[687]“Vera” is the heroine of a novel (“Eine für Viele: Aus dem Tagebuche eines Mädchens”) which attracted considerable attention in Germany. She demanded from men entering on marriage the same virgin intactitude which men are accustomed to expect in their wives. English readers will be reminded of Evadne, in Sarah Grand’s “The Heavenly Twins.” Evadne, it will be remembered, left her husband at the church door, owing to information she received regarding his preconjugal career. In England we might speak of “Evadne” enthusiasts, instead of “Vera” enthusiasts.—Translator.[688]P. Näcke also (“A Contribution to the Woman’s Question and to the Question of Sexual Abstinence,”op. cit., p. 49) strongly condemns this duplex morality, which he regards as “obviously unjust.”Cf.also Max Thal, “Sexual Morality: an Attempt to solve the Problem of Sexual, and more Particularly of the so-called Duplex Morality” (Breslau, 1904).[689]Friedrich Albert Lange, “History of Materialism,” vol. iii., p. 302, English edition.[690]“My dear young men,” thus wrote Ernst Moritz Arndt, at the age of eighty-nine, to the Burschenschaft (Students’ Association) of Jena, “I can wish nothing better for you than that you should arrange your course of life in Jena, and pass through it, as I heretofore passed through it, making a courageous, vigorous, and earnest fight against the lusty, overbearing impulses of youth, which in the best case are so easily carried to excess.... In these your most valuable years, between eighteen and twenty, you must, with redoubled manliness, courage, and chastity, strive to deserve the praise given by Caius Julius Cæsar to the young men of Germany.”[691]Cf., in this connexion, the remarks of A. Herzen, “Science and Morality,” pp. 11, 12 (Berlin, 1901). The same age for human maturity was fixed on also by J. C. G. Ackermann (“The Diseases of the Learned,” p. 268; Nürnberg, 1777).[692]I need mention only Seved Ribbing, Acton, Rubner, Paget, Hegar, Beale, Herzen, A. Eulenburg, V. Cnyrim, and Fürbringer.[693]Wilhelm Erb, “Remarks on the Consequences of Sexual Abstinence,” published in theJournal for the Suppression of Venereal Diseases, 1903, vol. ii., No. I., pp. 1-18.[694]Theodor Mundt, in his “Madonna” (pp. 240, 241; Leipzig, 1835), has very vividly described the beneficial and refreshing influence of coitus upon women.[695]L. Löwenfeld, “The Sexual Life and Nervous Troubles,” pp. 62-69, fourth edition.
[687]“Vera” is the heroine of a novel (“Eine für Viele: Aus dem Tagebuche eines Mädchens”) which attracted considerable attention in Germany. She demanded from men entering on marriage the same virgin intactitude which men are accustomed to expect in their wives. English readers will be reminded of Evadne, in Sarah Grand’s “The Heavenly Twins.” Evadne, it will be remembered, left her husband at the church door, owing to information she received regarding his preconjugal career. In England we might speak of “Evadne” enthusiasts, instead of “Vera” enthusiasts.—Translator.
[688]P. Näcke also (“A Contribution to the Woman’s Question and to the Question of Sexual Abstinence,”op. cit., p. 49) strongly condemns this duplex morality, which he regards as “obviously unjust.”Cf.also Max Thal, “Sexual Morality: an Attempt to solve the Problem of Sexual, and more Particularly of the so-called Duplex Morality” (Breslau, 1904).
[689]Friedrich Albert Lange, “History of Materialism,” vol. iii., p. 302, English edition.
[690]“My dear young men,” thus wrote Ernst Moritz Arndt, at the age of eighty-nine, to the Burschenschaft (Students’ Association) of Jena, “I can wish nothing better for you than that you should arrange your course of life in Jena, and pass through it, as I heretofore passed through it, making a courageous, vigorous, and earnest fight against the lusty, overbearing impulses of youth, which in the best case are so easily carried to excess.... In these your most valuable years, between eighteen and twenty, you must, with redoubled manliness, courage, and chastity, strive to deserve the praise given by Caius Julius Cæsar to the young men of Germany.”
[691]Cf., in this connexion, the remarks of A. Herzen, “Science and Morality,” pp. 11, 12 (Berlin, 1901). The same age for human maturity was fixed on also by J. C. G. Ackermann (“The Diseases of the Learned,” p. 268; Nürnberg, 1777).
[692]I need mention only Seved Ribbing, Acton, Rubner, Paget, Hegar, Beale, Herzen, A. Eulenburg, V. Cnyrim, and Fürbringer.
[693]Wilhelm Erb, “Remarks on the Consequences of Sexual Abstinence,” published in theJournal for the Suppression of Venereal Diseases, 1903, vol. ii., No. I., pp. 1-18.
[694]Theodor Mundt, in his “Madonna” (pp. 240, 241; Leipzig, 1835), has very vividly described the beneficial and refreshing influence of coitus upon women.
[695]L. Löwenfeld, “The Sexual Life and Nervous Troubles,” pp. 62-69, fourth edition.
“Better a year too early than an hour too late.”—Oker Blom.
Science and practice have hitherto, for the most part, ignored the sexual — The danger of blind chance in the sexual province — Necessity for the enlightenment of the coming generation — Sexual education as a part of general pedagogy — The right to the knowledge of one’s own body — Sexual enlightenment of young people — The dispute regarding the when and the how — Distinction between the youth of the country and the youth of the town — Points of association — A passage from Gutzkow’s autobiography — Disastrous sources of early sexual enlightenment — Character of the pedagogic enlightenment — Importance of this — Suggestions regarding the methods of sexual enlightenment (Sigmund, Lischnewska, F. W. Förster) — My own views — Education of the character and of the will — Principal rules of sexual pedagogy — Education to manhood.
