3.—Education for Marriage.

All parties are agreed that at the present time the female sex is, on an average, mentally inferior to the male sex. Balzac, who by no means was an admirer of women, nevertheless declared, “a woman who has obtained the education of a man, indeed possesses the most brilliant and fruitful qualities for establishing her own happiness and that of her husband.” Goethe, who was well acquainted with the types of men and women of his day, uttered the following sharp remark in “The Years of Travelling of William Meister” (Confessions of a fair soul): “scholarly women were held up to ridicule, and educated women were not popular either, probably because it was regarded as impolite to disgrace so many ignorant men.” But that does not alter the fact that women, as a rule, are mentally inferior to men. This difference is bound to exist, since the mental status of woman is but what man, her master, has made it. The education of women has always been pitifully neglected, even more than the education of the proletariat, and even at the present time it is insufficient. In our age the desire for the exchange of ideas is a growing one among all classes of society, and accordingly we begin to recognize the neglected mental training of women as a great mistake, one from which not only women, but men also must suffer.

With men education is mainly directed upon the development of the intellect; it is supposed to sharpen their reasoning powers, to expand their knowledge and to strengthen their will-power. With women, especially among the upper classes, education is mainly directed upon the development of their sentiments; it chiefly consists of attaining various accomplishments that only tend to heighten their imaginative faculty and to increase their nervous irritability, such as music, literature, art and poetry. That is the greatest error in education that could possibly be committed. It shows that educators have allowed themselves to be guided by their prejudices concerning the nature of woman and her narrow sphere in life. The development of sentiment and imagination in women should not be artificially stimulated which only increases the tendency to become nervous. With women, as well as with men, the mental faculties should be developed and they should be acquainted with the practical facts of life. It would be the greatest advantage to both sexes if women were less sentimental and more rational; if they displayed less nervousness and timidity, and more courage and will-power; if they possessed fewer accomplishments, and a broader knowledge of the world and mankind and the natural forces of life. Until the present time the spiritual life of woman and her sentiments have been stimulated to the utmost, while her intellectual development has been neglected, hampered and repressed. As a result she literally suffers from spiritual and sentimental hypertrophy, which makes her susceptible to all sorts of superstitions and miracle-frauds, an easy victim of religious and other swindles, a willing tool of bigotry and reaction. Men in their short-sightedness frequently lament this fact; but they do nothing to change it, because the great majority of them are still deeply entrenched in their own prejudices. As a result of this false education, women generally regard the world very differently from men, and thereby another great source of differences and misunderstandings between the sexes is established.

For every man in present day society, participation in public life is one of the most essential duties; that many men still fail to recognize this duty does not alter the fact. But an ever widening circle of men has begun to recognize that public institutions directly affect the private relations of each individual, and that the welfare of individuals and families depends far more upon the nature of public institutions than upon personal qualities and actions. They have begun to recognize, that even supreme efforts on the part of a single individual are powerless in combatting evils that are rooted in social conditions, and influence his position accordingly. Moreover the struggle for existence necessitates far greater exertions to-day than formerly. Demands are made upon a man to-day, that require more and more of his time and strength. But the ignorant, indifferent woman is usually incapable of comprehending his duties and interests. We may even say that the differentiation between man and woman is greater to-day than it was formerly, when conditions were more petty and narrow, and therefore more within the range of woman’s understanding. Occupation with public affairs to-day claims a greater number of men than formerly. This expands their ideas, but it also estranges them from their domestic circle. Thereby the woman feels neglected, and one more source of differences has been created. Only in rare cases do men succeed in making themselves understood by their wives and in convincing them. As a rule the man holds the opinion that his aims and interests do not concern his wife, and that she is unable to understand them. He does not take the trouble to instruct her. “You don’t understand that,” is the usual reply when a woman complains to her husband that he is neglecting her. The lack of understanding on the part of the women is still heightened by the lack of common sense on the part of the men. Among the proletariat the relation between husband and wife is more favorable, when both recognize that they must follow the same path, since one, and one only leads to a better future for them and their children: the complete reorganization of society that will make all men and women free. As this recognition spreads among the women of the proletariat, their wedded life becomes idealized in spite of misery and want. For now both husband and wife have a common aim to strive for, and their common struggle furnishes an inexhaustible source of inspiration in exchange of opinions. The number of proletarian women who have awakened to this recognition is growing with each year. Here a movement is expanding that will be of vital importance to the future of mankind.

In other marriages the differences of education and conceptions, that were overlooked in the beginning while passion was still strong, become more and more noticeable with the advancing years. But as sexual passion decreases, it ought to be replaced by mental conformity. Quite disregarding the fact whether or not a man recognizes that he has social and civic duties, and whether or not he fulfills these duties, his business or profession alone suffices to keep him in constant touch with the outside world, and to create an intellectual atmosphere about him that broadens his views. Contrary to the woman, he is usually in a state of intellectual moulting; but domestic activities require the woman’s time and attention from morning till night, and being deprived of opportunity for mental development, she is apt to become dull and mentally stunted.

