170 TABOO AND GENETICS 



the shaping of The Lady (42), who was jQnally 

 given a rank in the ideals of knighthood only a 

 little below that to which Mary had been 

 elevated by the ecclesiastical authorities. This 

 concept of the lady was the result of the necessity 

 for a new social standardization which must 

 combine beauty, purity, meekness and angelic 

 goodness. Only by such a combination could 

 religion and family life be finally reconciled. 

 By such a combination, earthly motherhood 

 could be made to approximate the divine 

 motherhood. 



With the decline of the influence of chivalry, 

 probably as the result of industrial changes, 

 The Lady was replaced by a feminine ideal 

 which may well be termed the " Model Woman." 

 Although less ethereal than her predecessor, 

 The Lady, the Model Woman is quite as much 

 an attempt to reconcile the dualistic attitude, 

 with its Divine Mother cult on the one hand, and 

 its belief in the essential evil of the procreative 

 process and the uncleanness of woman on the 

 other, to human needs. The characteristics of 

 the Model Woman must approximate those of 

 the Holy Virgin as closely as possible. Her 

 chastity before marriage is imperative. Her 

 calling must be the high art of motherhood. 

 She must be the incarnation of the maternal 

 spirit of womanhood, but her purity must 

 remain unsullied by any trace of erotic passion. 