The manner in which up to the present day humanity has, properly speaking, completely ignored the fact of sexuality is at once remarkable and difficult to understand. Until recently people went so far as to regard scientific research into sexual matters byadult personsas improper! The mystical idea of the sinfulness, of the radically evil character, of the sexual, was a dogma which even natural science appeared to admit. Our attitude towards the sexual was as if it were at once Sphinx and Gorgon’s head, as if it were the veiled statue of Sais. We stood helpless, in the face of this mysterious and malignant power, against theblind hazard of chance which playsso momentous a part, more especially in sexual affairs. As everywhere in life, so here also, the dominion of chance could be overcome only by means of knowledge. The solution of the sexual problem demands, in the first place,openness,clearness,learningin the department of the sexual, knowledge of cause and effect, and thetransmissionof this knowledge to thenext generation, so that this latter may without harm become wise.Sexual educationis an important chapter in generalpedagogy.[696]
Regarding animals, plants, and stones the youthful human being of to-day acquires the most exact information, but we have hithertorefusedhim the right to understand his own body, and to acquire a knowledge of certain important vital functions of that body. There can be no doubt about the fact that the modern human being, who has learned to so large an extent to regard himself as asocialbeing, has a sacred natural right to this knowledge.
Celebrated pedagogues of a hundred years ago, such as Rousseau, Salzmann, Basedow, Jean Paul, etc., expressed themselves in favour of the early sexual enlightenment of youth, and gave the most valuable advice regarding the methods to beemployed;[697]but their views remained for the most part devoid of practical effect, and it is only in recent years, in connexion with thequestion of the protection of motherhood, with the campaign against prostitution, and with the attempt to suppress venereal diseases, that interest in this matter has been reawakened; and there now exists in this department an extensive literature, belonging chiefly to the last few years, proceeding from the pens of physicians, pedagogues, hygienists, and advocates of woman’srights.[698]It is, in truth, the burning question of our time, the solution of which is here attempted. Correct sexual education forms the foundation for the ennoblement and resanation of our entire sexual life. Onlyknowledgeandwillcan here effect a cure. Thus, sexual pedagogy naturally falls into two parts—sexual enlightenmentand theeducation of the will.
The need for sexual enlightenment is now recognized by all far-seeing social hygienists and pedagogues. The only difference of opinion concerns thewhenand thehow. Some plead for enlightenment as early as possible, in the first years of school life; others wish to defer enlightenment until puberty, or even later. I am of opinion that the circumstances in this respect are entirely different, according as we have to do withsmall towns and the open country, where more careful watching of children is possible, and where the dangers of premature sexual development and of seduction are not so great, or as we have to do with large towns, where, in my view, the childrencannot be enlightened too early, since town life brings the children of all classes, and social misery brings more especially the children of the lowest classes of the population, so early into contact with sexual matters that a purposive enlightenment becomes absolutely indispensable. Children living in large towns should, from ten years onwards, be gradually and carefully made acquainted with the principal facts of the sexual life. We find heremore points of associationthan is usually imagined. Gutzkow, in his admirable autobiography, “From the Days of My Boyhood” (Frankfort-a.-M., 1852, pp. 263, 264), has beautifully described this:
“The first appearances of love in the heart of the child occur as secretly as the fall of the dew upon flowers. Playing and jesting, innocence gropes its way through the darkness. Words, perceptions, ideas, which to the adult appear to be full of dangerous barbs, the child grasps with careless security, and takes the duplex sexual life of humanity to be a primeval fact which came into the world with man as a matter of course, and one which requires no explanation. Born from the mother’s womb, to the child the mother is the secure bridge by which it is conducted past all the riddles of womanhood. The child imitates the love of the father for the mother, plays the game of the family, plays father and mother, plays at being himself, a child. From the rustling autumn leaves, from abandoned bundles of straw, huts and nests are built, and for half an hour at a time a completely blameless boy can lie down besides his girl playmate, quietly, and as if magnetized by the intimation of love. Danger is in truth not far distant from such a practice of childish naïveté; it lurks in the background, and seeks only an opportunity to lead astray. But a child never understands the significance of the severe punishment which it so often receives for its imitative imaginary family life. The amatory life of the adult first breaks upon the imagination of the child and upon his quiet play like the opening of a door into a house. People take so little care of what they do before the innocent; they exhibit passionate affection for one another; they caress when the children are by. The child sees, ponders, and listens. Certain hieroglyphics alarm it; tales are laughed at—tales which suddenly throw a strange and wonderful light upon quite familiar human beings. The boy will notice that his elder sister has a joy or a sorrow, the nature of which he cannot completely grasp. He sees an elder brother filled with the joy of life, with the lust of youth, with the love of adventure, and no attempt is made to conceal these passions from the child.... Such and similar experiences succeed one another without cessation, and tales which the child hears arelistened to with eagerness. The red threads of love and of the charm of beautiful women are not to be grasped by the hand of a child, and yet they have upon the child a certain secret influence.”
“The first appearances of love in the heart of the child occur as secretly as the fall of the dew upon flowers. Playing and jesting, innocence gropes its way through the darkness. Words, perceptions, ideas, which to the adult appear to be full of dangerous barbs, the child grasps with careless security, and takes the duplex sexual life of humanity to be a primeval fact which came into the world with man as a matter of course, and one which requires no explanation. Born from the mother’s womb, to the child the mother is the secure bridge by which it is conducted past all the riddles of womanhood. The child imitates the love of the father for the mother, plays the game of the family, plays father and mother, plays at being himself, a child. From the rustling autumn leaves, from abandoned bundles of straw, huts and nests are built, and for half an hour at a time a completely blameless boy can lie down besides his girl playmate, quietly, and as if magnetized by the intimation of love. Danger is in truth not far distant from such a practice of childish naïveté; it lurks in the background, and seeks only an opportunity to lead astray. But a child never understands the significance of the severe punishment which it so often receives for its imitative imaginary family life. The amatory life of the adult first breaks upon the imagination of the child and upon his quiet play like the opening of a door into a house. People take so little care of what they do before the innocent; they exhibit passionate affection for one another; they caress when the children are by. The child sees, ponders, and listens. Certain hieroglyphics alarm it; tales are laughed at—tales which suddenly throw a strange and wonderful light upon quite familiar human beings. The boy will notice that his elder sister has a joy or a sorrow, the nature of which he cannot completely grasp. He sees an elder brother filled with the joy of life, with the lust of youth, with the love of adventure, and no attempt is made to conceal these passions from the child.... Such and similar experiences succeed one another without cessation, and tales which the child hears arelistened to with eagerness. The red threads of love and of the charm of beautiful women are not to be grasped by the hand of a child, and yet they have upon the child a certain secret influence.”
