diff options
Diffstat (limited to '37356-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 37356-8.txt | 912 |
1 files changed, 912 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/37356-8.txt b/37356-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..884f5c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/37356-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,912 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sex-Love, by Edward Carpenter + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Sex-Love + And its Place in a Free Society + +Author: Edward Carpenter + +Release Date: March 16, 2013 [EBook #37356] +Last Updated: Marh 23, 2019 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEX-LOVE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + +SEX-LOVE, + +AND ITS PLACE IN A FREE SOCIETY: (SECOND EDITION) + +BY EDWARD CARPENTER. + +PRICE FOURPENCE. + +MANCHESTER: + +The Labour Press Society Limited, Printers and Publishers + +1894. + + +SEX-LOVE + +The subject of Sex is most difficult to deal with, not only on account +of a certain prudery as well as a natural reticence on the subject, but +doubtless also because the passion itself being so tremendously strong +and occupying such a large part of human thought--and words being so +scanty and inadequate on the subject--everything that _is_ said is +liable to be misunderstood; the most violent inferences are made, and +equivocations surmised, from the simplest remarks; qualified admissions +of liberty are interpreted into recommendations of unbridled licence; +and generally the perspective of literary expression is turned upside +down by the effect of the unfamiliarity of the topic on the reader's +mind. + +There is indeed a vast deal of fetishism in the current treatment of +Sex; and the subject is dealt with as though it lay quite out of line +with any other need or faculty of human nature. Nor can one altogether +be surprised at this when one perceives of what vast import Sex is in +the scheme of things, and how deeply it it has been associated since the +earliest times not only with man's personal impulses but even with his +religious sentiments and ceremonials. + +Next to hunger this is doubtless the most primitive and imperative of +our needs. But in modern civilised life Sex enters probably even more +into _consciousness_ than hunger. For the hunger-needs of the human race +are in the later societies fairly well satisfied, but the sex-desires +are strongly restrained, both by law and custom, from satisfaction--and +so assert themselves all the more in thought. + +To find the place of these desires, their utterance, their control, +their personal import, their social import, is a tremendous problem to +every youth and girl, man and woman. + +There are a few of both sexes, doubtless, who hardly feel the +passion--who have never been "in love," and who experience no strong +sexual appetite--but these are rare. Practically the passion is a +matter of universal experience; and speaking broadly and generally we +may say it is a matter on which it is quite desirable that every adult +at some time or other _should_ have experience--actual and physical, +as well as emotional. There may be exceptions; but, as said, +the sex-instinct lies so deep and is so universal, that for the +understanding of life--of one's own life, of that of others, and of +human nature in general--as well as for the proper development of one's +own capacities, such experience is almost indispensable. + +And here in passing I would say that in the social life of the future +this need will surely be recognised, and not only will young people +be deliberately prepared and instructed for the fulfilment of Sex +when their time comes, but (while there will be no stigma attaching to +voluntary celibacy) the state of enforced celibacy in which vast numbers +of women live to-day will be looked upon as a national wrong, almost as +grievous as that of prostitution--of which latter evil indeed it is in +some degree the counterpart or necessary accompaniment. + +Of course Nature (personifying under this term the more unconscious, +even though human, instincts and forces) takes pretty good care in her +own way that most people should have sexual experience. She has her +own purposes to work out, which in a sense have nothing to do with +the individual--her racial purposes. But she acts in the rough, +with tremendous sweep and power, and with little adjustment to or +consideration for the later developed and more conscious and intelligent +ideals of humanity. The youth, deeply infected with the sex-passion, +suddenly finds himself in the presence of Titanic forces--the Titanic +but sub-conscious forces of his own nature. "In love" he feels a +superhuman strength--and rightly so, for he identifies himself with +cosmic energies and entities, powers that are preparing the future of +the race, and whose operations extend over vast regions of space and +millennial lapses of time. He sees into the abysmal deeps of his own +being, and trembles with a kind of awe at the disclosure. And what he +feels concerning himself he feels similarly concerning the one who has +inspired his passion. The glances of the two lovers penetrate far beyond +the surface, ages down into each other, waking a myriad antenatal +dreams. + +For the moment he lets himself go, rejoicing in the sense of limitless +power beneath him--borne onwards like a man down rapids, too intoxicated +with the glory of motion to think of whither he is going; then the +next moment he discovers