THE INTEGRATION OF THE SEXES MARRIAGE 289 



ies which show no economic control over the divorce rate 

 in the United States. 



We have expressed doubt that the integration of sexes in 

 industry was destined to be reahzed. On the other hand, our 

 people have achieved a measure of success in educational and 

 social integration. Such integration seems to work well in the 

 secondary school and the college, and we should add, in 

 church functions, social gatherings, and so on. In short, 

 recreations, theaters, lectures, radio programs, newspapers, 

 etc., are all enjoyed by the sexes in companionship. This is in 

 sharp contrast to primitive and most oriental peoples among 

 whom men and women rarely go about companionably or 

 participate equally in social activities. We also regard this 

 joint companionable participation as an ideal to be striven 

 for, and so endeavor to bring about more complete integra- 

 tion. One pecuharity, however, is that all these activities are 

 something apart from one's daily work, and are not in that 

 sense governed by economic factors. 



Further, it is ideal companionship of this kind that is 

 usually cited as the objective in marriage, and there is reason 

 to suspect that the high standards of companionship thus set 

 up are responsible for part of the increase in the divorce rate. 

 Again, as we noted above, the postponement of marriage 

 and the reaHzation of a high standard of education, may 

 increase the difficulty in deciding upon a mate and even 

 develop an aversion to sex fife. Also, the statistics on divorce 

 indicate that separations are relatively frequent among 

 marriages in which brides are under twenty-two and grooms 

 under twenty-five, and that the younger the one or the other, 

 the more frequent the divorce. Also, marriages after twenty- 

 nine and thirty-four, respectively, show a higher divorce rate, 

 increasing with age. This means that the most stable unions 

 are those for women of twenty-two to twenty-nine and for 

 men of twenty-five to thirty-four. No doubt these data need 

 rechecking, but they are fairly consistent with the logic of the 

 situation. Women advocates declaring for the aboHtion of 

 marriage and the economic independence of women say that 

 in such an ideal society, women will become mothers when- 

 ever they are ready; but if motherhood is postponed until 

 woman is economically in a position to support children, she 