The child hears and sees much that is erotic, even immoral, but does not stop to think about it, does not understand it. After a while its ignorance becomes a puzzle; soon lascivious thoughts arise. Maria Lischnewska describes very vividly this psychological process in the soul of the child, in part according to her observations as a teacher. She justly criticizes the “stork stories,” to which the child listens without believing them, in order subsequently to be enlightened in an extremely disagreeable manner by older ill-conditionedcomrades.[699]
These children, ten or twelve years of age, often learn about sexual matters from the lowest side,withoutobtaining atrue knowledge. They frequently acquire the most astounding verbal treasury of lewd expressions, and even sing obscene songs, of which Maria Lischnewska gives a remarkable example on the part of a girl twelve years of age.
No, there can be no question that the child at school, from the tenth year onwards, should, without fear of disastrous consequences, be enlightened regarding sexual matters by parents and teachers, in order to avoid the dangers which we have just described. But this instruction must be divested of any individual relationship, of any personal character, and must be communicated in thoroughly general terms, asnatural scientific knowledge, as a medical doctrine, belonging to the province of philosophical and pathological science. In this way will be avoided any undesirable accessory effect related to subjective perceptions. When Matthisson esteems youth as happy on this account, because thebook of possibilitiesis not yet open to its gaze, this certainly doesnothold as regards sexual enlightenment. Here, to a certain degree, this book of possibilities must be disclosed, if we do not wish all the poetry and all the ideal view of life to be utterly destroyed by contact with rude reality. Precisely in this case do we understand the wonderful remark of Goethe, that we receive the veil of poetry from the hand oftruth. This first renders possible a truly earnest and profound conception of sexual relationships; this creates a consciousness of responsibility which cannot be awakened sufficiently early.The true danger is, asFreud[700]also points out, the intermixture of “lasciviousness and prudery” with which humanity is accustomed to regard the sexual problem, just because people have not learned sufficiently to understand the connexion between cause and effect in this department of human activity.
Various methods have been recommended for sexual enlightenment. I shall discuss more particularly the suggestions of the AustrianRealschulprofessor, Sigmund, of theVolkschulteacher, Maria Lischnewska, and of the University professor, F. W. Förster.
Sigmund (quoted by Ullmann,op. cit., p. 7) considers that in theVolkschüler(primary schools), in the case of children up to the age of eleven years, there should be no systematic explanation of sexual matters, and that this should be begun first in the Gymnasium (higher school). His scheme of instruction is as follows:
1. The enlightenment of the pupils at the Gymnasium is to be effected in five stages (Classes I., II., V., VI., VII.)2. The enlightenment in the lower classes is limited to the processes of sexual reproduction. In the first class, the origin and birth of the mammalian young and the origin of insects’ eggs are explained. In the second class, the origin and birth of reptiles’ and birds’ eggs, the fertilization of the eggs of fishes and batrachians, the ova of the sea-urchin, and those of the jellyfish, are described.The act of sexual intercourse will not be alluded to in the first two classes—that is, it will not be mentioned to children before the age of thirteen years.3. The completion of the idea of “sexual life” is effected by means of botanical and zoological instruction in the upper school in a synthetic manner, wherein no important detail is omitted, but the copulatory act is kept in the background.4. All sexual matters expressly concerning human beings, and all the pathological relations of the sexual life, should be left to the hygienic instruction, which is given during one hour weekly to the seventh class as a part of general instruction in somatology.5. The natural history taught to the sixth class will embrace zoology only; the natural system will be considered in an ascending series (excluding human somatology, which in a logical manner is deferred until the study of zoology is completed, and it will thus be dealt with in the seventh class, as a preparation to the instruction in hygiene).6. In conferences with parents, the parents can be kept informed regarding the nature of the instruction which is being given to their children, and can at the same time be led to work in unison with the school in this matter.
1. The enlightenment of the pupils at the Gymnasium is to be effected in five stages (Classes I., II., V., VI., VII.)
2. The enlightenment in the lower classes is limited to the processes of sexual reproduction. In the first class, the origin and birth of the mammalian young and the origin of insects’ eggs are explained. In the second class, the origin and birth of reptiles’ and birds’ eggs, the fertilization of the eggs of fishes and batrachians, the ova of the sea-urchin, and those of the jellyfish, are described.The act of sexual intercourse will not be alluded to in the first two classes—that is, it will not be mentioned to children before the age of thirteen years.
3. The completion of the idea of “sexual life” is effected by means of botanical and zoological instruction in the upper school in a synthetic manner, wherein no important detail is omitted, but the copulatory act is kept in the background.
4. All sexual matters expressly concerning human beings, and all the pathological relations of the sexual life, should be left to the hygienic instruction, which is given during one hour weekly to the seventh class as a part of general instruction in somatology.
5. The natural history taught to the sixth class will embrace zoology only; the natural system will be considered in an ascending series (excluding human somatology, which in a logical manner is deferred until the study of zoology is completed, and it will thus be dealt with in the seventh class, as a preparation to the instruction in hygiene).
6. In conferences with parents, the parents can be kept informed regarding the nature of the instruction which is being given to their children, and can at the same time be led to work in unison with the school in this matter.
Maria Lischnewska advises beginning already in the third class of primary schools—that is, when the child is only eight years old—to give instruction in the elements of natural science, more especially utilizing, as the first means of sexual enlightenment, the examples of vegetable fertilization, as well as the reproduction of fishes and birds. Even to the question “Whence do little children come?” an answer should be given, more or less in the following terms:
“The child lies in the body of the mother: when she breathes, then the child breathes; when she eats and drinks, the child also obtains his food. It lies there warm and safe. Gradually it becomes larger and begins to move. It has to lie somewhat curled up, because there is so little room for it. But the mother feels that it is alive; she is full of joy, and makes ready the child’s clothing and its bed. Finally it is fully grown. The mother’s body opens, and the child comes to the light. Then the mother takes it into her arms with joy and nourishes it with her milk.” Then the teacher would pause, and continue after a while: “Now, would you like to see the child?” Then there would naturally be a many-voiced “Yes, yes!” and the teacher would show to the class a picture such as our anatomical atlases exhibit now in beautiful form. The abdominal walls of the mother are turned back, and the child is seen slumbering. Then the teacher would say: “Thus you also slept within the body of your mother. You belong to her as to no other human being in the whole world. For this reason you should always love and honour her.”Thus is the child’s urgent demand for knowledge satisfied. He is freed from all prying into nooks and corners. He experiences a feeling of honourable respect towards the primary source of life.
