"Whether there is any direct harm in these friendships I have not been able to make up my mind. In the case of school-girls, if there is not too much emotion generated and if the sexual feelings are not indulged in, I think they may do more good than harm. Later on in life, when all one's desires and feelings are at their strongest, it is more doubtful."
III.
That the phenomena as found in the girls' colleges of America are exactly similar to those in Italy and England is shown, among other evidence, by some communications sent to Mr. E. G. Lancaster, of Clark University, Worcester, Mass., a few years ago.
Mr. E. G. Lancaster sent out a questionnaire to over 800 teachers and older pupils dealing with various points connected with adolescence, and received answers from 91 persons containing information which bore on the present question.[[279]] Of this number, 28 male and 41 female had been in love before the age of 25, while 11 of each sex had had no love experiences, this indicating, since the women were in a majority, that the absence of love experience is more common in men than in women. These answers were from young people between 16 and 25 years of age. Two males and 7 females have loved imaginary characters, while 3 males and not less than 46 females speak of passionate love for the same sex. Love of the same sex, Lancaster remarks, though not generally known, is very common; it is not mere friendship; the love is strong, real, and passionate. It may be remarked that these 49 cases were reported without solicitation, since there was no reference to homosexual love in the questionnaire. Many of the answers to the syllabus are so beautiful, Lancaster observes, that if they could be printed in full no comment would be necessary. He quotes a few of the answers. Thus a woman of 33 writes: "At 14 I had my first case of love, but it was with a girl. It was insane, intense love, but had the same quality and sensations as my first love with a man at 18. In neither case was the object idealized. I was perfectly aware of their faults; nevertheless my whole being was lost, immersed in their existence. The first lasted two years, the second seven years. No love has since been so intense, but now these persons, though living, are no more to me than the veriest stranger." Another woman of 35 writes: "Girls between the ages of 14 and 18 at college or girls' schools often fall in love with the same sex. This is not friendship. The loved one is older, more advanced, more charming or beautiful. When I was a freshman in college I knew at least thirty girls who were in love with a senior. Some sought her because it was the fashion, but I knew that my own homage and that of many others was sincere and passionate. I loved her because she was brilliant and utterly indifferent to the love shown her. She was not pretty, though at the time we thought her beautiful. One of her adorers, on being slighted, was ill for two weeks. On her return she was speaking to me when the object of our admiration came into the room. The shock was too great and she fainted. When I reached the senior year I was the recipient of languishing glances, original verses, roses, and passionate letters written at midnight and three in the morning." No similar confessions are recorded from men.
IV.
In South America corresponding phenomena have been found in schools and colleges of the same class. There they have been especially studied by Mercante in the convent High Schools of Buenos Aires where the students are girls between the ages of 10 and 22.[[280]] Mercante found that homosexuality here is not clearly defined or explicit and usually it is combined with a predisposition to romanticism and mysticism. It is usually of a passive kind, but in this form so widespread as to constitute a kind of epidemic. It was most manifest in institutions where the greatest stress was placed on religious instruction.
The recreations of the school in question were quiet and enervating; active or boisterous sports were prohibited to the end that good manners might be cultivated. In the play-rooms, the girls observed the strictest etiquette, and discipline was maintained independent of oversight by teachers. Mercante could hardly believe, however, that the decorum was more than external.
Later, when the girls broke up, they were found in pairs or small groups, in corners, on benches, beside the pillars, arm in arm or holding hands. What they were speaking of could be surmised. "Their conversation and confidences came to me indirectly. They were sweethearts talking about their affairs. In spite of the spiritual and feminine character of these unions, one element was active, the other passive, thus confirming the authorities on this matter, Gamier, Régis, Lombroso, Bonfigli."
Mercante found the points of view of the two members of each pair to be quite different in moral aspect. "One takes the initiative, she commands, she cares for, she offers, she gives, she makes decisions, she considers the present, she imagines the future, she smoothes over difficulties, gives encouragement and initiative, she commands, she cares for, she offers, she gives, she docile, gives way in matters of dispute, and expresses her affection with sweet words and promises of love and submission. The atmosphere, silent and quiet, was, however, charged with jealousy, squabble, desires, illusions, dreams, and lamentations."
Mercante's informant assured him that practically every girl had her affinity, and that there were at least twenty well-defined love affairs. The active party starts the conquest by making eyes, next she becomes more intimate, and finally proposes. Women being highly adaptable, the neophyte, unless she is rebellious, gets into the spirit of it all. If she is not complaisant, she must prepare for conflict, because the prey becomes more desirable the more the resistance encountered.