THE INDICTMENT
Feminism, or, as it is sometimes called, the emancipation of woman,
as we know it in the present day, may be justifiably indicted as a
gigantic fraud—a fraud in its general aim and a fraud alike in its
methods of controversy and in its practical tactics. It is through
and through disingenuous and dishonest. Modern Feminism has always
professed to be a movement for political and social equality between
the sexes. The claim for this equalising of position and rights in
modern society is logically based upon the assumption of an essential
equality in natural ability between the sexes. As to this, we have
indicated in the preceding pages on broad lines, the grounds for
regarding the foregoing assumption as false. But quite apart from this
question, I contend the fraudulent nature of the present movement can
readily be seen by showing it to be not merely based on false grounds,
but directly and consciously fraudulent in its pretensions.
It uniformly professes to aim at the placing of the sexes on a footing
of social and political equality. A very little inquiry into its
concrete demands suffices to show that its aim, so far from being
equality, is the very reverse—viz. to bring about, with the aid of
men themselves, as embodied in the forces of the State, a female
ascendancy and a consolidation and extension of already existing female
privileges. That this is so may be seen in general by the constant
conjunction of Political and Sentimental Feminism in the same persons.
It may be seen more particularly in detail, in the specific demands
of Feminists. These demands, as formulated by suffragists as a reason
why the vote is essential to the interests of women, amount to little
if anything else than proposals for laws to enslave and browbeat men
and to admit women to virtual if not actual immunity for all offences
committed against men. It is enough to consult any suggestions for a
woman’s “charter” in order to confirm what is here said. Such proposals
invariably suggest the sacrificing of man at every turn to woman.[162:1]
[162:1] This is arrived at by the clever trick of appealing
to the modern theory of the equal mental capacity of the
sexes when it is a question of political and economic rights
and advantages for women, and of counterappealing to the
traditional sentiment based on the belief in the inferiority
of the female sex, when it is a question of legal and
administrative privilege and consideration. The Feminist thus
succeeds by his dexterity in the usually difficult feat of
“getting it both ways” for his fair clients.
In the early eighties of the last century appeared a skit in the form
of a novel from the pen of the late Sir Walter Besant, entitled “The
Revolt of Man,” depicting the oppression of man under a Feminist
régime, an oppression which ended in a revolt and the re-establishment
of male supremacy. The ideas underlying this _jeu d’esprit_ of the
subjection of men would seem to be seriously entertained by the female
leaders of the present woman’s movement. It is many years ago now since
a minister holding one of the highest positions in the present Cabinet
made the remark to me:—“The real object, you know, for which these
women want the vote is simply to get rascally laws passed against men!”
Subsequent Feminist agitation has abundantly proved the truth of this
observation. An illustration of the practical results of the modern
woman’s movement is to be seen in the infamous White Slave Traffic Act
of 1912 rushed through Parliament as a piece of panic legislation by
dint of a campaign of sheer hard lying. The atrocity of this act has
been sufficiently dealt with in a previous chapter.[163:1]
[163:1] There is one fortunate thing as regards these savage
laws aimed at the suppression of certain crimes, and that is,
as it would seem, they are never effective in achieving their
purpose. As Mr Tighe Hopkins remarks, apropos of the torture
of the “cat” (“Wards of the State,” p. 203):—“The attempt to
correct crime with crime has everywhere repaid us in the old
properly disastrous way.” It would indeed be regrettable if it
could be shown that penal laws of this kind were successful.
Far better is it that the crimes of isolated individuals should
continue than that crimes such as the cold-blooded infliction
of torture and death committed at the behest of the State, as
supposed to represent the whole of society, should attain their
object, even though the object be the suppression of crimes of
another kind perpetrated by the aforesaid individuals within
society. The successful repression of crimes committed by
individuals, by a crime committed by State authority, can only
act as an encouragement to the State to continue its course of
inflicting punishment which is itself a crime.