“The child lies in the body of the mother: when she breathes, then the child breathes; when she eats and drinks, the child also obtains his food. It lies there warm and safe. Gradually it becomes larger and begins to move. It has to lie somewhat curled up, because there is so little room for it. But the mother feels that it is alive; she is full of joy, and makes ready the child’s clothing and its bed. Finally it is fully grown. The mother’s body opens, and the child comes to the light. Then the mother takes it into her arms with joy and nourishes it with her milk.” Then the teacher would pause, and continue after a while: “Now, would you like to see the child?” Then there would naturally be a many-voiced “Yes, yes!” and the teacher would show to the class a picture such as our anatomical atlases exhibit now in beautiful form. The abdominal walls of the mother are turned back, and the child is seen slumbering. Then the teacher would say: “Thus you also slept within the body of your mother. You belong to her as to no other human being in the whole world. For this reason you should always love and honour her.”
Thus is the child’s urgent demand for knowledge satisfied. He is freed from all prying into nooks and corners. He experiences a feeling of honourable respect towards the primary source of life.
In the fourth school year further examples of the reproduction of plants, fishes, and birds should be given; in the fifth and sixth years the first demonstration of the process of sexual union among the mammals, with some account of embryology; and the process of birth should also be described. Then there should follow (at about the age of thirteen or fourteen) enlightenment regarding the development of the sexual life and regarding venereal diseases—information, that is to say, concerning hygiene and concerning the protection of one’s own body. Physicians such as Oker Blom and Dr. Agnes Hacker definitely demand that elucidation regarding this latter point shouldnotbe deferred until the time of puberty.
F. W. Förster proposes to postpone the whole process of enlightenmentuntil the twelfth or thirteenth year; and if at an earlier age a child expresses any natural doubt regarding thestork fables, the following answer should be given (op. cit., p. 606):
“Where small children come from is a matter which you cannot yet understand. We grown-up persons even understand very little about it. I promise you that I will explain to you what we know of the matter on your twelfth birthday, but only if you promise me something in return. Do you know that there are boys and girls so bumptious that they behave as if they already knew all about it, because they have somewhere picked up a word or two without really understanding it? Promise me that you will never listen when such as these begin to talk about the matter; for you may be certain that the true secrets are matters of which they are ignorant, for this reason—they would not speak about it. He who really knows holds it as a sacred matter; he is silent about it, and does not call it out at the street comers.”
“Where small children come from is a matter which you cannot yet understand. We grown-up persons even understand very little about it. I promise you that I will explain to you what we know of the matter on your twelfth birthday, but only if you promise me something in return. Do you know that there are boys and girls so bumptious that they behave as if they already knew all about it, because they have somewhere picked up a word or two without really understanding it? Promise me that you will never listen when such as these begin to talk about the matter; for you may be certain that the true secrets are matters of which they are ignorant, for this reason—they would not speak about it. He who really knows holds it as a sacred matter; he is silent about it, and does not call it out at the street comers.”
Förster strongly advisesagainstassociating sexual enlightenment with a knowledge of the reproductive process in plants and animals, for this reason: that if this is done “the human being is brought too near to the vegetable and animal life,” and the “sacred thought” of the elevation of humanity above the animal is obscured. He then gives very beautiful examples and modes of instruction for such sexual enlightenment of children twelve years of age.
I myself am of opinion that, without in any way making light of the difference between man and animal, the earlier elucidation at about the age of ten years should be associated with the general instruction in natural history regarding the reproductive process of animals and plants; and then very gradually, up to the age of fourteen, all important points in this department can be explained, including, finally, an account of the venereal diseases. It is obvious that after this time, more especially in the dangerous years of puberty, systematic enlightenment must be continued. That which is good and useful in this department of knowledge cannot be too often repeated.
But all enlightenment will be useless unless hand in hand with it there proceedsa process of education of the character and the will. Our school youth thinks and dreams too much, and does too little. Up to the present time it has been believed that it is sufficient to teach children, and to continue to teach them, to care for their health, to see that they have good food and sound sleep, without also taking into consideration the necessity for awakening theindividualityand theenergyslumbering in each one of them. The “gymnasium” must concern itself with thegymnastics, not only of the body, but also of the mind, and mustthus restore that harmony between body and mind which appears to have been quite lost at the present day. Bodily education by games and sports is only one of the means for this purpose. The principal aim is to strengthen the character, to induce the habit of self-command and self-denial by a profound and intimate grasp of sexual problems. Nowhere does fantastic dreaming take revenge more thoroughly than in sexual relationships, for which reason also the so-called “only children” are especiallyendangered;[701]nowhere do clear knowledge, objective acquirements, and a firm will celebrate finer triumphs over blind impulses than they do here. The principal rule of sexual pedagogy runs as follows: Avoid thefirst opportunityand thefirst contact; keep the child and the young man and the young woman at a distance from all the stimulating pleasures and enjoyments of the adult. The production of manliness, as it has recently been described byMosso,[702]Güssfeldt,[703]GeorgSticker,[704]and LudwigGurlitt,[705]has the greatest importance, more especially as regards the sexual life. This has been insisted on, above all, by HansWegener[706]and F. W. Förster (op. cit.). Moral statistics have incontrovertibly proved that progress in civilization and morals does not depend upon punishment or upon prophylactic measures against errors and excesses of passion, but only upon thesubjectiveimprovement and strengthening of the single individual. Guizot declared: “C’est de l’étatintérieurde l’homme que dépend l’état visible de la société.”Drobisch,[707]in his “Moral Statistics,” has established this fact yet more firmly. Energy is the magic word for all vital activities of the present day, both spiritualand physical. Discipline, work, abstinence, bodily hygiene, are the means for educating the character, and these also play the principal part in sexualpedagogy.[708]
