The present excessive demand for prostitution which comes largely from
young boys is, I believe, caused by the nature of our present social
organism which abnormally emphasizes the sex relation and puts it before
every other influence a boy meets. Women’s dress, current literature,
musical comedies and problem plays, “smutty” stories told by boys among
themselves, even our advertisements—all combine to throw a fascinating
glamor around sex indulgence and develop an abnormal instinct in our
boys, which takes command of their nervous system and insists that sex
indulgence is necessary.
The average boy of eighteen cannot think of marriage for economic
reasons, but his nature craves action, and under these ever-present
influences he comes to believe that the perfect “good time” is sex
indulgence—and he will exercise all his ingenuity, when with a girl, to
attain his goal. No one, who is not in the confidences of young people,
has the least idea of the pressure thus brought to bear on girls. The
girl finds it necessary in order to hold a boy’s attention, with the
amusements and companionship that goes with it, to do as he wants; many
girls fall through their perfectly natural desire for healthful
recreation which they can get more plentifully by giving in—or through a
sentimental desire to retain the favor of boys who are satisfied with
nothing short of intercourse.
The ultimate remedy must be to put against this “prevailing spirit of
the times” a powerful combatting influence, which will establish in our
boys a high ideal of womanhood and marriage.