i82 TABOO AND GENETICS 



7. All matters relating to the double 

 standard of morality. 



8. All matters connected with marriage, 

 pregnane}^ and childbirth. 



9. Allusions to any part of the body except 

 head and hands. 



10. Politics. 



11. Religion. 



It will be noted that most of these taboo 

 objects are obviously those which the concept 

 of the Model Woman has ruled out of the life 

 of the feminine half of the world. 



As might well be expected, it is in the marriage 

 ceremony and the customs of the family in- 

 stitution that the most direct continuation of 

 taboo may be found. The early ceremonials 

 connected with marriage, as Mr Crawley has 

 shown, counteracted to some extent man's 

 ancient fear of woman as the embodiment of a 

 weakness which would emasculate him. Mar- 

 riage acted as a bridge, by which the breach 

 of taboo was expiated, condoned, and socially 

 countenanced. Modern convention in many 

 forms perpetuates this concept. Marriage, a 

 conventionalized breach of taboo, is the begin- 

 ning of a new family. In all its forms, social, 

 religious, or legal, it is an accepted exception 

 to the social injunctions which keep men and 

 women apart under other circumstances. 



The new family as a part of the social order 



