Yet, strange as it may
seem, notwithstanding this facility, any connection of this
kind not authorized by the husband is considered highly
offensive and quite as disgraceful to his character as the
same licentiousness in civilized societies.[210]
When woman lost the temporary prestige which she had acquired in the
maternal system through her greater tendency to associated life, and
particularly when her person came more absolutely into the control of
man through the system of marriage by purchase, she also accepted and
reflected naively the moral standards which were developed for the
most part through male activities. Any system of checks and approvals
in the group, indeed, which was of advantage to the men would be of
advantage to the women also, since these checks and approvals were
safeguards of the group as a whole, and not of the men only. The
person and presence of woman in society have stimulated and modified
male behavior and male moral standards, and she has been a faithful
follower, even a stickler for the prevalent moral standards (the very
tenacity of her adhesion is often a sign that she is an imitator);
but up to date the nature of her activities--the nature, in short,
of the strains she has been put to--has not enabled her to set up
independently standards of behavior either like or unlike those
developed through the peculiar male activities.
Pages:
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175