that he is being hurried into impossible +situations--situations which his own moral conscience, as well as the +moral conscience of Society, embodied in law and custom, will not admit. +He finds perhaps that the satisfaction of his imperious impulse is, to +all appearances, inconsistent with the welfare of her he loves. His own +passion arises before him as a kind of rude giant which he or the race +to which he belongs may, Frankenstein-like, have created ages back, but +which he now has to dominate or be dominated by; and there declares +itself in him the fiercest conflict--that between his far-back Titanic +instinctive and sub-conscious nature, and his later developed, more +especially human and moral self. + +While the glory of Sex pervades and suffuses all Nature; while the +flowers are rayed and starred out towards the sun in the very ecstasy of +generation; while the nostrils of the animals dilate, and their forms +become instinct, under the passion, with a proud and fiery beauty; +while even the human lover is transformed, and in the great splendors +of the mountains and the sky perceives something to which he had not the +key before--yet it is curious that just here, in Man, we find the magic +wand of Nature suddenly broken, and doubt and conflict and division +entering in, where a kind of unconscious harmony had first prevailed. + +Heine I think says somewhere that the man who loves unsuccessfully knows +himself to be a god. It is not perhaps till the great current of sexual +love is checked and brought into conflict with the other parts of his +being that the whole nature of the man, sexual and moral, under the +tremendous stress rises into consciousness and reveals in fire its +god-like quality. This is the work of the artificer who makes immortal +souls--who out of the natural love evolves even a more perfect love. "In +tutti gli amanti," says Giordano Bruno, "é questo fabro vulcano" ("in +all lovers is this Olympian blacksmith present"). + +It is the subject of this conflict, or at least differentiation, between +the sexual and the more purely moral and social instincts in man which +interests us here. It is clear, I think, that if sex is to be treated +rationally, that is, neither superstitiously on the one hand nor +licentiously on the other, we must be willing to admit that both the +satisfaction of the passion and the non-satisfaction of it are desirable +and beautiful. They both have their results, and man has to reap the +fruits which belong to both experiences. May we not say that there is +probably some sort of transmutation of essences continually effected and +effectible in the human frame? Lust and Love--the _Aphrodite Pandemos_ +and the _Aphrodite Ouranios_--are subtly interchangeable. Perhaps the +corporeal amatory instinct and the ethereal human yearning for personal +union are really and in essence one thing, with diverse forms of +manifestation. However that may be, it is pretty evident that there is +some deep relationship between them. It is a matter of common experience +that the unrestrained outlet of merely physical desire leaves the +nature drained of its higher love-forces; while on the other hand if the +physical satisfaction be denied the body becomes surcharged with waves +of emotion--sometimes to an unhealthy and dangerous degree. Yet at times +this emotional love may, by reason of its expression being checked or +restricted, transform itself into the all-penetrating subtle influence of +spiritual love. + +Marcus Aurelius quotes a saying of Heraclitus to the effect that the +death of earth is to become water (liquefaction), and the death of water +is to become air (evaporation), and the death of air is to become +fire (combustion). So in the human body are there sensual, emotional, +spiritual, and other elements of which it may be said that their death +on one plane means their transformation and new birth on other planes. + +It will readily be seen that I am not arguing that the lower or more +physical manifestations of love should be killed out in order to force +the growth of the more spiritual and enduring forms--because Nature in +her slow evolutions does not generally countenance such high and mighty +methods; but am merely trying to indicate that there are grounds for +believing in the transmutability of the various forms of the passion, +and grounds for thinking that the sacrifice of a lower phase may +sometimes be the only condition on which a higher and more durable phase +can be attained; and that therefore Restraint (which is absolutely +necessary at times) _has_ its compensation. + +Any one who has once realised how glorious a thing Love is in its +essence, and how indestructible, will hardly need to call anything that +leads to it a sacrifice; and he is indeed a master of life who accepting +the grosser desires as they come to his body, and not refusing them, +knows how to transform them at will into the most rare and fragrant +flowers of human emotion. + +Until these subjects are openly put before children and young people +with some degree of intelligent and sympathetic handling, it can +scarcely be expected that anything but the utmost confusion, in mind +and in morals, should reign in matters of Sex. That we should leave our +children to pick up their information about the most sacred, the most +profound and vital, of all human functions, from the mere gutter, and +learn to know it first from the lips of ignorance and vice, seems almost +incredible, and certainly indicates the deeply-rooted unbelief and +uncleanness of