceeded along the line of uninterrupted evolutionary progress. Although humanity was traversing an unknown path the arts of life steadily increased. The production of farinaceous food by means of which an exclusive meat diet was avoided was an achievement of the utmost importance to the race. The idea of government which at first included only the members of related groups was extended to the tribe and even to the nation.

Equality, freedom, and justice constituted the fundamental principles of early organized society. Finally, however, through causes which have already been set forth in these pages, this system gradually gave place to a regime founded on selfishness, or egoism. At this time in human affairs related groups could no longer defend themselves against the aggressions of powerful hostile foes; jealousies arose and alien tribes began to make war upon one another, the stronger appropriating the lands of the weaker and making slaves of the people. The women of the subjugated groups became the sexual slaves of the conquerors. As native women were free, foreign women who could be controlled were greatly in demand. Therefore frequent attacks were made on foreign groups for the sole purpose of “carrying off” the women.

The lands which had been held in common by all the members of the tribe were now parcelled out among individual chieftains. The prestige given to these “lords of the soil,” and the advantage gained by them through the control of the natural resources and the means of subsistence, soon gave rise to a privileged class—a class which in process of time became masters of the masses of the people. When wars for conquest and spoliation became general and when the communal system under which the principles of liberty and equality had been established gave place to a system founded on force the entire habitable globe became a battle-ground upon which each and every individual struggled fiercely with every other individual not only for place and power, but for the means of subsistence as well. When the principles of democracy established under gentile institutions gave place to a system of governmental control under which only the rights of the few were recognized, and when the unchecked disruptive forces had gained the ascendency over the constructive elements developed in human nature, the degeneracy of the race began. It is not difficult to trace the steps by which this degeneracy has been accomplished.

Although we of the present boast of our material achievements, and although we arrogate to ourselves a most remarkable degree of intelligence, enlightenment, and even culture, it is evident that we have not risen above a plane of the grossest materialism, and that in the truly human qualities, those which distinguish man from the animal, we are sadly deficient. That in these later days the moral sense has become atrophied is shown in the fact that our present tooth and claw system, under which each individual must array himself against every other individual in his struggle for existence, is regarded as a practical exemplification of the principle of the “Survival of the Fittest.” According to this interpretation, not those who are best endowed, physically, mentally, and morally are the fittest to survive, but on the contrary those who are best able to appropriate to themselves the opportunities and advantages which belong to others. In other words it is claimed that by the Survival of the Fittest is meant the survival of those who because of their material advantages are able to exploit their fellowmen. A few of the processes involved in the control of the many by the few have already been mentioned. To maintain the authority of the privileged class and to strengthen their hold on the liberties of the people, Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Ecclesiasticism were established and the Divine Right of Kings proclaimed. Intrenched behind these mighty bulwarks the position of the usurpers has been impregnable. Through enforced ignorance and superstition the “common people” came to regard their situation not only as natural and unavoidable but as representing the will of the Almighty. If they were faithful to their masters in this world, in the world to come they would be furnished with free transport to Fields Elysian. Strange to relate this belief still prevails.