PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS 117 



As far as a man is concerned the sexual act — his con- Sex-differ- 

 tribution to reproduction — is an incident, but a woman's ™g^ and 

 contribution is of long duration, including conception, secondary 



. . . reproductive 



gestation, parturition and lactation ; and thus we are functions. 

 forcibly reminded of Byron's well-known lines contrasting 

 the love of Man and Woman. But while the primary 

 reproductive process is short where a man is concerned, 

 his secondary processes are, in our days, long and 

 arduous. The course of education and the striving after 

 the success necessary before he can ensure the proper 

 environment for a family require physical strength and 

 mental acquisitiveness, if he is to achieve his purpose, 

 and fulfil his destiny as a factor in the progress of Nature. 

 On the other hand, a woman's primary reproductive 

 functions are, as we have seen, enduring, and her 

 secondary — individual education, and the care of the 

 child and home — are merely a direct preparation for 

 and sequel of the primary. 



Geddes and Thomson 1 ingeniously describe the male 

 metabolism as katabolic and the female as anabolic. 

 It may also be suggested that the mental processes in 

 the two sexes functionate on similar lines. Be that as 

 it may, it must surely be recognized by all that the male 

 mind and masculine form are suited to the business of life 

 which so nearly concerns his share in reproduction ; 

 while the female mind is specially adapted to her more 

 protracted part in the perpetuation of the species. 



I cannot conclude this discussion of the more abstract Rejection of 

 aspect of the subject without acknowledging that the ^^g 

 rejection of maternal functions by modern women may P ossibl y a 



DTOCGSS of 



be Nature's plan for securing the disappearance of Man evolution. 

 to ensure further evolution. It is strange that modern 

 advocates of reproductive subjection have not advanced 

 this, the only scientific reason for their point of view. 



Let us now discuss more exactly the psychology of Regulation 

 women, and the factors by which the mental processes of mental . 



J r processes m 



are regulated. women. 



1 Geddes, P., and J. A. Thomson, The Evolution of Sex, Revised 

 ed., 1901. 



