i am very sceptical when it comes to drawing a clear line of cleavage between what is typically masculine and what is typically feminine in behavior, and i believe that many of the so-called fundamental differences between the sexes are artificial and temporary ones due to the economic and social pressure which woman has to bear. even in the valuation of virginity, it is difficult to say that there is a masculine attitude and a feminine attitude.
broadly speaking, we might state however that women, the world over, are more indifferent to the prematrimonial past of their future husbands than men are to the purity of their brides.
men experienced in matters of love wield a definite attraction over all women, whether the latter are willing to admit it or not.
this is not due to any especially feminine trait but rather to the difficulties which women encounter when they endeavor to secure positive information[pg 113] on tabooed sexual topics. they expect, therefore, their initiators to be conversant with the subject which is kept carefully shrouded in morbid mystery.
the majority of men, on the other hand, when marrying a woman who is neither a widow nor a divorcée, expect her to be absolutely pure, that is, not to have had any sexual relations with any other man.
ethical prostitution. in certain parts of the world, on the other hand, males appear rather indifferent to the female's past. in some parts of japan and among certain arab tribes, comely girls may go to larger centers of the population and devote themselves for a period of years to prostitution. after which, they return to their native place sometimes with a dowry they have accumulated thriftily, find a husband and settle down as wives and mothers, in no way disqualified by their promiscuous past. in certain parts of central europe, "window courting," as it is sometimes called, leads to unofficial trial marriages which do not arouse the jealousy of the final winner of a girl's favours.
among the western nations, it is rather the very young, the stupidly conservative, the unsophisti[pg 114]cated and the senile, who consider virginity as a great attraction and in some cases as a powerful sexual stimulant.
the reasons for that are to be sought in the egotistical component of the masculine attitude. the strong and powerful male who has frequently proved his virility is not obsessed by the fear of defeat in love's intimacies.
the innocent young man, on the other hand, who is full of misgivings and of diffidence, the elderly man whose sexual powers are on the wane and who is no longer sure of himself, prefer a woman who is totally ignorant of physical love. their embarrassment or their shortcomings may escape a virgin but would not escape a woman of the world, a widow or a divorcée.
there is, therefore, in the search for virginity, a slightly neurotic factor, the fear of defeat, the line of least effort, the search for ego safety.
it must be noticed that it was during the great neurotic ages, the middle ages, which witnessed the bursting forth of so many hysterical epidemics, that both the cult of the virgin and the belief in witches spread over europe.
the fear of woman. man has always tried to protect himself against woman. in his fear of sex[pg 115] equality he has either made her an angel or a beast. the witch, perverse and filthy, was lowered to the level of hell. the virgin, on the other hand, unsexed and raised to heaven, was removed far enough from the world for perfect safety.
the will-to-be-the-first. in the overemphasis placed by certain men upon virginity in the woman, and in the anxiety shown by certain husbands at the thought that their wife may have had sexual relations with another man previous to her marriage, we see the operation of the neurotic trait which adler has called "the will-to-be-the-first" and which manifests itself, not only in the love life, but in all of life's situations.
the neurotic of that type, obsessed with a feeling of inferiority is tortured by the thought that he may not have been the first to caress his wife. analysis proves that in early childhood, he had a tendency (observable in certain breeds of dogs) to try to outrun every waggon, horse, train, etc.; that in later life he always tries to walk ahead when in company and hastens his steps whenever anyone threatens to pass him on the street. that type is given to hero worship, as he likes to identify himself with his favorite hero, c?sar, napoleon, etc. states of[pg 116] anxiety develop whenever his preeminence in society or business is threatened.
telegony. in the search for virginity there may also be in the male an unconscious "intuition" of some scientific facts. the phenomenon of telegony, explained by dr. jules goldschmidt, of paris, in the medical review of reviews for april 1921, would, if confirmed by careful observations, throw a new light on the meaning of virginity.
the first male, goldsmith states, leaves an indelible impress on the female he possesses. goldsmith believes that sperm plays a twofold part in the female organism that receives it. it not only fecundates the egg but modifies the blood of the female. he cannot believe that nature would waste millions of spermatozoa in order that one of them should reach the egg. the millions of spermatozoa which are not needed for purposes of fecundation are absorbed, he thinks, by the mucous tissues of the woman's genitals and make her gradually more and more like her mate. to this factor goldschmidt attributes the likeness of mates who have lived together many years.