This domestic misery in which the majority of wives in present day society are obliged to live, has been truly pictured by Gerhard v. Amyntor in his book on “A Commentary to the Book of Life.” In the chapter on “Fatal Stings” he says: “It is not the terrible occurrences that no one is spared,—a husband’s death, the moral ruin of a beloved child, long, torturing illness, or the shattering of a fondly nourished hope,—it is none of these that undermine the woman’s health and strength, but the little daily recurring, body and soul devouring cares. How many millions of good housewives have cooked and scrubbed their love of life away! How many have sacrificed their rosy cheeks and their dimples in domestic service, until they became wrinkled, withered, broken mummies. The everlasting question: ‘what shall I cook to-day,’ the ever recurring necessity of sweeping and dusting and scrubbing and dish-washing, is the steadily falling drop that slowly but surely wears out her body and mind. The cooking stove is the place where accounts are sadly balanced between income and expense, and where the most oppressing observations are made concerning the increased cost of living and the growing difficulty in making both ends meet. Upon the flaming altar where the pots are boiling, youth and freedom from care, beauty and light-heartedness are being sacrificed. In the old cook whose eyes are dim and whose back is bent with toil, no one would recognize the blushing bride of yore, beautiful, merry and modestly coquettish in the finery of her bridal garb.—To the ancients the hearth was sacred; beside the hearth they erected their lares and household-gods. Let us also hold the hearth sacred, where the conscientious German housewife slowly sacrifices her life, to keep the home comfortable, the table well supplied, and the family healthy.” That is the only consolation that bourgeois society is able to offer those women who slowly perish as a result of the present order!

Those women who enjoy a freer position as a result of their more favored social circumstances, usually have a narrow, superficial education that is manifested in connection with inherited, female characteristics. Most of these women are interested only in external appearances; dress and personal adornment are their chief concern, and the satisfaction of their depraved tastes and their unbridled passions, form their object in life. They are not interested much in the children and their education; that would mean too much trouble and annoyance. Therefore they willingly turn over their children to nurses and governesses and later on to boarding-schools. At the most they regard it as their duty to make silly doll-women of their daughters, and superficial, extravagant dandies of their sons. This class of young men, who regard idleness and extravagance as a profession, furnishes the seducers of the daughters of the people.

The conditions described above have lead to a number of traits of character peculiar to women, that are more fully developed from generation to generation. Men seem to find satisfaction in ridiculing these traits, but they forget that they themselves are to blame for them. The following are some of these frequently condemned female traits of character: talkativeness and scandal-mongering; the inclination to discuss the most insignificant things at the greatest length; the exaggerated interest in outward display; the love of dress and coquetry; envy and jealousy toward the members of her sex, and the tendency of being dishonest and hypocritical. These traits of character usually manifest themselves with the female sex at an early age; they are general and only differ in degree. These traits have developed under the pressure of social conditions, and they have been further developed by heredity, example and education. One who has been brought up unwisely is not likely to bring up others wisely.

In order to understand the origin and development of traits of character common to an entire sex or to an entire people, we must follow the same method that modern scientists apply to understand the origin and development of living beings and their characteristics. The material conditions of life to a great extent imprint upon every living being its traits of character. It is compelled to adapt itself to these existing material conditions, until the adaptation becomes its nature.

Human beings form no exception to that which holds true for all living beings throughout nature. Man is not exempt from natural laws. Viewed physiologically, he is merely the most highly developed animal. Of course, many persons refuse to admit this. Thousands of years ago ancient peoples, although they knew nothing of modern science, held more rational views in regard to many human problems, than a great many of our contemporaries, and, what is more noteworthy still, their views that were based on experience, were put into practice. We praise and admire the strength and beauty of the men and women of ancient Greece; but we forget that it was not the climate of this beautiful country that had such a favorable influence upon the nature and development of its population, but the educational maxims that were consistently carried out by the state, and that were destined to combine beauty, strength and skill with mental sharpness and vigor. Indeed the mental development of woman was neglected even then, but not so her physical development.[66] In Sparta where physical culture of both sexes was most extensively practiced, boys and girls went about naked until the age of puberty, and together they joined in physical exercises, games and wrestling-matches. The display of the nude human body, the natural treatment of natural things, prevented the extreme sexual irritation that is mainly caused by an artificial separation of the sexes from childhood on. The body of one sex was no mystery to the other. No dallying with ambiguities could arise. Nature was regarded as such. Each sex took pleasure in the beauty of the other.

To a natural, untrammeled relation of the sexes must mankind return; we must cast aside the unsound spiritualistic conceptions concerning human affairs and create methods of education that shall bring about a physical and mental regeneration. The prevailing conceptions in regard to education, especially the education of women, are still exceedingly reactionary. That a woman should possess such qualities of character as strength, courage and determination, is decried as unwomanly, and yet no one can deny that by means of such qualities she will be better enabled to protect herself. But her physical development is hampered, just like her mental development. This is due in no small degree to the irrational mode of dress. Woman’s dress not only interferes with her physical development, it frequently does her direct bodily harm; and yet there are few, even among physicians, who dare to oppose it. Fear of displeasing the patient causes them to be silent or even to flatter her follies. The modern style of dress prevents women from freely exercising their strength, hampers their physical development, and creates a feeling of helplessness in them. Moreover, woman’s dress endangers the health of her environment, for at home and on the street she is a walking generator of dust.

The physical and intellectual development of women is furthermore severely hampered by a rigorous separation of the sexes in school and in social intercourse, that is quite in accordance with the spiritualistic conceptions implanted by Christianity, and is still sadly prevalent among us. The woman who is given no opportunity to develop her abilities and talents, who is maintained within a narrow sphere of ideas, and rarely permitted to associate with members of the other sex, cannot rise above the commonplace and trivial. For her ideas are centered in the occurrences of her immediate environment. Verbose conversations over a mere nothingness and the tendency to gossip are fostered by this narrow life, since the mental activities that reside in every human being must find expression somewhere. Men are frequently grievously annoyed and driven to despair by these qualities which they roundly condemn, without pausing to consider that they, “the lords of creation,” are chiefly to blame for them. During recent years numerous attempts have been made to introduce more rational conceptions of life; but they are merely a beginning, and until now have been confined to a very small portion of society.