[696]For this reason, Fr. W. Förster, in his admirable “Jugendlehre” (Berlin, 1906), devotes a special section to the subject of “sexual pedagogy” (pp. 602-652).[697]Maria Lischnewska, in her admirable work upon “The Sexual Instruction of Children,” published inMutterschutz, 1905, vol. i., pp. 137-150, quotes the principal passages relating to this subject from the works of the writers just mentioned.[698]In addition to the two admirable works already mentioned, by F. W. Förster and M. Lischnewska, I may allude also to the following: Richard Flachs, “Sexual Enlightenment as a Part of the Education of our Young People,” with a full bibliography (Dresden and Leipzig, 1906); Carl Kopp, “Sexual Affairs in the Education of Youth” (Leipzig, 1904); Max Marcuse, “Sexual Enlightenment in Youth” (Leipzig, 1905); “Sexual Hygiene and Sexual Enlightenment in the School” (a Discussion at the First International Congress for School Hygiene, held at Nürnberg, 1904), published in the “Reports of the German Society for the Suppression of Venereal Diseases,” 1904, vol. ii., pp. 63-71; Karl Ullmann, “The Sexual Enlightenment of School-Children,” published in theMonatsschrift für Gesundheitspflege, 1906, No. 1; M. Flesch, “Enlightenment in the School,” published inBlätter für Volksgesundheitspflege, vol. iv., p. 164; Emma Eckstein, “The Sexual Question in the Education of the Child” (Leipzig, 1904); Adelheid von Bennigsen, “Sexual Pedagogy in the House and the School” (Berlin, 1903); Alfred Fournier, “Pour nos Fils quand ils auront Dix-huit Ans” (Paris, 1905); M. Oker Blom, “Beim Onkel Doktor auf dem Lande”: a Book for Parents, second edition (Vienna, 1906); Friedrich Siebert, “A Book for Parents” (Munich, 1905); same author, “What shall I say to my Child?” (Munich, 1904); Mary Wood-Allen, “When the Boy becomes Man” (Zurich, 1904); same author, “Tell me the Truth, dear Mother”; W. Busch, “No more Stork Stories: a Practical Introduction, showing how Children should be taught the Truth, and how the Family should be Safeguarded from Moral Contamination” (Leipzig, 1904); E. von den Steinen, “The Human Sexual Life: a Lecture to those leaving School” (Düsseldorf, 1906);cf.also, by the same author, “An Address to those leaving School concerning Sexual Love,” published in theJournal for the Suppression of Venereal Diseases, 1900, vol. v., pp. 259, 260; F. Siebert, “Our Sons: their Enlightenment regarding the Dangers of the Sexual Life” (Straubing, 1907); F. Siebert, “The Sexual Problem in Childhood,” published in “The Book of the Child,” edited by Adele Schreiber (Leipzig and Berlin, 1907), vol. i., pp. 106-117; L. Bergfeld, “Take the Bandage from your Eyes, dear Sister: an Open Letter to Adolescent Girls” (Munich, 1907).[699]In some cases the child will criticize the grown-up’s fables with a sharp-sighted logic, as the following story proves: Pepito, a child seven years of age, asks his mother, “Tell me, mamma, how do children come?” “People buy them.” “I don’t believe that people buy them!” “Why not?” “Because poor people have the most!”[700]S. Freud, “Collection of Minor Writings upon the Doctrine of Neurosis,” p. 216 (Leipzig and Vienna, 1906).[701]Cf.Eugen Neter, “The Only Child and its Education” (Munich, 1906).[702]Angelo Mosso, “Physical Culture in Youth” (Hamburg and Leipzig, 1894).[703]Paul Güssfeldt, “The Education of German Youth” (Berlin, 1890).[704]Georg Sticker, “Health and Education,” second edition (Giessen, 1903).[705]Ludwig Gurlitt, “Education in Manliness” (Berlin, 1907).[706]Hans Wegener, “We Young Men: the Sexual Problem of the Cultured Young Man before Marriage: Purity, Strength, and the Love of Woman” (Düsseldorf and Leipzig, 1906).[707]M. W. Drobisch, “Moral Statistics and the Freedom of the Human Will,” pp. 96-101 (Leipzig, 1867). Valuable works regarding the education of the character and the social education of the child are found in the first volume (second edition) of the monumental work edited by Adele Schreiber, “The Book of the Child” (Leipzig and Berlin, 1907), from the pens of Laura Frost (pp. 42-63), F. A. Schmidt (pp. 168-179), Lüngen (pp. 192-201), G. Kerschensteiner (pp. 202-207), R. Penzig (pp. 215-222), and Adele Schreiber (pp. 223-231). Important in relation to sexual enlightenment is also the question (one actively discussed at the present moment) of theeducation of the sexes in common—the so-calledco-education. It has been proved by experience that co-education has a good effect in sexual relationships (cf.Gertrud Bäumer, “Co-education,”op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 44-48).[708]The question of sexual education and enlightenment occupies at the moment a place in the foreground of public interest, and rightly so; for upon this depends principally the further reform and the resanation of all the sexual relationships of civilized peoples. For this reason the Discussions, now in the press, of the Third Congress of the Society for the Suppression of Venereal Diseases (“Sexualpädagogik”), Leipzig, 1907, were occupied exclusively with this subject, which was considered in elaborate debates from four points of view:1. Sexual instruction in the house and the school.2. Sexual enlightenment of young persons at puberty.3. Sexual instruction of teachers and parents.4. Sexual dietetics and education.The present position of sexual pedagogy in all these respects is exactly defined in this comprehensive volume; and, in addition, at the conclusion of the book we find a compend of the recent literature of the subject. Much of value regarding sexual regimen is to be found in the work of H. Mann, “Art and the Sexual Conduct of Life” (Oranienburg, 1907), and in that of A. Eulenburg, “Sexual Regimen,” published inMutterschutz, July and August, 1907. As an opponent of early sexual enlightenment, we must mention G. Leubuscher (“School Medicine and School Hygiene,” pp. 65-70; Leipzig, 1907). He considers that such enlightenment should only be given at the time of leaving school. His reasons, however, are not convincing, and, above all, do not apply to large towns.
