Woman, I take it, differs from man in being the sex sacrificed to reproductive necessities.
Whenever I say this, I notice my good friends, the women's-rights women, with whom I am generally in pretty close accord, look annoyed and hurt. I can never imagine why. I regard this point as an original inequality of nature, which it should be the duty of human society to redress1 as far as possible, like all other inequalities. Women are not on the average as tall as men; nor can they lift as heavy weights, or undergo, as a rule, so much physical labour. Yet civilised society recognises their equal right to the protection of our policemen, and endeavours to neutralise their physical inequality by the collective guarantee of all the citizens. In the same way I hold that women in the lump have a certain disadvantage laid upon them by nature, in the necessity that some or most among them should bear children; and this disadvantage I think the men in a well-ordered State would do their best to compensate2 by corresponding privileges. If women endure on our behalf the great public burden of providing future citizens for the community, the least we can do for them in return is to render that burden as honourable3 and as little onerous4 as possible. I can never see that there is anything unchivalrous in frankly5 admitting these facts of nature; on the contrary, it seems to me the highest possible chivalry6 to recognise in woman, as woman, high or low, rich or poor, the potential mother, who has infinite claims on that ground alone to our respect and sympathy.
Nor do I mean to deny, either, that the right to be a mother is a sacred and peculiar7 privilege of women. In a well-ordered community, I believe, that privilege will be valued high, and will be denied to no fitting mother by any man. While maternity8 is from one point of view a painful duty, a burden imposed upon a single sex for the good of the whole, it is from another point of view a privilege and a joy, and from a third point of view the natural fulfilment of a woman's own instincts, the complement9 of her personality, the healthy exercise of her normal functions. Just as in turn the man's part in providing physically10 for the support of the woman and the children is from one point of view a burden imposed upon him, but from another point of view a precious privilege of fatherhood, and from a third point of view the proper outlet11 for his own energy and his own faculties12.
In an ideal State, then, I take it, almost every woman would be a mother, and almost every woman a mother of not more than about four children. An average of something like four is necessary, we know, to keep up population, and to allow for infant mortality, inevitable13 celibates14, and so forth15. Few women in such a State would abstain16 from maternity, save those who felt themselves physically or morally unfitted for the task; for in proportion as they abstained17, either the State must lack citizens to carry on its life, or an extra and undue18 burden would have to be cast upon some other woman. And it may well be doubted whether in a well-ordered and civilised State any one woman could adequately bear, bring up, and superintend the education of more than four young citizens. Hence we may conclude that while no woman save the unfit would voluntarily shirk the duties and privileges of maternity, few (if any) women would make themselves mothers of more than four children. Four would doubtless grow to be regarded in such a community as the moral maximum; while it is even possible that improved sanitation19, by diminishing infant mortality and adult ineffectiveness, might make a maximum of three sufficient to keep up the normal strength of the population.
In an ideal community, again, the woman who looked forward to this great task on behalf of the race would strenuously20 prepare herself for it beforehand from childhood upward. She would not be ashamed of such preparation; on the contrary, she would be proud of it. Her duty would be no longer "to suckle fools and chronicle small beer," but to produce and bring up strong, vigorous, free, able, and intelligent citizens. Therefore, she must be nobly educated for her great and important function—educated physically, intellectually, morally. Let us forecast her future. She will be well clad in clothes that allow of lithe21 and even development of the body; she will be taught to run, to play games, to dance, to swim; she will be supple22 and healthy, finely moulded and knit in limb and organ, beautiful in face and features, splendid and graceful23 in the native curves of her lissom24 figure. No cramping25 conventions will be allowed to cage her; no worn-out moralities will be tied round her neck like a mill-stone to hamper26 her. Intellectually she will be developed to the highest pitch of which in each individual case she proves herself capable—educated, not in the futile27 linguistic28 studies which have already been tried and found wanting for men, but in realities and existences, in the truths of life, in recognition of her own and our place among immensities. She will know something worth knowing of the world she lives in, its past and its present, the material of which it is made, the forces that inform it, the energies that thrill through it. Something, too, of the orbs29 that surround it, of the sun that lights it, of the stars that gleam upon it, of the seasons that govern it. Something of the plants and herbs that clothe it, of the infinite tribes of beast and bird that dwell upon it. Something of the human body, its structure and functions, the human soul, its origin and meaning. Something of human societies in the past, of institutions and laws, of creeds30 and ideas, of the birth of civilisation31, of progress and evolution. Something, too, of the triumphs of art, of sculpture and painting, of the literature and the poetry of all races and ages. Her mind will be stored with the best thoughts of the thinkers. Morally, she will be free; her emotional development, instead of being narrowly checked and curbed32, will have been fostered and directed. She will have a heart to love, and be neither ashamed nor afraid of it. Thus nurtured33 and trained, she will be a fit mate for a free man, a fit mother for free children, a fit citizen for a free and equal community.