our own thoughts. Yet a child at the age of puberty, with +the unfolding of its far-down emotional and sexual nature, is eminently +capable of the most sensitive, affectional, and serene appreciation +of what Sex means (generally more so, as things are to-day, than +its worldling parent or guardian); and can absorb the teaching, if +sympathetically given, without any shock or disturbance to its sense of +shame--that sense which is so natural and valuable a safeguard of early +youth. + +To teach the child first, quite openly, its physical relation to its own +mother, its long indwelling in her body, and the deep and sacred bond of +tenderness between mother and child in consequence; then, after a time, +to explain the work of fatherhood, and how the love of the parents for +each other was the cause of its own (the child's) existence: these +things are easy and natural--at least they are so to the young mind--and +excite in it no surprise, or sense of unfitness, but only gratitude +and a kind of tender wonderment.* Then, later on, as the special sexual +needs and desires develop, to instruct the girl or boy in the further +details of the matter, and the care and right conduct of her or his own +sexual nature; on the meaning and the dangers of solitary indulgence--if +this habit has been contracted; on the need of self-control and +the presence of affection in all relations with others, and (without +asceticism) on the possibility of deflecting physical desire to some +degree into affectional and emotional channels, and the great gain so +resulting: all these are things which an ordinary youth of either sex +will easily understand and appreciate, and which may be of priceless +value, saving such an one from years of struggle in foul morasses, and +waste of precious life-strength. Finally, with the maturity of +the moral nature, the supremacy of the pure human relation should be +taught--not the extinguishment of desire, but the attainment of the real +kernel of it, its dedication to the well-being of another--the evolution +of the _human_ element in love, balancing the natural--till at last the +snatching of an unglad pleasure, regardless of the other from whom it +is snatched, or the surrender of one's body to another, for any reason +except that of love, become things impossible. + + *See Appendix. + +Between lovers then a kind of hardy temperance is much to be +recommended--for all reasons, but especially because it lifts +their satisfaction and delight in each other out of the region of +ephemeralities (which too soon turn to dull indifference and satiety) +into the region of more lasting things--one step nearer at any rate to +the Eternal Kingdom. How intoxicating indeed, how penetrating--like a +most precious wine--is that love which is the sexual transformed by the +magic of the will into the emotional and spiritual! And what a loss +on the merest grounds of prudence and the economy of pleasure is its +unbridled waste along physical channels! So nothing is so much to be +dreaded between lovers as just this--the vulgarisation of love--and this +is the rock upon which marriage so often splits. + +There is a kind of illusion about physical desire similar to that which +a child suffers from when, seeing a beautiful flower, it instantly +snatches the same, and destroys in a few moments the form and fragrance +which attracted it. He only gets the full glory who holds himself back a +little, and truly possesses who is willing if need be not to possess. + +On the other hand it must not be pretended that the physical passions +are by their nature abhorrent, or anything but admirable and desirable +in their place. Any attempt to absolutely disown or despite them, +carried out over long periods either by individuals Or bodies of +people, only ends in the _thinning out_ of the human nature--by the very +consequent stinting of the supply of its growth-material, and is liable +to stultify itself in time by leading to reactionary excesses. It must +never be forgotten that the physical basis throughout life is of the +first importance, and supplies the nutrition and food-stuff without +which the higher powers cannot exist or at least manifest themselves. +Intimacies founded on intellectual and moral affinities alone are seldom +very deep and lasting; if the physical or sexual basis is quite absent, +the acquaintanceship is liable to die away again like an ill-rooted +plant. In many cases (especially of women) the nature is never really +understood or disclosed till the sex-feeling is touched--however +lightly. Besides it must be remembered that in order for a perfect +intimacy between two people their bodies must by the nature of the case +be free to each other. The sexual and bodily intimacy may not be the +object for which they come together; but if it is denied, its denial +will bar any real sense of repose and affiance, and make the relation +restless, vague, tentative and unsatisfied. + +In these lights it will be seen that what we call asceticism and what we +call libertinism are two sides practically of the same shield. So +long as the tendency towards mere pleasure-indulgence is strong and +uncontrolled, so long will the instinct towards asceticism assert +itself--and rightly, else we might speedily find ourselves in headlong +Phaethonian career. Asceticism is in its place (as the word would +indicate) as an _exercise_; but let it not be looked upon as an end in +itself, for that is a mistake of the same kind as going to the opposite +extreme. Certainly if the welfare and happiness