Lysistrata : $b or, Woman's future and future womanLudovici, Anthony M. (Anthony Mario)
Philosophy
Lysistrata : $b or, Woman's future and future woman
Ludovici, Anthony M. (Anthony Mario)
Women; Women -- Social and moral questions
THE picture, given in the last chapter, of the world that is likely to
result from the extreme consequences of our present tendencies may seem
overdrawn and fantastic; but it should not be too readily dismissed as
absurd on that account. The fact that, as a whole, it may seem
incredible is no argument against the inevitability of certain of its
chief characteristics; for it should always be remembered that, since
the main stream of human life as we now know it, is based upon the
bodily relation of the sexes and upon the love which makes this relation
a thing desired, all influences tending to deteriorate the human body or
to upset that bodily relation, and all scientific technique and
substitutes which tend to supersede it, must, if they are allowed to
develop, lead to a dislocation so complete of the original scheme that
there is no telling in what monstrous changes they may culminate.
Had we not already reached bodily degeneration, brought about and
condoned by body-despising values; had we not a Puritanical tradition
reinforced by Feminism; and, finally, had we not a group of sciences
whose discoveries, either actual or potential, allow us to expect every
kind of extra-corporeal substitute and aid for our defective corporeal
functions and parts, we could afford to laugh at the dangers indicated
in the previous chapter. In view, however, of the undeniable truth of
the description of our state previously given, it is impossible lightly
to reject the ultimate evanescence of sexual love, for instance, as a
remote future development. And, if we admit that, we must reckon with
the disappearance of our most effective protection against the
instinctive hostility of the sexes.
It is for this reason that there is still a fight to be fought with
Feminism, and why we ourselves, though heart and soul pro-feminine,
still remain active anti-Feminists. People point to the victories of
Feminism in recent years, and say: What is there left for active
anti-Feminists to do? Now that women have the vote and that they sit in
Parliament, now that they have practically the whole of the Press behind
them, their battle is surely won, and anti-Feminism is a lost cause!
Obviously, however, if anti-Feminism means resisting the further
development of Feminism, to prevent it from culminating in some or all
of the changes outlined in the previous chapter; if it means a struggle
to maintain the natural relations of the sexes, together with the normal
functioning of male and female in reproduction; and if it also means the
retention of the family, the home, and some beauty in our social scheme,
then it certainly cannot yet be a lost cause, and those who, like
ourselves, remain anti-Feminists despite the Feminine Franchise, the
Feminist Press, and the Woman Μ. P., feel that we have still much to
protect and much to achieve before we can regard our position as
hopeless.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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