TABOO AND GENETICS 243 



clearer insight shows that the group standards 

 permit the exercise of the reproductive 

 activities only in accord with arbitrary regula- 

 tions which have coalesced in the institutions 

 of marriage and the family. These institutions 

 have been developed to fit a definite ideal of 

 manhood and womanhood which grew up out of 

 a manner of thinking in accord with taboo 

 control and ignorant superstitions rather than 

 in harmony with the actual facts of the situation. 

 Now that we are facing reality and trying to 

 rationalize our thinking, we find that the varia- 

 tion from these masculine and feminine ideals 

 does not necessarily imply biological or psycho- 

 logical abnormahty, since the ideals were 

 themselves established without reference to 

 biological and psychological data. 



The traditional marriage and family arrange- 

 ment tends to enforce a selection of individuals 

 who conform most nearly to these artificial 

 types as parents for the succeeding generations. 

 It is not at all certain that such a selection is 

 advantageous to the group. It would seem 

 rather that in so complex a social system as 

 that of the present day with its increasing 

 division of labour on other than purely sexual 

 distinctions, we need a variety of types of 

 individuals adapted to the varied activities of 

 modern life. 



If society is to successfully meet the^present 