[696]For this reason, Fr. W. Förster, in his admirable “Jugendlehre” (Berlin, 1906), devotes a special section to the subject of “sexual pedagogy” (pp. 602-652).
[697]Maria Lischnewska, in her admirable work upon “The Sexual Instruction of Children,” published inMutterschutz, 1905, vol. i., pp. 137-150, quotes the principal passages relating to this subject from the works of the writers just mentioned.
[698]In addition to the two admirable works already mentioned, by F. W. Förster and M. Lischnewska, I may allude also to the following: Richard Flachs, “Sexual Enlightenment as a Part of the Education of our Young People,” with a full bibliography (Dresden and Leipzig, 1906); Carl Kopp, “Sexual Affairs in the Education of Youth” (Leipzig, 1904); Max Marcuse, “Sexual Enlightenment in Youth” (Leipzig, 1905); “Sexual Hygiene and Sexual Enlightenment in the School” (a Discussion at the First International Congress for School Hygiene, held at Nürnberg, 1904), published in the “Reports of the German Society for the Suppression of Venereal Diseases,” 1904, vol. ii., pp. 63-71; Karl Ullmann, “The Sexual Enlightenment of School-Children,” published in theMonatsschrift für Gesundheitspflege, 1906, No. 1; M. Flesch, “Enlightenment in the School,” published inBlätter für Volksgesundheitspflege, vol. iv., p. 164; Emma Eckstein, “The Sexual Question in the Education of the Child” (Leipzig, 1904); Adelheid von Bennigsen, “Sexual Pedagogy in the House and the School” (Berlin, 1903); Alfred Fournier, “Pour nos Fils quand ils auront Dix-huit Ans” (Paris, 1905); M. Oker Blom, “Beim Onkel Doktor auf dem Lande”: a Book for Parents, second edition (Vienna, 1906); Friedrich Siebert, “A Book for Parents” (Munich, 1905); same author, “What shall I say to my Child?” (Munich, 1904); Mary Wood-Allen, “When the Boy becomes Man” (Zurich, 1904); same author, “Tell me the Truth, dear Mother”; W. Busch, “No more Stork Stories: a Practical Introduction, showing how Children should be taught the Truth, and how the Family should be Safeguarded from Moral Contamination” (Leipzig, 1904); E. von den Steinen, “The Human Sexual Life: a Lecture to those leaving School” (Düsseldorf, 1906);cf.also, by the same author, “An Address to those leaving School concerning Sexual Love,” published in theJournal for the Suppression of Venereal Diseases, 1900, vol. v., pp. 259, 260; F. Siebert, “Our Sons: their Enlightenment regarding the Dangers of the Sexual Life” (Straubing, 1907); F. Siebert, “The Sexual Problem in Childhood,” published in “The Book of the Child,” edited by Adele Schreiber (Leipzig and Berlin, 1907), vol. i., pp. 106-117; L. Bergfeld, “Take the Bandage from your Eyes, dear Sister: an Open Letter to Adolescent Girls” (Munich, 1907).
[699]In some cases the child will criticize the grown-up’s fables with a sharp-sighted logic, as the following story proves: Pepito, a child seven years of age, asks his mother, “Tell me, mamma, how do children come?” “People buy them.” “I don’t believe that people buy them!” “Why not?” “Because poor people have the most!”
[700]S. Freud, “Collection of Minor Writings upon the Doctrine of Neurosis,” p. 216 (Leipzig and Vienna, 1906).
[701]Cf.Eugen Neter, “The Only Child and its Education” (Munich, 1906).
[702]Angelo Mosso, “Physical Culture in Youth” (Hamburg and Leipzig, 1894).
[703]Paul Güssfeldt, “The Education of German Youth” (Berlin, 1890).
[704]Georg Sticker, “Health and Education,” second edition (Giessen, 1903).
[705]Ludwig Gurlitt, “Education in Manliness” (Berlin, 1907).
[706]Hans Wegener, “We Young Men: the Sexual Problem of the Cultured Young Man before Marriage: Purity, Strength, and the Love of Woman” (Düsseldorf and Leipzig, 1906).
[707]M. W. Drobisch, “Moral Statistics and the Freedom of the Human Will,” pp. 96-101 (Leipzig, 1867). Valuable works regarding the education of the character and the social education of the child are found in the first volume (second edition) of the monumental work edited by Adele Schreiber, “The Book of the Child” (Leipzig and Berlin, 1907), from the pens of Laura Frost (pp. 42-63), F. A. Schmidt (pp. 168-179), Lüngen (pp. 192-201), G. Kerschensteiner (pp. 202-207), R. Penzig (pp. 215-222), and Adele Schreiber (pp. 223-231). Important in relation to sexual enlightenment is also the question (one actively discussed at the present moment) of theeducation of the sexes in common—the so-calledco-education. It has been proved by experience that co-education has a good effect in sexual relationships (cf.Gertrud Bäumer, “Co-education,”op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 44-48).
[708]The question of sexual education and enlightenment occupies at the moment a place in the foreground of public interest, and rightly so; for upon this depends principally the further reform and the resanation of all the sexual relationships of civilized peoples. For this reason the Discussions, now in the press, of the Third Congress of the Society for the Suppression of Venereal Diseases (“Sexualpädagogik”), Leipzig, 1907, were occupied exclusively with this subject, which was considered in elaborate debates from four points of view:
1. Sexual instruction in the house and the school.2. Sexual enlightenment of young persons at puberty.3. Sexual instruction of teachers and parents.4. Sexual dietetics and education.
The present position of sexual pedagogy in all these respects is exactly defined in this comprehensive volume; and, in addition, at the conclusion of the book we find a compend of the recent literature of the subject. Much of value regarding sexual regimen is to be found in the work of H. Mann, “Art and the Sexual Conduct of Life” (Oranienburg, 1907), and in that of A. Eulenburg, “Sexual Regimen,” published inMutterschutz, July and August, 1907. As an opponent of early sexual enlightenment, we must mention G. Leubuscher (“School Medicine and School Hygiene,” pp. 65-70; Leipzig, 1907). He considers that such enlightenment should only be given at the time of leaving school. His reasons, however, are not convincing, and, above all, do not apply to large towns.
