TABOO AND GENETICS 217 



which still further qualify it. The system of 

 taboo control which society has always utilized 

 in one form or another as a means of regulating 

 the reproductive activities of its members, 

 has set up arbitrary ideals of masculinity and 

 femininity to which each man and woman must 

 conform or else forfeit social esteem. The 

 feminine standard thus enforced has been ade- 

 quately described in Part II of this study. 

 Dr Hinkle has also described this approved 

 feminine type, as well as the contrasting 

 masculine ideal which embodies the qualities 

 of courage, aggressiveness, and other traditional 

 male characteristics. From her psychoanalytic 

 practice, Dr Hinkle concludes that men and 

 women do not in reality conform to these 

 arbitrarily fixed types by native biological 

 endowment, but that they try to shape their 

 reactions in harmony with these socially ap- 

 proved standards in spite of their innate 

 tendencies to variation. (4). 



The same conclusion might be arrived at 

 theoretically on the grounds of the recent 

 biological evidence of intersexuality discussed 

 in Part I, which implies that there are no absolute 

 degrees of maleness and femaleness. If there 

 are no 100% males and females, it is obvious 

 that no men and women will entirely conform 

 to ideals of masculine and feminine perfection. 



In addition to the imposition of these 