Her life, too, will be her own. She will know no law but her higher instincts. No man will be able to buy or to cajole her. And in order that she may possess this freedom to perfection, that she may be no husband's slave, no father's obedient and trembling daughter, I can see but one way: the whole body of men in common must support in perfect liberty the whole body of women. The collective guarantee must protect them against individual tyranny. Thus only can women be safe from the bribery34 of the rich husband, from the dictation of the father from whom there are "expectations." In the ideal State, I take it, every woman will be absolutely at liberty to dispose of herself as she will, and no man will be able to command or to purchase her, to influence her in any way, save by pure inclination35.
In such a State, most women would naturally desire to be mothers. Being healthy, strong, and free, they would wish to realise the utmost potentialities of their own organisms. And when they had done their duty as mothers, they would not care much, I imagine, for any further outlets36 for their superfluous37 energy. I don't doubt they would gratify to the full their artistic38 sensibilities and their thirst for knowledge. They would also perform their duties to the State as citizens, no less than the men. But having done these things I fancy they would have done enough; the margin39 of their life would be devoted40 to dignified41 and cultivated leisure. They would leave to men the tilling of the soil, the building and navigation of marine42 or aerial ships, the working of mines and metals, the erection of houses, the construction of roads, railways, and communications, perhaps even the entire manufacturing work of the community. Medicine and the care of the sick might still be a charge to some; education to most; art, in one form or another, to almost all. But the hard work of the world might well be left to men, upon whom it more naturally and fitly devolves. No hateful drudgery43 of "earning a livelihood44." Women might rest content with being free and beautiful, cultivated and artistic, good citizens to the State, the mothers and guardians45 of the coming generations. If any woman asks more than this, she is really asking less—for she is asking that a heavier burden should be cast on some or most of her sex, in order to relieve the minority of a duty which to well-organised women ought to be a privilege.
"But all this has no practical bearing!" I beg your pardon. An ideal has often two practical uses. In the first place, it gives us a pattern towards which we may approximate. In the second place, it gives us a standard by which we may judge whether any step we propose to take is a step forward or a step backward.
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1
redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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2
compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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3
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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4
onerous
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| adj.繁重的 | |
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5
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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6
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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7
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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8
maternity
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| n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的 | |
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9
complement
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| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
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10
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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11
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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12
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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13
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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14
celibates
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| n.独身者( celibate的名词复数 ) | |
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15
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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16
abstain
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| v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免 | |
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17
abstained
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| v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票） | |
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18
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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19
sanitation
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| n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备 | |
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20
strenuously
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| adv.奋发地，费力地 | |
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21
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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22
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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23
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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24
lissom
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| adj.柔软的，轻快而优雅的 | |
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25
cramping
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| 图像压缩 | |
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26
hamper
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| vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子 | |
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27
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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28
linguistic
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| adj.语言的，语言学的 | |
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29
orbs
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| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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30
creeds
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| （尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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31
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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32
curbed
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| v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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34
bribery
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| n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿 | |
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35
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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36
outlets
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| n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店 | |
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37
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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38
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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39
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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40
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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41
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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42
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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43
drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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44
livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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45
guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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