Part 12 (2/2)
”Love, with woman, is as a rule nothing but a secondary feature of maternity,--all the feelings of attachment that bind woman to man arise, not from s.e.xual impulses, but from the instincts of subjection and resignation, acquired through habits of conformancy.” How these ”instincts” were acquired and ”conformed” themselves, the joint authors fail to inquire into. They would then have had to inquire into the social position of woman in the course of thousands of years, and would have been compelled to find that it is that that made her what she now is. It is true, the joint authors describe partly the enslaved and dependent position of woman among the several peoples and under the several periods of civilization; but as Darwinians, with blinkers to their eyes, they draw all that from physiologic and psychologic, not from social and economic reasons, which affected in strongest manner the physiologic and psychologic development of woman.
The joint authors also touch upon the vanity of woman, and set up the opinion that, among the peoples who stand on a lower stage of civilization, man is the vain s.e.x, as is noticeable to-day in the New Hebrides and Madagascar, among the peoples of the Orinoco, and on many islands of the Polynesian archipelago, as also among a number of African peoples of the South Sea. With peoples standing on a higher plane, however, woman is the vain s.e.x. But why and wherefor? To us the answer seems plain. Among the peoples of a lower civilization, mother-right conditions prevail generally, or have not yet been long overcome. The _role_ that woman there plays raises her above the necessity of seeking for the man, the man seeks her, and to this end, ornaments himself and grows vain. With the people of a higher grade, especially with all the nations of civilization, excepting here and there, not the man seeks the woman, but the woman him. It happens rarely that a woman openly takes the initiative, and offers herself to the man; so-called propriety forbids that. In point of fact, however, the offering is done by the manner of her appearance; by means of the beauty of dress and luxury, that she displays; by the manner in which she ornaments herself, and presents herself, and coquets in society. The excess of women, together with the social necessity of looking upon matrimony as an inst.i.tute for support, or as an inst.i.tution through which alone she can satisfy her s.e.xual impulse and gain a standing in society, forces such conduct upon her. Here also, we notice again, it is purely economic and social causes that call forth, one time with man, another with woman, a quality that, until now, it was customary to look upon as wholly independent of social and economic causes. Hence the conclusion is justified, that so soon as society shall arrive at social conditions, under which all dependence of one s.e.x upon another shall have ceased, and both are equally free, _ridiculous vanity and the folly of fas.h.i.+on will vanish, just as so many other vices that we consider to-day uneradicable, as supposedly inherent in man_. Schopenhauer, as a philosopher, judges woman as one-sidedly as most of our anthropologists and physicians, who see in her only the s.e.xual, never the social, being. Schopenhauer was never married. He, accordingly, has not, on his part, contributed towards having one more woman pay the ”debt of life” that he debits woman with. And this brings us to the other side of the medal, which is far from being the handsomer.
Many women do not marry, simply because they cannot. Everybody knows that usage forbids woman to offer herself. She must allow herself to be wooed, i. e., chosen. She herself may not woo. Is there no wooer to be had, then she enters the large army of those poor beings who have missed the purpose of life, and, in view of the lack of safe material foundation, generally fall a prey to want and misery, and but too often to ridicule also. But few know what the discrepancy in numbers between the two s.e.xes is due to; many are ready with the hasty answer: ”There are too many girls born.” Those who make the claim are wrongly informed, as will be shown. Others, again, who admit the unnaturalness of celibacy, conclude from the fact that women are more numerous than men in most countries of civilization, that polygamy should be allowed.
But not only does polygamy do violence to our customs, it, moreover, degrades woman, a circ.u.mstance that, of course, does not restrain Schopenhauer, with his underestimation of and contempt for women, from declaring: ”For the female s.e.x, as a whole, polygamy is a benefit.”