“Formerly the use of such devices was regarded as immoral and punishable, and was actually punished; it was condemned as an interference with the Divine plan. But such views and measures are extreme. Here, as everywhere, human foresight and methodical interference are permissible.”—Gustav Schmoller.
Importance of the problem of population — Malthus and hie doctrine — Its fallacies — Temporary validity — “Moral restraint” — Neo-malthusianism — The foundation of the Malthusian League — Great antiquity of malthusian practices — Disharmony of the family instinct — The mica operation of the Australian indigens — Artificial abortion among primitive races — Methods of preventing pregnancy in ancient times — In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — Relative justification of the use of preventive measures — Views of recent physicians on this subject — Summary of the principal methods of preventing conception — Limitation of coitus to particular times — Advice of Soranos and Capellmann — Feskstitow’s “conception-curve” — Influence of particular seasons of the year — Prolongation of the period of lactation — Buttenstedt’s “Happiness in Marriage” and Funcke’s “New Revelation” — Criticism of these fantasies — Divergences from the normal method of coitus — Passive demeanour of the woman —Coitus interruptus— Exaggerated views of its injurious influence —Coitus interruptusand anxiety-neurosis — Trifling effect in healthy individuals — Repeated interruptions of coitus — Mechanical means of preventing conception — Compression — Muscular action — Mensinga’s “occlusive pessary” — Holweg’s “obturator” — The condom — Chemico-physical preventive measures — Douches — The “Lady’s Friend” — Antiseptic powders and security sponges — Combination of chemical and mechanical means — The “Venus apparatus” — The duplex occlusive pessary — Inflammatory affections after the use of chemical preventive measures — Herpes progenitalis — Artificial sterility — Operative methods of inducing it — Vaporization and castration — The “ovariées” — Wide diffusion of artificial abortion — Critical remarks regarding the punishment of abortion in Germany — The right of the unborn child — Rape and abortion — The methods of expelling the ovum — Internal means — Mechanical means — Danger and consequences of both — Social means for limiting abortion.
Whereas in former times opinions on social questions were determined principally byeconomicconsiderations, to-day we are to a great extent influenced also by the aims and endeavours of individual and socialhygiene; for this reason the so-calledproblem of populationhas come to occupy the consciousness of civilized mankind to a far greater extent than before it has passed from the stage of theory into that of practice. Serious critical political economists, such as, for example, B. G.Schmoller,[709]have recognized this. The increasing understanding of the conditions of social life, knowledge of the connexion between economic conditions and the number and quality of the population, must of itself lead to the discussion of the question whether the regulation of the number of children born is not one of the principal duties of modern civilization. The Englishman Robert Malthus was the first who, stimulated by an idea of Benjamin Franklin, in the year 1798, in his “Essay on the Principles of Population,” discussed this serious, and even alarming, question of the naturalconsequencesof unrestricted sexual intercourse, and answered it in an extremely pessimistic sense. For, according to him, whereas human beings tend to increase in number according to a geometrical progression—that is, in the ratio 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and so on—the means of subsistence increase only in arithmetical progression—that is, in the ratio of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on. Hence it follows that the numbers of the population can be kept within bounds, so as to remain proportional to the nutritive possibilities, only by means of decimating influences, such as vice, poverty, disease, the entire “struggle for existence,” by preventive measures, and by the so-called “moral restraint” in and before marriage. Although this celebrated theory, which filled with alarm, not only all those already living in Europe, but also all those who wished toproducenew life, has to-day been generally recognized asfalse,[710]since it failed to take into accounttechnical advances in the preparation of thesoil[711]and other ways in which it will become possible to increase the means of subsistence; and he equally ignored the possibility of a better division of property. None the less does his theory remain apposite in respect of many of the social relationships of more recent times; the doctrine has, in fact, temporary validity for certain periods of civilization, such as our own. Malthus recommended, as the principal means of preventing over-population,abstinencefrom sexual intercourse (moral restraint) before marriage, and thepostponementof marriage; thus he was an apostle of the “relative asceticism” recommended in the twenty-fifth chapter of the present work.
In England this early view found utterance among the political economists and sociologists, such as Chalmers, Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Say, Thornton, etc. It was also actively discussed in wide circles of the population, so that as early as the year 1825 the “disciples of Malthus” were a typical phenomenon of English life.
A further development of malthusianism in the practical direction was represented by the so-called “neo-malthusianism”—that is, an actual diffusion of instruction in the means for the prevention of pregnancy and for the limitation of the number of children. Such a procedure was first publicly recommended by Francis Place, in the year 1822; but no widespread teaching of practical malthusianism occurred till a considerably later date, notably after the foundation of the Malthusian League, on July 17, 1877. The principal advocates of neo-malthusianism in England were John Stuart Mill, Charles Drysdale, Charles Bradlaugh, and Mrs. Besant.
Malthusian practice is, however, much older than the theory.Metchnikoff[712]declares the endeavour to diminish the number of children to be a very widely diffused “disharmony of the family instinct,” which in itself is much more recent, and is much less widely diffused in the animal kingdom than the sexual instinct. Animals, at any rate, know nothing of the prevention of conception; that is a “privilege” of the human species. By primitive races such preventive measures are very widely employed. Among these measures one of the best known is the “mica” operation of the Australian natives—the slitting up of the urethra of the male along the lower surface of the penis, so that the semenflows out just in front of the scrotum, and is ejaculated outside thevagina.[713]Regarding the wide diffusion of artificial abortion among savage races, Ploss-Bartels gives detailed reports. The pursuit of material enjoyments, characteristic of civilized peoples, is not here (as recent authors have erroneously assumed) the determining influence; we have, in fact, to do with a widely diffused disharmony of the familyinstinct,[714]for which in certaindefiniteconditions some justification must be admitted. The period for the unconditional rejection of malthusianism by pietists and absolute moralists has passed away definitely. Not only physicians, but also professional political economists, recognize the relative justification and admissibility of the use of preventive measures in certain circumstances for the limitation of the procreation of children. It has rightly been pointedout[715]that ineverymarriage a time must eventually arrive when preventive measures in sexual intercourse are employed, and necessarily must be employed, because, in respect of the state of health of the wife, and also in view of economic conditions, their use is urgently demanded. These relationships have been discussed with great insight by A.Hegar,[716]and he has proved the justification of practical neo-malthusianism in every ordinary marriage, as well as for the population at large. By means of a “regulation of reproduction,” an immoderate increase of the population is prevented; by diminishing the quantity we improve the quality of the offspring. Late marriages, long pauses between the separate deliveries, and the greatest possible sexual abstinence, subserve this purpose.
