Self Knowledge and Guide to Sex Instruction: Vital Facts of Life for All AgesShannon, Thomas W. (Thomas Washington)
Philosophy
Self Knowledge and Guide to Sex Instruction: Vital Facts of Life for All Ages
Shannon, Thomas W. (Thomas Washington)
Sex; Sexual health
=If motherhood does expose her sin.=--The gravest problems arise where
the girl is to become a mother. To shield herself and to save her family
from disgrace, her first thought will be to use some means to rid
herself of the unborn life. In this awful hour of conscious guilt,
mental bewilderment and soul agony the girl would gladly welcome death
in any form rather than face the inevitable exposure that awaits her.
God only knows how many girls commit suicide and how many mysterious
deaths might be explained by this cause. Where they succeed in
destroying the unwelcome life, physical health is often wrecked. But
suppose that death or ill health does not follow, what must be the
effects on the mind and soul that follow this cold-blooded act of
willful prenatal murder.
=If her lover refuses marriage, she should confess to her mother.=--It is
not to be wondered at that so many girls, when deceived in a love
affair, rather than face unforgiving parents, a cold and heartless
world, a social condition that excuses in man what is an unpardonable
sin in woman, choose a life of immorality in a house of shame. This
unkindness, this injustice, this down-right cruelty toward woman is a
relic of savagery that clings on to civilization with a tenacity that
even Christianity has thus far failed to eradicate. Until the truth of a
“White life for two” frees us from this monster of injustice, what
should the wronged girl do? To commit suicide, to murder her unborn
child, to run away from home and give herself over to an immoral life
only adds greater sins to the one already committed. Poor, weak,
ignorant, confiding girl, her lot is now a hard one. If there were
anything remotely akin to manhood in her betrayer, he would now do the
only thing he can do that is right--marry her. If he refuses, then she
should at once go to her parents and make the most humiliating
confession a human being can make. It may require more effort to do this
than to try to solve the problem in any other way, but usually this is
best. Sometimes the parents will pity and forgive, sometimes they will
cast her out. The last should never be true. Could the parents only
realize how much of her fall was due to their lack of proper education,
how much was due to passion they may have bequeathed her, they would not
cast her out from home at such a time.
=Homes for the unfortunate girls.=--Her parents, brothers and sisters have
social rights that must be respected. For her to remain at home during
her sickness would attract unnecessary attention to the event and
subject innocent members of the family to needless humiliation due to
the ridicule and scorn of the neighbors. There are homes in all our
large cities for the unfortunate girl where she can spend a few months
before and after the birth of her child. Should the child be
still-born, or die soon after birth, by going away from home, she and
her family may be shielded from the curiosity and scorn of the friends
and neighbors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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