Other results of the inequality between the sexes so effectively urged
by present-day Feminism, may be seen in the conduct of magistrates,
judges and juries, in our courts civil and criminal. This has been
already animadverted upon in the course of the present work, and
illustrative cases given, as also in previous writings of the present
author to which allusion has already been made. It is not too much to
say that a man has practically no chance in the present day in a court
of law, civil or criminal, of obtaining justice where a woman is in the
case. The savage vindictiveness exhibited towards men, as displayed
in the eagerness of judges to obtain, and the readiness of juries to
return, convictions against men accused of crimes against women, on
evidence which, in many cases, would not be good enough (to use the
common phrase) to hang a dog on, with the inevitable ferocious sentence
following conviction, may be witnessed on almost every occasion when
such cases are up for trial. I have spoken of the eagerness of judges
to obtain convictions. As an illustration of this sort of thing, the
following may be given:—In the trial of a man for the murder of a
woman, before Mr Justice Bucknill, which took place some time ago, it
came out in evidence that the woman had violently and obscenely abused
and threatened the man immediately before, in the presence of other
persons. The jury were so impressed with the evidence of unusually
strong provocation that they hesitated whether it was not sufficient to
reduce the crime to that of manslaughter, and, unable to agree offhand
on a verdict of murder, asked the judge for further guidance. Their
deliberations were, however, cut short by the judge, who remarked on
the hesitation they had in arriving at their verdict, finally adding:
“Only think, gentlemen, how you would view it had this been your own
wife or sister who was cruelly done to death!” With the habitual
obsequiousness of a British jury towards the occupant of the Bench, the
gentlemen in question swallowed complacently the insult thrown at their
wives and sisters in putting them in the same category with a foul
strumpet, and promptly did what the judge obviously wanted of them—to
wit, brought in a verdict of wilful murder. The cases on the obverse
side, where the judge, by similar sentimental appeal, aims at procuring
the acquittal of female prisoners notoriously guilty on the evidence,
that palladium of rogues, the English law of libel, precludes me from
referring to individually. As regards the disparity in punishment,
however, we have an apt and recent illustration in the execution of
the youth of nineteen, convicted on doubtful evidence of the murder
of his sweetheart, and the reprieve of the woman convicted on her own
admission of the murder of her paramour by soaking him in paraffin
during his sleep and setting him alight!
Another effect of the influence of Sentimental Feminism, is seen in
crimes of the “unwritten law” description, the _crime passionel_ of
the French. The most atrocious and dastardly murders and other crimes
of violence are condoned and even glorified if they can but be covered
by the excuse that they are dictated by a desire to avenge a woman’s
“honour” or to enable her to obtain the object of her wishes. The
incident in Sir J. M. Barrie’s play of the lady who murders a man by
throwing him out of a railway carriage over a dispute respecting the
opening of a window, and gets acquitted on the excuse that her little
girl had got a cold, represents a not exaggerated picture of “modern
justice”—for women only! The outrageous application of the principles,
if such you may call them, of Sentimental Feminism in this country
in the case of the suffragettes, has made English justice and penal
administration the laughing-stock of the world. But the way in which
the crimes of the suffragettes have been dealt with, is after all only
a slight exaggeration of the immunity from all the severer penalties of
the law enjoyed by female convicts generally. This has been carried in
the case of suffragette criminals to the utmost limits of absurdity.
In fact, the deference exhibited towards these deliberate perpetrators
of crimes of wanton destruction is sometimes comic, as in the case
of the Richmond magistrate who rebuked the policeman-witness in an
arson charge for omitting the “Miss” in referring to one of the female
prisoners in the dock: as well as in the “high character” usually
attributed to the perpetrators of these deeds of outrage and violence
even by certain functionaries of Church and State. They did not speak
in this strain morebetoken, when mere male anarchists or Fenians were
involved in difficulties with the law due to overzeal for their cause!
The whole movement, it is quite evident, depends for its success,
largely, at least, on the apathy of men. The bulk of men undoubtedly do
not sympathise with the pretensions of the Feminist agitation, but the
bulk of men are indifferent one way or the other. They do not take the
Feminist Movement seriously. The bare notion of women, as such, being
a danger to men as such, strikes them as absurd. They do not realise
that the question is not of the physical strength of women as women,
but of the whole forces of the State being at the disposal of women
to set in motion to gratify their whims and passions. The idea of a
sex war in which women take the field against men, such as represents
the inwardness of the whole Feminist Movement of to-day, seems to
them ridiculous. The feeling at the root of most men’s good-humoured
patronage of, or indifference to, Modern Feminist claims, is roughly
expressed in a remark of the late William Morris in replying to some
animadversions of mine on the subject:—“What does it matter? A man
ought to be always able to deal with a woman if necessary. Why, I could
tackle a half dozen women at once for that matter!” This is a common
attitude of mind on the subject among otherwise sane and sensible men.
The absurdity of it is manifest when one considers that the issue of
man versus woman as units of physical strength respectively, is purely
irrelevant. It is not a question of the man tackling the woman or any
number of women. It is the question of the whole force of the State
tackling the man _in favour_ of the woman. The prevalent idea in many
men’s minds seems to be that of the State drawing a ring-fence around
the disputant man and woman and letting them fight the matter out
between themselves, which, to speak the language of the great geometer
of antiquity—“is absurd.”