Many men do not marry because they think they cannot support a wife, and the children that may come, according to their station. To support _two_ wives is, however, possible to a small minority only, and among these are many who now have two or more wives,--one legitimate and several illegitimate. These few, privileged by wealth, are not held back by anything from doing what they please. Even in the Orient, where polygamy exists for thousands of years by law and custom, comparatively few men have more than one wife. People talk of the demoralizing influence of Turkish harem life; but the fact is overlooked that this harem life is possible only to an insignificant fraction of the men, and then only in the ruling cla.s.s, while the majority of the men live in monogamy. In the city of Algiers, there were, at the close of the sixties, out of 18,282 marriages, not less than 17,319 with one wife only; 888 were with two; and only 75 with more than two. Constantinople, the capital of the Turkish Empire, would show no materially different result. Among the country population in the Orient, the proportion is still more p.r.o.nouncedly in favor of single marriages. In the Orient, exactly as with us, the most important factor in the calculation are the material conditions, and these compel most men to limit themselves to but one wife. If, on the other hand, material conditions were equally favorable to all men, polygamy would still not be practicable,--for want of women.
_The almost equal number of the two s.e.xes, prevalent under normal conditions, points everywhere to monogamy._
As proof of these statements, we cite the following tables, that Buecher published in an essay.[92]
In these tables the distinction must be kept in mind between the enumerated and the estimated populations. In so far as the population was enumerated, the fact is expressly stated in the summary for the separate main divisions of the earth. The s.e.xes divide themselves in the population of several divisions and countries as follows:
1. EUROPE.
Females for Every Census 1,000 Countries. Year. Males. Females. Population. Men.
Great Britain and Ireland 1891 18,388,756 19,499,397 37,888,153 1,060 Denmark and Faror 1890 1,065,447 1,119,712 2,185,159 1,052 Norway 1891 951,496 1,037,501 1,988,997 1,090 Sweden 1890 2,317,105 2,467,570 4,784,675 1,065 Finland 1889 1,152,111 1,186,293 2,338,404 1,030 Russia 1886 42,499,324 42,895,885 85,395,209 1,009 Poland 1886 3,977,406 4,279,156 8,256,562 1,076 German Empire 1890 24,231,832 25,189,232 49,421,064 1,039 Austria 1880 10,819,737 11,324,507 22,144,244 1,047 Hungary 1880 7,799,276 7,939,192 15,738,468 1,019 Liechtenstein 1886 4,897 4,696 9,593 959 Luxemburg 1890 105,419 105,669 211,088 1,002 Holland 1889 2,228,487 2,282,925 4,511,415 1,024 Belgium 1890 3,062,656 3,084,385 6,147,041 1,007 Switzerland 1888 1,427,377 1,506,680 2,934,057 1,055 France 1886 18,900,312 19,030,447 37,930,759 1,007 Spain and the Canary Islands 1887 8,608,532 8,950,776 17,559,308 1,039 Gibraltar (Civil population) 1890 9,201 9,326 18,527 1,013 Portugal 1878 2,175,829 2,374,870 4,550,699 1,091 Italy 1881 14,265,383 14,194,245 28,459,628 995 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1885 705,025 631,066 1,336,091 895 Servia 1890 1,110,731 1,052,028 2,162,759 947 Bulgaria 1881 1,519,953 1,462,996 2,982,949 962 Roumania 1860 2,276,558 2,148,403 4,424,961 944 Greece 1889 1,133,625 1,053,583 2,187,208 929 Malta 1890 82,086 83,576 165,662 1,018 ----------- ----------- ----------- ----- Total 170,818,561 174,914,119 345,732,680 1,024
2. AMERICA.
Females for Every Census 1,000 Countries. Year. Males. Females. Population. Men.