"when we reflect," he writes, "on the deep impress produced by the action of a single spermatic cell,[pg 117] we at once ask what will be the fate of the myriads of spermatozoids entering at the moment of fecundation, and later on into the female organism. again we have to insist on the fact that nature works with excessive profusion, and that to secure success its means of action are multiple. everywhere in the living world male generative cells are brought forth in an overwhelming abundance.
"their multiplicity guarantees at least the possibility of meeting the rather far-off ovulum, just as out of the multitude of male bees only one is chosen to impregnate the queen.
"but it is inconceivable that the uncounted other male cells are condemned to useless death without any action on the entire female organism, into which, by reason of their mobility they can easily penetrate, either into the mucous membrance of the uterus or into the lymphatic and blood capillaries, and thru them into the whole circulation.
"kohlbrugge has demonstrated that in the case of a certain bat, the spermatozoids do enter in great numbers into the superficial stratum of the mucous membrance as well as into the glands and the adjacent tissues. their fate is, of course, dissolution. we know that blood is the receptacle of all the pro[pg 118]ducts that are created by healthy life or disease. we know of no other liquid in the whole organic world so rich in the most heterogeneous chemical substances as blood.
"certain important substances circulate in it, which we only assume are there, not having been able to isolate them, but with which we work when we elaborate preventive or curative serums. all the antigens, antitoxins, antibodies, introduced into the blood by the living action of pathogenic bacilli, as those of diphtheria, typhoid, tetanus, after the happy termination of these diseases, present themselves in such infinitesimal quantities that we can only designate them by their most remarkable biological effects. they either confer for a lifetime an efficient immunity against renewal or, exceptionally, an increased susceptibility (anaphylaxis) for the bacilli which have created them.
"if nature, in its morbific attacks on the organism, uses great quantities, extremely small ones answer its purpose for defense. can we not by analogy conclude that the dissolved spermatozoids confer on the blood and thru it on the whole female organism, qualities which it had not possessed before their invasion?
[pg 119]
"from all of these facts we may return to our problem, and infer that not alone the solitary male cell which fecundates the ovulum is of importance to the economy of the female organism, but that we must not disregard the extremely numerous spermatic cells accompanying fecundation or the further introduction of these elements.
"just as the bacillary products during and after infectious diseases represent substances able to confer immunity from any renewed attack and therefore cause an important transformation of the human system, so the inference must be allowed that the spermatozoids, too, do exercise an ultimate lasting effect on the females organism, which will acquire a greater sensibility for the original and an insensibility for, or non-susceptibility towards extraneous generative cells, even those able to fecundate."
this exclusive adaptation of the female organism to the male one is the phenomenon called telegony.
"a curious example of telegony offers itself when a white woman, who has at first lived with a negro and afterwards with a man of her own race, presents her second husband or lover with a more or less intensely colored child. such cases have given rise to dramatic and even tragic scenes when the[pg 120] innocent woman was simply modified (telegonized) by her first cohabitant.
"all breeders are acquainted with the fact that the bull confers telegony on the cow. the dark colored bull having fecundated a light colored cow, the latter being subsequently covered by a red bull will put down dark and white streaked calves.
"it is quite possible that the biological reaction of the blood in human and animal impregnation becomes identical in the mother with that of the first father, and that the influence of another male does not change sensibly the maternal blood."
if demonstrated beyond the possibility of doubt, thru careful observation, telegony would be a tremendous fact which would, to all the egotists and neurotics, enhance tremendously the value of virginity in the woman. what a joy it would be for the self-centered, narcistic neurotic to know that he can gradually make his mate like unto himself!
on the other hand, it might lead to most interesting experiments in eugenics and animal breeding.
thru deferred impregnation, brought about by special contraceptive measures, a better human type and better breeds of animals might be evolved.
it might also sound the death knell of certain contraceptive methods which prevent the human mates[pg 121] from attaining the physical and mental oneness which, goldschmidt says, is the result of life-long sexual association.
goldschmidt's thesis is worth investigating. thus far the unverified observations and the sayings of more or less scientific breeders do not allow us to draw positive deductions.