of the beloved one were +always really the main purpose in our minds we should have plenty of +occasion for self-control, and an artificial asceticism would not be +needed. We look for a time doubtless when the hostility between these +two parts of man's unperfected nature will be merged in the perfect +love; but at present and until this happens their conflict is certainly +one of the most pregnant things in all our experience; and must not by +any means be blinked or evaded, but boldly faced. It is in itself almost +a sexual act. The mortal nature through it is, so to speak, torn asunder; +and through the rent so made in his mortality does it sometimes happen +that a new and immortal man is born. + +The Sex-act affords the type of all pleasures. The dissatisfaction which +at times follows on it is the same as follows on all pleasure which is +_sought_, and which does not come unsought. The dissatisfaction is not +in the nature of pleasure itself but in the nature of _seeking_. In +consciously surrendering oneself to the pursuit of things external, the +"I" (since it really has everything and needs nothing) deceives itself, +goes out from its true home, tears itself asunder, and admits a gap or +rent in its own being. This is what is meant by _sin_--the separation +or sundering (German _Sünde_) of one's being--and all the pain that +goes therewith. It all consists in _seeking_ those external things and +pleasures; not (a thousand times be it said) in those external things +or pleasures themselves. They are all fair and gracious enough; their +place is to stand round the throne and offer their homage--rank behind +rank in their multitudes--if so be we will accept it. But for us to go +out of ourselves to run after _them_, to allow ourselves to be divided +and rent in twain by _their_ attraction, that is an inversion of the +order of heaven; and in so doing does sin and all suffering enter in. + +Of all pleasures the sexual tempts most strongly to this desertion of +one's true self, and stands as the type of Maya and the world-illusion; +yet the beauty of the loved one and the delight of corporeal union all +turn to dust and ashes if bought at the price of disunion and disloyalty +in the higher spheres--disloyalty even to the person whose mortal love +is sought. The higher and more durable part of man, whirled along in +the rapids and whirlpools of desire, experiences tortures the moment it +comes to recognise that It is something other than physical. Then comes +the struggle to regain its lost Paradise, and the frightful effort +of co-ordination between the two natures, by which the centre of +consciousness is gradually transferred from the fugitive to the more +permanent part, and the mortal and changeable is assigned its due place +in the outer chambers and forecourts of the temple. + +Pleasure should come as the natural (and indeed inevitable) +accompaniment of life, believed in with a kind of free faith, but never +sought as the object of life. It is in the inversion of this order that +the uncleanness of the senses arises. Sex to-day throughout the domains +of civilisation is thoroughly unclean. + +Everywhere it is slimed over with the thought of pleasure. Not for +joy, not for mere delight in and excess of life, not for pride in the +generation of children, not for a symbol and expression of deepest +soul-union, does it exist--but for pleasure. Hence we disown it in our +thoughts, and cover it up with false shame and unbelief--knowing well +that to seek a social act for a private pleasure is a falsehood. The +body itself is kept religiously covered, smothered away from the rush of +the great purifying life of Nature, infected with dirt and disease, and +a subject for prurient thought and exaggerated lust such as in its naked +state it would never provoke. The skin becomes sickly and corrupt, and +of a dead leaden white hue, which strangely enough is supposed to be +more beautiful than the rich rose-brown, delicately shaded into lighter +tints in the less exposed parts, which it would wear if tanned by +daily welcome of sun and wind. Sexual embraces themselves are seldom +sanctified by the glories of Nature, in whose presence alone, under +the burning sun or the high canopy of the stars and surrounded by the +fragrant atmosphere, their meaning can be fully understood: but take +place in stuffy dens of dirty upholstery and are associated with all +unbeautiful things. + +Even literature, which might have been expected to preserve some decent +expression on this topic, reflects all too clearly by its silence or by +its pruriency the prevailing spirit of unbelief; and in order to find +any sane faithful strong and calm words on the subject, one has to wade +right back through the marshes and bogs of civilised scribbledom, and +toil eastward across its arid wastes to the very dawn-hymns of the Aryan +races. + +In one of the Upanishads of the Vedic sacred books (the Brihadaranyaka +Upanishad) there is a very beautiful passage in which instruction is +given to the man who desires a noble son as to the prayers which he +shall offer to the gods on the occasion of congress with his wife. In +primitive simple and serene language it directs him how "when he has +placed his virile member in the body of his wife and joined his mouth to +her mouth" he should pray to the various forms of deity who preside over +the operations of nature: to Vishnu to prepare the womb of the future +mother, to Prajapati to watch over the influx of the semen, and to the +other gods to nourish the foetus, etc. Nothing