Danish Greenland 1888 4,838 5,383 10,221 1,112 British North America 1881 2,288,196 2,229,735 4,517,931 974 United States of North America 1880 25,518,820 24,636,963 50,155,783 965 Bermuda Islands 1890 7,767 8,117 15,884 1,046 Mexico 1882 5,072,054 5,375,920 10,447,974 1,060 ---------- ---------- ---------- ----- North America and Islands 32,891,675 32,256,118 65,147,793 981
Nicaragua 1883 136,249 146,591 282,845 1,076 British Honduras 1881 14,108 13,344 27,452 946 Cuba 1877 850,520 671,164 1,521,684 789 Porto Rico 1877 369,054 362,594 731,648 983 British West Indies 1881 589,012 624,132 1,213,144 1,060 French West Indies 1885 176,364 180,266 356,630 1,022 Danish Possessions 1880 14,889 18,874 33,763 1,263 Dutch Colony Curacao 1889 20,234 25,565 45,799 1,263 ----------- ---------- ---------- ----- Central America and the West Indies 2,170,430 2,042,530 4,212,965 941
British Guiana 1891 151,759 126,569 278,328 834 French Guiana 1885 15,767 10,735 26,502 681 Dutch Guiana 1889 30,187 28,764 58,951 953 Brazil 1872 5,123,869 4,806,609 9,930,478 938 Chili 1885 1,258,616 1,268,353 2,526,969 1,008 Falkland Islands 1890 1,086 703 1,789 647 ---------- ---------- ---------- ----- South America total 6,581,284 6,241,733 12,823,017 949 ---------- ---------- ---------- ----- Population of America 41,643,389 40,540,386 82,183,775 973
3. ASIA.
Females for Every Census 1,000 Countries. Year. Males. Females. Population. Men.
Russian Caucasia 1885 3,876,868 3,407,699 7,284,567 879 Siberia, minus Amur and Sachalin 1885 2,146,411 2,002,879 4,149,290 933 Province Uralsk 1885 263,915 263,686 527,601 999 General Province of the Prairies 1885 926,246 781,626 1,707,872 844 Province Fergana 1885 365,461 350,672 716,133 959 Province Samarkand 1885 335,530 305,616 641,146 911 ---------- ---------- ---------- ----- Russian Possessions, total 7,914,431 7,112,178 15,026,609 899
British India (immediate possessions) 1891 112,150,120 108,313,980 220,464,100 966 Tributary States (so far known) 1891 31,725,910 29,675,150 61,401,060 935 Hong Kong 1889 138,033 56,449 194,482 409 Ceylon 1881 1,473,515 1,290,469 2,763,984 876 Of the French Possessions: Cambodscha ? 392,383 422,371 814,754 1,076 Cochinchina 1889 944,146 932,543 1,876,689 988 Philippines (partly) 1877 2,796,174 2,762,846 5,559,020 988 j.a.pan 1888 20,008,445 19,598,789 39,607,234 979 Cyprus 1891 104,887 104,404 209,291 995 ---------- ---------- ---------- ----- Total population in Asia 177,648,044 170,269,179 347,917,223 958
4. AUSTRALIA AND POLYNESIA.
Females for Every Census 1,000 Countries. Year. Males. Females. Population. Men.
Australia, New Zealand (1890) and Tasmania 1891 2,059,594 1,772,472 3,832,066 861 Fiji Islands 1890 67,902 57,780 125,682 851 French Possessions (Tahiti, Marquesas, etc.) 1889 11,589 10,293 21,882 888 Hawaii 1890 58,714 31,276 89,990 533 ---------- ---------- ---------- ----- Total 2,197,799 1,871,821 4,069,620 852
5. AFRICA.
Females for Every Census 1,000 Countries. Year. Males. Females. Population. Men.
Egypt 1882 3,401,498 3,415,767 6,817,265 1,004 Algeria (minus Sahara) 1886 2,014,013 1,791,671 3,805,684 889 Senegal 1889 70,504 76,014 146,518 1,078 Gambia 1881 7,215 6,935 14,150 961 Sierra Leone 1881 31,201 29,345 60,546 940 Lagos 1881 37,665 39,605 75,270 998 St. Helena 1890 2,020 2,202 4,222 1,090 Capeland 1890 766,598 759,141 1,525,739 990 Natal 1890 268,062 275,851 543,913 1,029 Orange Free State: White 1890 40,571 37,145 77,716 915 Black 1890 67,791 61,996 129,787 914 Republic: White 1890 66,498 52,630 119,128 791 Black 1890 115,589 144,045 259,634 1,246 Reunion 1889 94,430 71,485 165,915 757 Mayotte 1889 6,761 5,509 12,270 815 St. Marie de Madagascar 1888 3,648 4,019 7,667 1,102 ---------- ---------- ---------- ----- Total 6,994,064 6,771,360 13,765,424[93]968
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