126 



THE SEX-COMPLEX 



Civilization 

 and sexual 

 subjection. 



Sexual 



instinct 



protective. 



Types of 

 women. 



falls in love and marries. Yet I have met normal 

 unmarried women, in whom the sexual feelings have 

 never been awakened, who live in the hope that one day 

 they may have children. It is possible, therefore, for 

 civilization to bring women to such a state of sexual 

 subjection that the desire for children is the one repro- 

 ductive instinct left. In the uneducated classes, as in 

 animals, the sexual instinct is probably the stronger 

 instinct of the two, at any rate in the first instance. 



There can hardly be any doubt that the sexual 

 instinct was originally protective ; that is to say, it was 

 a lure to ensure the propagation of the species. In 

 Woman, in whom the reasoning faculty has been 

 developed, there is, from a natural point of view, less 

 need for the lure of sexual gratification to ensure the 

 perpetuation of the race, so long as the maternal instinct 

 does not die out. 



It seems that this is the curious stage to which the 

 evolution of Woman has come or is coming. We see 

 all types. The most natural, or — as many would say — 

 the lowest, who enjoy sexual intercourse, and who are, 

 perhaps, somewhat promiscuous in their desires ; yet 

 their maternal instincts are strong. On the other hand, 

 there are many women with strong maternal instincts 

 who are cold in their sexual relations ; and others in 

 whom sexual and maternal desire can only be aroused 

 by the one man of their choice. 



The first type represents the natural woman un- 

 touched by civilization, whose instincts are under no 

 restraint. The second represents the type of woman 

 of whom we have already spoken — her whose maternal 

 instincts are sufficient without the lure of sexual gratifi- 

 cation. The third type is the ideal woman in the present 

 stage of our evolution ; she alone fulfils all the require- 

 ments and fits in with all the restrictions of advanced 

 civilization. 



The woman who delights ill sexual pleasures, but has 

 no maternal instincts, is not strictly speaking normal, 

 although she may be as much a product of civilization 



