THE INTEGRATION OF THE SEXES — MARRIAGE 273 



For one thing, we place a high value on the virginity of the 

 bride, the chastity of the groom, and the strict observance 

 of the marriage tie. AH other peoples seem to put equal 

 stress upon the fidehty of the married woman, but many, 

 if not most, primitive peoples, care httle for pre-nuptial 

 abstinence. In fact, not a few primitive peoples look upon 

 virginity among the unmarried as abnormal, or at least 

 antisocial; whereas the irregularities of a married woman are 

 vigorously condemned. There is then some justification in the 

 notion that marriage, of whatever form, is a regulator of sex 

 hfe, though often preceded by an initial period of approved 

 hcense, and accompanied by varying degrees of laxity. 



Among advanced nations a belief prevails that early 

 sex activity and, naturally, early marriage, is injurious to 

 the mother, as well as the child. This tends to postpone 

 marriage several years after puberty. On the other hand, 

 primitive people regard the appearance of the menses as 

 evidence that the girl is of marriageable age. Thus, the 

 primitive base their procedure upon definite biological 

 evidence which is somewhat in contrast to the civilized 

 method of legahzing an arbitrary age in terms of the calendar. 

 When a girl in a primitive community begins to menstruate, 

 the event is publicly solemnized by a ceremony and thus 

 it becomes known that she is sexually mature. After this, 

 marriage may follow at any time. Reliable statistics as to 

 the age of marriage among primitive people are not available, 

 chiefly because they have no means of accurately recording 

 age, but it is safe to say that few girls reach the age of 

 fifteen and remain unmarried, many of them becoming 

 mothers at an earlier age. Yet, it is not only primitive 

 peoples who indulge in early marriages, for we find them 

 everywhere, in China, India, and to a slightly less degree 

 in Europe. The laws of the United States also permit mar- 

 riage at early ages under restricted conditions. Public opinion, 

 on the other hand, now discourages such marriages, espe- 

 cially among those above the average economic level. Our 

 educational practice may accentuate this attitude, since 

 the national ideal is to furnish a public high school education 

 to every girl, to attain which she must remain in school 

 until about seventeen years old. If we add to this the ideal 



