Woman : $b a vindicationLudovici, Anthony M. (Anthony Mario)
Philosophy
Woman : $b a vindication
Ludovici, Anthony M. (Anthony Mario)
Sex; Women
[105] “With reference to the marked predominance of female suicides
[in England] over male suicides in the 15-20 age period, Ogle remarks
that this is also ‘the only period in which the general death rates,
as shown in the Registrar-General’s returns, is higher in the female
sex, and also is marked, as the census returns for 1881 show, by an
exceptionally higher rate of lunacy (exclusive of idiocy or imbecility)
for females than for males.’... In France, the chief age at which men
commit suicide is from 40 to 50, while for women it is between 15 to
20.” (Havelock Ellis, _Man and Woman_, pp. 382-383.) The census of 1911
also gives higher figures for female than for male lunacy—a difference
of 10,000, and these are chiefly unmarried women. The unmarried
numbered 54,223, the married 21,299, widowed 9,229.
[106] H. Ellis, Op. cit., p. 388: “There are some who believe (Dr. H.
Campbell amongst them) that although the number of women of all ages
who commit suicide is less than the number of men, many more women than
men contemplate suicide habitually, i.e. many more women than men are
suicidal, although they may not always carry it into practice.”
[107] The facts collected by the psycho-analysts, Freud and Dr. E.
Jones, on this phenomenon were not new to me. I had already observed
them in numerous cases, and my observations on the point were but
confirmed by the psycho-analysts’ theory of the transference of
orgastic sensations from the genitalia to other parts of the body.
[108] See Martial, III, 82, 9; also _Senecae Dialogorum Liber_ XII, 10,
3. While Hugo Blümner in his _Römischen Privataltertümer_ (1922), p.
399, gives a brief description of this practice.
[109] See _Papers on Psycho-Analysis_ (London, 1918), p. 599. In regard
to this question parents are also entitled to ask what influence the
spinster’s outlook on life has upon their children, particularly upon
their daughters. It is impossible entirely to divorce from one’s
moral influence upon children the prejudices and prepossessions of
one’s particular position in life, and one’s general attitude towards
fundamental problems. Now, since the spinster’s particular position in
life is an abnormal one, it is questionable whether she can help her
influence from imparting something of her own abnormality. When we bear
in mind that, according to the census of 1911 there were 187,283 female
teachers in England and Wales, 171,480 of whom were unmarried, the
gravity of this aspect alone of spinsterhood cannot be denied.
[110] And neurosis in later life.
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