Like Hegar, the Munich hygienist MaxGruber[717]also recognizes the necessity for setting bounds to the number of children to be brought into the world, since the capacity of the human species to increase is far greater than its power to increase the means of subsistence. He describes very vividly the physical and moral misery of the parents and the children when the latter are too numerous; he also shows that from the birth of the fourth child onwards the inborn force and health of the children diminish more and more. Naturally, also, diseases affecting the parents, and the pressing danger of the inheritance of these diseases, renders necessary the use of sexual preventive measures, or else of moral restraint. Gruber enunciates the thoroughly neo-malthusian proposition:
“The procreation of children must be kept within bounds, if mankind wishes to free itself from the cruel condition by which, in irrational nature, the balance is maintained—death in the mass side by side with procreation in the mass!”
“The procreation of children must be kept within bounds, if mankind wishes to free itself from the cruel condition by which, in irrational nature, the balance is maintained—death in the mass side by side with procreation in the mass!”
L.Löwenfeld[718]also sees in the recommendation of such measures for the prevention of pregnancy “nothing either improper or immoral”; he sees in these measures “means for diminishing the poverty of the lower classes, and for abolishing, to a great extent, the high infantile mortality of these classes, although neo-malthusianism is in no way a panacea for all the social evils of our time”; and he writes very strongly against the condemnation of preventive measures by a “perverse medical zealotry”; in fact, he assigns to preventive measures an immense hygienic importance. Many other physicians also, such asMensinga[719](the discoverer of the occlusive pessary, the first medical man in Germany to assert with energy the justification of employing means for the prevention of pregnancy, and the first to establish with precision the indications for the use of these measures, especially in relation to the disadvantageous consequences to women’s health of bearing a large number of children),Fürbringer,[720]Spener,[721]and others, have drawn attention to theeminent hygienic and social importance of measures for the prevention of pregnancy; whereas, on the other hand, in France, in view of the alarming decline in the population of that country, scientific medicine has adopted a more hostile attitude; no longer, however, so bitterly hostile as in the work (now somewhat out of date, but nevertheless containing interesting details) ofBergeret.[722]A layman also, Hans Ferdy (A.Meyerhof),[723]has published a number of interesting works on practical neo-malthusianism.
We shall now proceed to give a brief account of the means commonly employed for the prevention of pregnancy.
l.The Restriction of Intercourse to Particular Periods.—It is clear that by means of relative asceticism, and by restriction of the number of individual acts of sexual intercourse, the possibilities of fertilization can be limited to a considerable extent. Thus, Capellmann, in a work published in 1883, entitled “Facultative Sterility, without Offence to Moral Laws,” recommended abstinence from intercourse for fourteen daysafterthe cessation of menstruation and for three or four daysbeforethe commencement of the flow, in the belief that fertilization occurs principally during the days immediately before and after menstruation. Capellmann thus revived the prescription of Soranos, a gynecologist of the days of antiquity. According to the researches of the physiologist Victor Hensen, it is true that the greatest number of fertilizations take place during thefirstfew days after the menstrual period; but conceptionmayalso occur on any other day of the menstrual cycle, although the probability of conception at other periods than those named is a diminishing one. Feskstitow has based upon statistical data an interesting “conception curve,” according to which the frequency of fertilization on the last day of menstruation, on the first, ninth, eleventh, and twenty-third days after the end of the flow, varies respectively according to the ratios 48, 62, 13, 9, 1; between these points the course of the curve is almost straight. On the twenty-third day after menstruation the probability of conception is thus one-sixty-second of the maximum. Thus, though the probability of fertilization following intercourse on the twenty-third day after the cessation of the flow is muchlessthan the probability of fertilizationas a result of intercourse shortly after menstruation, still, the possibility of conception in the former case cannot be absolutely excluded.
It has also been recommended that in certainseasons of the year, to which a peculiar influence upon fertility has been ascribed, more especially the months of May and June, abstinence from intercourse should be observed. But this is naturallyquite untrustworthy, since the same mother can conceive in all months of the year, as is sufficiently proved by the ordinary variations in the birthdays of children.
Somewhat more trustworthy, but stillnotabsolutely to be depended upon, is the practice, after the birth of a child, ofartificially prolonging the period of lactation, since it is well known that during lactation the menstrual periods often fail to occur, and that fertilization is exceptional. Upon the recognition of this causal sequence, notwithstanding the fact that it does not possess any absolute validity, there has recently been founded a very remarkable method of practical malthusianism, which the two discoverers, KarlButtenstedt[724]and Richard E.Funcke,[725]have announced to their astonished contemporaries as a “new revelation,” and as the realization of “happiness in marriage.” These remarkable apostles have combined another observation with the one mentioned above of the relative infertility of women during lactation, the new observation being that sometimes by the mammary glands of women who are not pregnant, and even by those of virgins, milk is secreted, especially during menstruation. This fact was known to earlier gynecologists, as, for example, to Dietrich WilhelmBusch.[726]
Buttenstedt, to whom the “priority” of the new doctrine of happiness unquestionably belongs, an advocate of the extremely optimistic theory of the possibility of an everlasting life for humanity and of the cessation of death (!), also conceived the idea of evoking lactation artificially inallwomen by means of the sucking of their breasts by men! In this way he believed that artificial sterility and amenorrhœa might be produced.
Naturally, also, woman’s milk is regarded as an elixir of life for old men, a true panacea for the elongation of lifead infinitum; and this “happy marriage” in itself is to be a means by which all the possible ills of degenerate humanity are to be cured. In this pæan he is joined by Funcke, who regards woman’s milk as “the best, most natural, and most valuable drug,” and on p. 70 of his book preaches to girls and women the “new categorical imperative” (sic).