Gifts

There is a school of thought, persuasively represented in England by Sir Norman Angell, among others, which contends that the national ownership of raw materials is unimportant and that the alleged grievances of the so-called (’have-not” powers are largely, if not entirely, spurious. Members of this school of economic thinking declare that the expense of conquering and administering colonies is out of all proportion to the trade, investment, and migration benefits which accrue from colonial imperialism. Since producers of essential raw materials are only too eager to find buyers, there is nothing, according to this line of argument, to prevent a nation which is poor in raw materials from buying what it needs in the cheapest market and building up its industries on imported raw materials.

The individual’s attitude toward his own sex corresponds to his attitude toward the other sex; both attitudes determine his behavior. The conception of the opposite sex is developed during early childhood. The first emotional responses to a person of the opposite sex are of lasting importance. Generally, father and mother set the first example of man and woman living together. A little child, with his limited comprehension, cannot recognize that the conditions at home are characteristic only of his own family and are not generally prevalent. For him the situation at home represents the whole world. And, therefore, the relationship between the parents appears as the only possible one between men and women. Thus the child constructs his conception of married life. Without realizing it, parents thus influence the child’s attitude toward marriage. The parent of the opposite sex, as its representative, often affects the future sex-life of a child decisively. A sibling of the opposite sex may have the same fateful significance.

If a boy and his mother or a girl and her father are too devoted to each other, the relationship may become an obstacle to the child’s later mating. A young boy who is favored and therefore very much spoiled and pampered by his mother cannot imagine that another woman will be equally devoted to him. Very frequently, this doubt prevents his falling in love and marrying. He is not prepared to meet a woman on the basis of give-and-take, as required in a happy marriage. The same often holds true in the relationship between father and daughter. A girl who is strongly attached to her father may expect from her husband the same understanding patience, guidance, and protection. She is apt to forget that no man of her own generation could possess the same relative superiority as her father, especially since girls now have for the most part the same educational and professional opportunities as boys.

This problem seems particularly prevalent in our day.

Women protest against being the inferior sex, but, on the other hand, they dream of a husband to whom they can look up. They still cling to the idea that men must be stronger, more reliable than they. But how many men can a woman find to excel her as much as her father did when she was a child? She is bound to be disappointed, because she can rarely find such a man. Even should she eventually do so, she will not accept him. Resenting his superiority, she may withdraw from him or find fault so that again she may look down upon him.

Children Become Afraid of Sex

Our children grow up in a world of confusion, where all values, traditions, and customs totter. Their keenly observing eyes cannot fail to discern our fears and inhibitions. Their concept of sex is warped by the recognition of friction between men and women, and by the irritations caused by sex. The phantom of masculine superiority intimidates boys by imposing on them an obligation which they can never expect to fulfill, and invites girls to rebel against their secondary role. The masculine protest of boys and girls invests sex with all these threats of social humiliation, suppression, and degradation. The manner in which children make their first acquaintance with sex as a physiological mechanism intensifies the sense of danger. Long before children experience the functions of their own bodies, they hear about love-making, about sex relations and their consequences. What they hear is seldom pleasant. Adults talk freely in the presence of young children, because they believe that a child does not understand. Yet even if a child cannot understand the real meaning of words and ideas, he can sense the significance of remarks. So children learn about the dangers of pregnancies, about the disgrace connected with sexual experiences. Much of what they hear about sex is linked with suffering, disgrace, disadvantage, or even disaster. Especially girls become aware early that the disadvantages and dangers affect women mainly. No wonder that women are more inclined than men to regard sexuality as brutal, inhuman, and bestial.

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