Modern Feminism, tacking itself on to an older tradition which it
travesties beyond all recognition, has succeeded in affecting modern
public opinion with an overpowering sense of the sacrosanctity of human
femality as such. It is not content with respect for the ideal of
_good_ womanhood but it would fain place on a pedestal the mere fact
of femalehood in itself. This is illustrated in a thousand ways. Thus
while public opinion tolerates the most bestial and infamous forms
of corporal punishment for men in gaols, it will regard the slight
chastisement by the medical head of an institution for mental cases, of
a girl who is admittedly obstinate and refractory rather than mentally
afflicted in the ordinary sense of the term, as “degrading.”
Again, in order to sustain its favourite thesis, the intellectual
equality of woman with man, it resorts, whenever a plausible case
presents itself, to its usual policy of the falsification of fact. Take
the instance of Madame Curie. When radium was first discovered in the
laboratory of the late Professor Curie we were told that the latter
had made the discovery, it being at the same time mentioned that he
possessed in his wife a valuable aid in his laboratory work. We were
afterwards told that the discovery of radium was the joint work of
both, the implication being that the honours were equally divided. Now,
Feminist influence has succeeded in getting Madame Curie spoken of
as herself the discoverer of radium! I venture to affirm that there
is no evidence whatever for assuming that radium would ever have seen
the light had the late Professor Curie not himself experimented in his
laboratory, not to speak of his predecessor Becquerel.
We have seen that Feminists are, in this country, at least, zealous in
championing the Puritan view of sexual morality. Many of them, in the
vehemence of their Anti-man crusade, look forward with relish to the
opportunity they anticipate will be afforded them when women get the
vote, of passing laws rigorously enforcing asceticism on men by means
of severe penal enactments. All forms of indulgence (by men), sexual or
otherwise, uncongenial to the puritanic mind, would be equally placed
under the ban of the criminal law! Anyone desirous of testing the truth
of the above statement has only to read the suffragette papers and
other expositions of the gospel of Feminism as held by its most devoted
advocates.
One point should not be lost sight of, and that is the attitude of the
Press. Almost all journals are ready to publish any argument in favour
of the suffrage or of the other claims of the movement on behalf of
women. In defiance of this fact, a prominent Feminist prelate some time
ago, in a letter to _The Times_, alleged among the other so-called
grievances of women at the present day, and apparently as in some
sort a condonation of “militancy,” that the Press was closed to women
anxious to air their grievances! A statement more directly the reverse
of the truth could hardly have been made. Open any paper of general
circulation—say any of the morning dailies—and you will find letters
galore advocating the Feminist side of the question! According to my
own observation, they are in the proportion of something like three or
four in favour to one against. The fact is useless denying that this
sex-agitation has every favour shown it by current “public opinion,”
including even that of its opponents. Female “militants” of the
suffrage have pleas urged in condonation of their criminal acts, such
as their alleged “high character,” which would be laughed at in the
case of men—and yet they whine at being boycotted.
The readiness, and almost eagerness, with which certain sections of
British public opinion are ready to view favourably anything urged
on behalf of female suffrage, is aptly illustrated by the well-known
argument we so often hear when the existence of “militancy” is pointed
out as a reason for withholding the suffrage—the argument, namely, as
to the unfairness of refusing the franchise to numbers of peaceable
and law-abiding women who are asking for it, because a relatively
small section of women resort to criminal methods of emphasising
their demand. Now let us examine the real interpretation of the facts.
It is quite true that the majority of the women agitating for the
suffrage at the present day are themselves non-militants. But what
is and has been their attitude towards their militant sisters? Have
they ever repudiated the criminal tactics of the latter with the
decision and even indignation one might reasonably have expected had
they really regarded the campaign of violence and wanton outrage with
strong disapprobation, not to say abhorrence? The answer must be a
decided negative. At the very most they mildly rebuke the unwisdom of
militant methods, blessing them, as it were, with faint blame, while,
as a general rule, they will not go even so far as this, but are
content, while graciously deigning to tell you that, although their own
methods are not those of militancy, yet that they and the militants
are alike working for the same end, notwithstanding they may differ
as to the most effective methods of attaining it. The non-militant
woman suffragist is always careful never to appear an _anti_-militant.
