208 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS 



able to a low standard of sexual morality among the 

 men. In England and in the United States, where 

 women are in a larger degree the companions of men, 

 a better standard of sexual morality prevails and the 

 sexes mix freely and with little suspicion of dan- 

 ger. This freedom of relationship between men and 

 women is most highly developed in the United States. 

 It is rendered possible by the relatively high stand- 

 ards of sexual life existing here among the men. 

 And this freedom can exist with safety only where 

 men and women have sympathies and interests in 

 which gross sexual ideas have little or no part. 



But even in the United States many restrictions 

 exist on the social relations between the sexes, which 

 might advantageously be relaxed, and doubtless will 

 be relaxed, when people have developed more self- 

 control and greater thoughtfulness. Among well- 

 intentioned people the real dangers of sexual license 

 are often so greatly feared as to make them timid 

 and excessively guarded in their social relations with 

 persons of opposite sex. This has the effect of 

 greatly restricting the broader educational influence 

 of free, sympathetic, and intelligent intercourse be- 

 tween persons of opposite sex a factor in human 

 development powerful for good and relatively un- 

 utilized as yet. 



These restrictive effects are seen especially among 

 married people. The idea is generally prevalent that 

 when two persons have once been linked by the 

 bonds of matrimony, they must wholly satisfy each 



