Married Love: A New Contribution to the Solution of Sex DifficultiesStopes, Marie Carmichael
Science
Married Love: A New Contribution to the Solution of Sex Difficulties
Stopes, Marie Carmichael
Man-woman relationships; Marriage; Sex (Psychology); Sex differences; Sex in marriage
Even from the noblest man, the woman of sensitive personality
to-day feels an undercurrent as of surprised congratulation when
she has anything to say worth his _serious_ attention outside that
department of life supposed to belong to her "sphere." Thus man robs
his wedded self of a greatness which the dual unity might reach.
But in marriage the mutual freedom and respect for opinion,
vitally important though it be, is not sufficient for the full
development of character. Life demands ever-widening interests.
Owing partly to the differentiation of many types of individuals due
to the specialisation of civilisation, which interests thoughtful
individuals, and partly to the transmutation of his old vagrant
instinct, man increasingly desires to touch and to realise the lives
of his fellows. In the lives of others our hearts and understanding
may find perpetual adventures into the new and strange.
Individual human beings, even the noblest and most complex yet
evolved, have but a share of the innumerable faculties of the race.
Hence even in a supremely happy marriage, which touches, as does the
mystic in his raptures, a realisation of the whole universe, there
cannot lie the _whole_ of life's experience. Outside the actual
lives of the pair there must always be many types of thought and
many potentialities which can only be realised in the lives of other
people.
In the complete human relation friends of all grades are needed,
as well as a mate. Marriage, however, in its present form is too
often made to curtail the enjoyment of intimate friendships. The
reason for this is partly the social etiquette, which, though
discarded in the highest levels of society, still lingers in many
circles, of inviting the husband and the wife together upon all
social occasions. It is true that they are separated at the dinner
table, but they are always within the possibility of earshot of
each other, which very often deadens their potentialities for being
entertaining. The mere fact of being overheard repeating something
one may have already said elsewhere is sufficient to prevent some
people from telling their best stories, or from expressing their
real views upon important matters.
And, still more serious barrier to joy, so primitive, so little
evolved are we even yet, there is in most human beings a strong
streak of sex-jealousy. For either mate to be allowed to go out
uncriticised into the world, is to demand, if not more than the
other is willing to give, at least a measure of trust which by its
rarity appears nowadays as something conspicuously fine.
Jealousy, which is one of the most frequent shadows cast by the
blight of love, is very apt to sow a distrust in one which makes a
normal life for the other partner impossible.
It is hard to say in which sex the feeling is more strongly
developed. It takes special forms under different circumstances,
and if a nature is predisposed towards it, it is one of the most
difficult characteristics to eradicate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account