could be (I am judging +from the only translation I have met with, a Latin one) more composed, +serene, simple and religious in feeling, and well might it be if such +instructions were preserved and followed, even down to the present day; +yet such is the degradation we have come to that actually Max Müller in +his translations of the Sacred Books of the East appears to have been +unable to persuade himself to render this and a few other quite similar +passages into English, but gives them in the original Sanskrit! One +might have thought that as Professor in the University of Oxford, +presumedly _sans peur et sans reproche_, and professedly engaged in +making a translation of these books for students, it was his duty and it +might have been his delight to make intelligible just such passages as +these, which give the pure and pious sentiment of the early world in so +perfect a form; unless indeed he thought the sentiment impure and +impious--in which case we have indeed a measure of the degradation of +the public opinion which must have swayed his mind. As to the only +German translation of the Upanishad which I can find, it baulks at the +same passages in the same feeble way--repeating _nicht zu wiedergeben, +nicht zu wiedergeben_, over and over again, till at last one can but +conclude that the translator is right, and that the simplicity and +sacredness of the feeling is in this our time indeed "not to be +reproduced." + +Our public opinion, our literature, our customs, our laws, are saturated +with the notion of the uncleanness of Sex, and are so making the +conditions of its cleanness more and more difficult. Our children, as +said, have to pick up their intelligence on the subject in the gutter. +Little boys bathing on the outskirts of our towns are hunted down by +idiotic policemen, apparently infuriated by the sight of the naked body, +even of childhood. Lately in one of our northern towns, the boys and men +bathing in a public pool set apart by the corporation for the purpose, +were--though forced to wear some kind of covering--kept till nine +o'clock at night before they were allowed to go into the water--lest in +the full daylight Mrs. Grundy should behold any portion of their bodies! +and as for women and girls their disabilities in the matter are most +serious. + +Till this dirty and dismal sentiment with regard to the human body is +removed there can be little hope of anything like a free and gracious +public life. With the regeneration of our social ideas the whole +conception of Sex as a thing covert and to be ashamed of, marketable and +unclean, will have to be regenerated. That inestimable freedom and pride +which is the basis of all true manhood and womanhood will have to enter +into this most intimate relation to preserve it frank and pure--pure +from the damnable commercialism which buys and sells all human things, +and from the religious hypocrisy which covers and conceals; and a +healthy delight in and cultivation of the body and all its natural +functions and a determination to keep them pure and beautiful, open and +sane and free, will have to become a recognised part of national life. + +Possibly, and indeed probably, as the sentiment of common life and +common interest grows, and the capacity for true companionship increases +with the decrease of self-regarding anxiety, the importance of the +mere sex-act will dwindle till it comes to be regarded as only one very +specialised factor in the full total of human love. There is no doubt +that with the full realisation of affectional union the need of actual +bodily congress loses some of its urgency; and it is not difficult +to see in our present-day social life that the want of the former is +(according to the law of transmutation) one marked cause of the violence +and extravagance of the lower passions. But however things may change +with the further evolution of man, there is no doubt that first of all +the sex-relation must be divested of the sentiment of uncleanness which +surrounds it, and rehabilitated again with a sense almost of religious +consecration; and this means, as I have said, a free people, proud in +the mastery and the divinity of their own lives, and in the beauty and +openness of their own bodies. + +Sex is the allegory of Love in the physical world. It is from this +fact that it derives its immense power. The aim of Love is +non-differentiation--absolute union of being; but absolute union can only +be found at the centre of existence. Therefore whoever has truly found +another has found not only that other, and with that other himself, but +has found also a third--who dwells at the centre and holds the plastic +material of the universe in the palm of his hand, and is a creator of +sensible forms. + +Similarly the aim of sex is union and non-differentiation--but on +the physical plane,--and in the moment when this union is accomplished +creation takes place, and the generation (in the plastic material of the +sex-elements) of sensible forms. + +In the animal and lower human world--and wherever the creature is +incapable of realising the perfect love (which is indeed able to +transform it into a god)--Nature in the purely physical instincts does +the next best thing, that is, she effects a corporeal union and so +generates another creature who by the very process of his generation +shall be one step nearer to the universal soul and the realisation of +the desired end. Nevertheless the moment the other love and all that +goes with it is realised the natural sexual love has to fall