The Social Emergency: Studies in Sex Hygiene and Morals
Science
The Social Emergency: Studies in Sex Hygiene and Morals
Sex instruction
A questionnaire answered by girls at the University of Oregon shows that,
with few exceptions, plays and games were not indulged in throughout the
high-school period and systematic playing ceased for the majority in the
seventh and eighth grades. This custom prevails throughout the country.
Just at the time when a girl needs abundant and free open-air play to
develop the muscles, train endurance of the heart, and increase the
capacity of the lungs, she omits it altogether. This is one of the chief
factors in the anaemias and poor circulation common in that period. The
derangement in the blood results in digestive disturbances and loss of
appetite, followed by headache and lassitude which further disincline the
girl for activity. Add to this the nervous strain incident to endeavors to
carry on a successful social career, the nerve tension resulting from the
unhygienic clothing assumed at this time, the lack of the steadying
influence of home responsibilities, and we have ample cause for the
nervous, high-strung girl who is becoming so common that we are in danger
of regarding her as the normal girl.
So greatly has the school curriculum encroached upon the home that the
girl has no longer time to share its responsibilities, nor is there longer
time for the family reading-circle, or music, or games for the maintenance
of the unity and fellowship of the home. This condition cannot but react
unfavorably upon the nervous system. If the brain is not rested and the
emotions satisfied by the relationships in the home, a feverish unrest, a
nervous irritability, a futile search supplant the calmness of spirit,
stableness of reactions and depth of contentment which must be long
continued to become a habit of mind.
Our school systems of to-day are designed for a girl as strong physically
as a boy; in fact stronger than most of our city boys. Our girls should
possess as much vitality as our boys; but until we change our methods of
dealing with girls, we must treat them as they exist and not as the normal
individuals we hope some day to evolve. Most girls have
disorders,--"nervousness," headache, backache, constipation, colds,
fatigue, or pain at the menstrual period. So common are these disturbances
that we consult a physician only in extreme cases, and rarely seek the
cause of the condition or attempt more than temporary relief. A pain which
under ordinary circumstances would receive medical attention is viewed
with resignation when coincident with the menses. As a consequence of this
neglect, many girls suffer unnecessary drains upon their vitality.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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