PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS
_By William House_
All instruction in the physiology of reproduction as an aid to sexual
hygiene should be so conducted as to give assurance that the wonders of
the origin and development of life in all its millions of forms be taught
in a respectful, even reverent, spirit. Naught in the universe is more
marvelous than the beginnings of life. Naught else compares with the
wonders of growth and development.
Rightly taught, reproduction may be cleansed from the foul interpretations
which have soiled the minds of countless children, and may be made into a
body of wonderful and sacred truths capable of fortifying youthful minds
against the uncleanness and indecencies which have contributed so largely
to sexual impurity. If it be never forgotten that human ingenuity has been
taxed in untold numbers of unsuccessful experiments to produce life by
other than nature's methods, while the power of reproduction resides in
even the lowliest of living organisms, the mystery and marvel are
multiplied a hundredfold, and the subject of reproduction is invested with
a halo of splendid and inspiring proportions.
* * * * *
The sex organs are the agencies by which every plant and every animal,
each after its kind, brings into the world a succeeding generation. Sex
activity is the result of sex impulse. The imperative need of reproduction
in the scheme of nature is responsible for the presence of sex impulse as
it occurs in every normal adult animal. Were it not for this impulse the
earth would soon become void of life. The human sex impulse is a powerful
one, thought compelling, at times well-nigh overmastering. Though in the
main good, it sometimes produces harmful results. Among the lower animals
the sex function is exercised without thought or knowledge of consequence,
restrained only by the limitations of physical power,--the power to obtain
by might, by conquest. In fully developed mankind, the mind acts as a
constraining force which may control or even completely subdue physical
manifestations of sex impulse.
In adolescents--those who are approaching _maturity_, but are in a
transition state, neither man nor child--sex desire may be as strong as in
those of riper years. Many who are passing through this period know little
or nothing of the forces that pulse through their frames and seem to
consume them with unquenchable fires. These forces are the sex impulses,
the beginning of sex life and sex activity. And as every work of man or
nature while in a state of transition is unstable, less firmly founded,
more easily destroyed or injured than at any other time, so it is that the
adolescent finds himself in greater danger than at any other time of life.
Consumed with incomprehensible desire, which he cannot gratify, he is the
victim of circumstances which cause him distress, yet admit of no relief.
Probably all marriage laws have as their real object the protection of
child life. Without marriage laws there could be no organized society and
the human race would soon sink to the level of the animal world in
general. Under present social conditions marriages are put off longer and
longer. Each succeeding generation is marked by an increase in the age of
those who marry. But the conditions which cause late marriages in no way
lessen the sex impulses or mitigate the distress which these impulses
cause. The impulse to multiply is neither greater nor less than in the
past when marriages generally occurred earlier. Fortunately it is weaker
in the female than in the male. There are those who believe that the male
must exercise it if he would achieve his full strength of mind and body.
Certain political and philosophic sects take cognizance of this belief and
advocate legalized provision for the gratification of the sex impulse even
to the extent of providing for the destruction of the lives of the unborn.
The most pernicious of the false beliefs regarding physiological necessity
are as follows:--
1. That a life of sexual continence is not consistent with the best
physical health.
2. That the exercise of the sex function is necessary to the full
development and preservation of "manly power,"--the power of procreation.
3. That the sexual impulse in man is so imperious that it is impossible
to control it and, therefore, a sexually continent life cannot be expected
of man.
4. That, therefore, the moral standard which we apply to woman cannot be
applied to man.
To correct these erroneous beliefs about the sex function, Dr. M.J. Exner
brought together the testimony of the foremost medical authorities of the
United States. He drew up a statement regarding sexual continence, and
submitted it to leading physiologists for criticism so as to bring its
phraseology wholly within the requirements of scientific precision. It was
then submitted for endorsement to leading medical authorities throughout
the country. The ready and hearty response of 370 of these men in
endorsing the declaration leaves no doubt as to the conviction of the
leading men of the medical profession on this question. The declaration is
as follows:--
"In view of the individual and social dangers which spring from the
widespread belief that continence may be detrimental to health, and of the
fact that municipal toleration of prostitution is sometimes defended on
the ground that sexual indulgence is necessary, we, the undersigned,
members of the medical profession, testify to our belief that continence
has not been shown to be detrimental to health or virility; that there is
no evidence of its being inconsistent with the highest physical, mental
and moral efficiency; and that it offers the only sure reliance for sexual
health outside of marriage."[1]
The erroneous beliefs concerning physiological necessity have been
propagated chiefly on the authority of advertising medical fakers, whose
business depends on misrepresentation and deceit, men whose methods
exclude them from the ranks of reputable physicians. They are also taught
by those within the ranks of the profession who are ignorant or
unscrupulous or both, and who for the most part have no higher incentive
in their profession than the pursuit of the dollar. The teaching of these
men is in most cases more an expression of their own vicious habits than
of real conviction. Both wholly misrepresent the teaching and attitude of
the great majority of physicians who constitute the reputable body of the
profession.
Dr. William H. Howell, Professor of Physiology at Johns Hopkins
University, says: "There is no evidence whatsoever that the sexual
appetite or the act of reproduction has any physiological relationship to
the preservation of the integrity of the individual. This appetite has
been created or evolved and made strong in us for an entirely different
purpose. A sexual necessity exists only so far as the integrity of the
race is concerned; so far as the individual is concerned his sexual
functions may be unused or he may be completely unsexed without any injury
to his bodily health."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The full list of authorities is given in _The Physician's Answer_, by
M.J. Exner, M.D., Secretary, Student Department, International Committee,
Young Men's Christian Associations, Association Press, New York, 1913.
This is the best treatment of the question of physiological necessity. It
is freely quoted in this chapter. [Editor.]