into +a secondary place--the lover must stand on his feet and not on his +head--or else the most dire confusions ensue, and torments _ćonian_. + +Taking all together I think it may fairly be said that the prime object +of Sex is _union_, the physical union as the allegory and expression of +the real union, and that generation is a secondary object or result of +this union. If we go to the lowest material expressions of Sex--as among +the protozoic cells--we find that they, the cells, unite together, two +into one; and that, as a result of the nutrition that ensues, this joint +cell after a time (but not always) breaks up by fission into a number of +progeny cells; or if on the other hand we go to the very highest +expression of Sex, in the sentiment of Love, we find the latter takes +the form chiefly and before all else of a desire for union, and only in +lesser degree of a desire for race-propagation. + +I mention this because it probably makes a good deal of difference in +our estimate of Sex whether the one function or the other is considered +primary. There is perhaps a slight tendency among medical and other +authorities to overlook the question of the important physical actions +and reactions, and even corporeal modifications, which may ensue upon +sexual intercourse between two people, and to fix their attention +too exclusively upon their child-bearing function; but in truth it is +probable, I think, from various considerations, that the spermatozoa +pass through the tissues and affect the general body of the female, as +well as that the male absorbs minutest cells _from_ the female; and +that generally, even without the actual Sex-act, there is an interchange +of vital and etherial elements--so that there is a kind of generation +taking place _in each other_, as well as that more specialised +generation which consists in the propagation of the race. + +At the last and taking it as a whole one has the same difficulty in +dealing with the subject of Love which meets one at every turn in +modern life--the monstrous separation of one part of our nature +from another--the way in which--no doubt in the necessary course of +evolution--we have cut ourselves in twain as it were, and assigned +"right" and "wrong," heaven and hell, spiritual and material, and other +violent distinctions, to the separate portions. We have eaten of the +Tree of Knowledge of good and evil with a vengeance! The Lord has indeed +driven us out of Paradise into the domain of that "fabro vulcano" who +with tremendous hammer-strokes must _hammer the knowledge of good and +evil out of us again_. I feel that I owe an apology to the beautiful god +for daring even for a moment to think of dissecting him soul from body, +and for speaking as if these artificial distinctions were in any wise +eternal. Will the man or woman, or race of men and women, never come, +to whom love in its various manifestations shall be from the beginning a +perfect whole, pure and natural, free and standing sanely on its feet? + +APPENDIX. + +"I analysed a flower, I pointed out to her the beauty of colouring, the +gracefulness of shape, the tender shades, the difference between the +parts composing the flowers. Gradually, I told her what these parts were +called. I showed her the pollen, which clung like a beautiful golden +powder to her little rosy fingers. I showed her through the microscope +that this beautiful powder was composed of an infinite number of small +grains. I made her examine the pistil more closely, and I showed her, at +the end of the tube, the ovary, which I called a 'little house full of +very tiny children.' I showed her the pollen glued to the pistil, and I +told her, that when the pollen of one flower, carried away by the wind, +or by the insects, fell on the pistil of another flower, the small +grains died, and a tiny drop of moisture passed through the tube and +entered into the little house where the very tiny children dwelt; that +these tiny children were like small eggs, that in each small egg there +was an almost invisible opening, through which a little of the small +drop passed; that when this drop of pollen mixed with some other +wonderful power in the ovary, that both joined together to give life, +and the eggs developed and became grains or fruit. I have shown her +flowers which had only a pistil and others which had only stamens. I +said to her, smiling, that the pistils were like little mothers, and the +stamens like little fathers of the fruit.... + +"Thus I sowed in this innocent heart and searching mind the seeds of that +delicate science, which degenerates into obscenity, if the mother, +through false shame, leaves the instruction of her child to its +schoolfellows. Let my little girl ask me, if she likes, the much dreaded +question; I will only have to remind her of the botany lessons, simply +adding, the same thing happens to human beings, with this difference, +that what is done unconsciously by the plants, is done consciously by +us; that in a properly arranged society one only unites one's self to +the person one loves.'"--(Translated from "La Revendication des Droits +Féminins," _Shafts_, April 1894, p. 237.) + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sex-Love, by Edward Carpenter + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEX-LOVE *** + +***** This file should be named 37356-8.txt or 37356-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/3/5/37356/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at + www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + |