The Intermediate Sex: A Study of Some Transitional Types of Men and WomenCarpenter, Edward
General
The Intermediate Sex: A Study of Some Transitional Types of Men and Women
Carpenter, Edward
Homosexuality; Sex
To come now to the more normal and perfect specimens of the homogenic
_woman_, we find a type in which the body is thoroughly feminine and
gracious, with the rondure and fulness of the female form, and the
continence and aptness of its movements, but in which the inner nature is
to a great extent masculine; a temperament active, brave, originative,
somewhat decisive, not too emotional; fond of out-door life, of games and
sports, of science, politics, or even business; good at organisation, and
well-pleased with positions of responsibility, sometimes indeed making an
excellent and generous leader. Such a woman, it is easily seen, from her
special combination of qualities, is often fitted for remarkable work, in
professional life, or as manageress of institutions, or even as ruler of
a country. Her love goes out to younger and more feminine natures than
her own; it is a powerful passion, almost of heroic type, and capable
of inspiring to great deeds; and when held duly in leash may sometimes
become an invaluable force in the teaching and training of girlhood, or
in the creation of a school of thought or action among women. Many a
Santa Clara, or abbess-founder of religious houses, has probably been a
woman of this type; and in all times such women--not being bound to men
by the ordinary ties--have been able to work the more freely for the
interests of their sex, a cause to which their own temperament impels
them to devote themselves _con amore_.
I have now sketched--very briefly and inadequately it is true--both the
extreme types and the more healthy types of the ‘Intermediate’ man and
woman: types which can be verified from history and literature, though
more certainly and satisfactorily perhaps from actual life around us.
And unfamiliar though the subject is, it begins to appear that it is
one which modern thought and science will have to face. Of the latter
and more normal types it may be said that they exist, and have always
existed, in considerable abundance, and from that circumstance alone
there is a strong probability that they have their place and purpose. As
pointed out there is no particular indication of morbidity about them,
unless the special nature of their love-sentiment be itself accounted
morbid; and in the alienation of the sexes from each other, of which
complaint is so often made to-day, it must be admitted that they do much
to fill the gap.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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