Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 4: Sexual Selection In ManEllis, Havelock
Science
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 4: Sexual Selection In Man
Ellis, Havelock
Sex; Sex (Psychology)
When, however, we consider that not only in the animals most nearly
related to man, but in man himself, the larynx and the voice undergo a
marked sexual differentiation at puberty, it is difficult not to believe
that this change has an influence on sexual selection and sexual
psychology. At puberty there is a slight hyperæmia of the larynx,
accompanied by rapid development alike of the larynx itself and of the
vocal cords, which become larger and thicker, while there is an associated
change in the voice, which deepens. All these changes are very slight in
girls, but very pronounced in boys, whose voices are said to "break" and
then become lower by at least an octave. The feminine larynx at puberty
only increases in the proportion of 5 to 7, but the masculine larynx in
the proportion of 5 to 10. The direct dependence of this change on the
general sexual development is shown not merely by its occurrence at
puberty, but by the fact that in eunuchs in whom the testicles have been
removed before puberty the voice retains its childlike qualities.[116]
As a matter of fact, I believe that we may attach a considerable degree of
importance to the voice and to music generally as a method of sexual
appeal. On this point I agree with Moll, who remarks that "the sense of
hearing here plays a considerable part, and the stimulation received
through the ears is much larger than is usually believed."[117] I am not,
however, inclined to think that this influence is considerable in its
action on men, although Mantegazza remarks, doubtless with a certain
truth, that "some women's voices cannot be heard with impunity." It is
true that the ancients deprecated the sexual or at all events the
effeminating influence of some kinds of music, but they seem to have
regarded it as sedative rather than stimulating; the kind of music they
approved of as martial and stimulating was the kind most likely to have
sexual effects in predisposed persons.
The Chinese and the Greeks have more especially insisted on the
ethical qualities of music and on its moralizing and demoralizing
effects. Some three thousand years ago, it is stated, a Chinese
emperor, believing that only they who understood music are
capable of governing, distributed administrative functions in
accordance with this belief. He acted entirely in accordance with
Chinese morality, the texts of Confucianism (see translations in
the "Sacred Books of the East Series") show clearly that music
and ceremony (or social ritual in a wide sense) are regarded as
the two main guiding influences of life--music as the internal
guide, ceremony as the external guide, the former being looked
upon as the more important.
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