Everyone can see that had the bulk of the so-called “peaceable and
law-abiding” suffragists, to whose claims we are enjoined to give
ear, honestly and resolutely set their faces against, and vigorously
denounced, the criminal campaign, refusing to have anything to do with
it or its authors, the campaign in question would have come to an end
long ago. But no! this would not have suited the book of the “peaceable
and law-abiding” advocates of woman’s suffrage. Their aim has been, and
is still, to run with the “militant” hare and hunt with the “peaceable
and law-abiding” hounds. While themselves abstaining from any unlawful
act they are perfectly willing and desirous that they and their
movement shall reap all the advantages of advertisement and otherwise
that may accrue from the militant policy. That the above is a true
state of the case as regards the “peaceful and law-abiding” elements
in the suffragist movement, which we are assured so largely outnumber
the militant section, one would think must be plain to everyone,
however obtuse, who has followed with attention the course of the
present agitation. And yet there are fools of the male sex who consider
seriously this preposterous plea of the injustice of refusing to
concede the suffrage to a large number of “peaceable and law-abiding”
women who are demanding it, because of the action of a small body of
violent females—with whom, _bien entendu_, the aforesaid large body of
“peaceable and law-abiding” women (while keeping themselves carefully
aloof from active participation in militancy), do not pretend to
conceal their sympathy!
The whole modern woman’s movement is based, in a measure, at least,
on an assumption which is absolutely unfounded—to wit, that man has
systematically oppressed woman in the past, that the natural tendency
of evil-minded man is always to oppress woman, or, to put it from the
other side, that woman is the victim of man’s egoism! The unsoundness
of this view ought to be apparent to every unbiassed student of
history, anthropology, and physiology. The Feminist prefers to see
evidence of male oppression in the place woman has occupied in social
and political life, rather than the natural consequence of her organic
constitution, her secondary sexual characteristics, and the natural
average inferiority which flows therefrom. As regards the personal
relations between men and women, an impartial view of the case must
inevitably lead to the conclusion that whatever else man in general
may have on his conscience, no reasonable reproach lies to his score
as regards his treatment of woman. The patience, forbearance, and
kindliness, with which, from Socrates downwards, men as a rule have
encountered the whims, the tempers, and the tantrums of their often
unworthy womankind is indeed a marvel. But it is a still greater marvel
that Modern Feminism in this, as in other things, should have succeeded
in hocussing public opinion into the delusion that the exact opposite
of the truth represents the real state of the case. This, however, is a
marvel which runs through the history of the controversial exploits of
the whole Feminist Movement.
In the foregoing pages we have striven to unmask the shameless
imposture which, in the main, this movement represents. We have tracked
down one dishonest argument after another. We have pointed out how the
thinnest and hollowest of subterfuges are allowed to pass muster, and
even to become current coin, by dint of unrefuted reiteration. The
Feminist trick of reversing the facts of the case, as, for example, the
assertion that man-made law and its administration is unjust to women,
and then raising a howl of indignation at the position of affairs they
picture, such being, of course, the diametrical opposite of the real
facts—all this has been exposed. In conclusion I can only express the
hope that honest, straightforward men who have been bitten by Feminist
wiles will take pause and reconsider their position. Whatever sentiment
or sympathy they may have with the aims of the movement intrinsically,
it ought to be not too much to expect them to view with contempt
and abhorrence the mass of disingenuous falsehood and transparent
subterfuge, which the votaries of Feminism systematically seek to palm
off upon a public opinion—only too easily gullible in this matter—as
true fact and valid argument.
* * * * * *
Transcriber’s note:
Variations in spelling and hyphenation remain as in the original.
Ellipses match the original.
The following corrections have been made to the original text:
Page 28: mankind in its intellectual,[comma missing in
original] moral and technical development
Page 31: only 7 per cent.[period missing in original] in favour
of man
Page 32: the occipital lobes, which[original has “whith”] are
universally
Page 38: side of the moral faculties”[quotation mark missing in
original]
Page 42: “In England,” says Dr Buzzard,[original has extraneous
quotation mark] “hysteria is
Page 43: in hysteria is, according to Dr Pitrè[original has
“Pitré”]
Page 43: authorities—_e.g._[second period missing in original]
Dr Bernard Holländer
Page 45: represent such raræ[original has œ] aves
Page 73: But after all is[word “is” missing in original] said
and done, it is doubtful
Page 111: we hear _ad nauseam_[original has “nauseum”], from
the Feminist side
Page 127: nearly 40 per cent. [original has extraneous word
“of”] more deaths among men
Page 134: offshoot, falls into the background[original has
“backgrouud”]
Page 162: Such proposals invariably[original has “invaribly”]
suggest the sacrificing
[24:1] even by those who put it[original has “sit”] forward