Not to pile on our fair shoulders what we do not wish to bear!
But, oh, most generous brother! let us look a little more—
Have we women always wanted what you gave to us before?”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
I have said that the women who are in the movement are craving2 two things, knowledge and scope. Many of those who are obstructing3 the movement are loud in their professions that they, too, want women to know more—about “womanly” matters; that they, too, desire that women should be allowed to do—what they are “fit” for. And when the inquirer asks what is womanly, and who is to be the arbiter4, the reactionary5 replies, with a pitying smile, that it is surely not necessary at this period in the world’s history to ask what is womanly, and that the inquirer is rather perverse6 than honest; that human nature is the same all the world over, and much more particularly female human nature; that wise men down all the ages have written books showing that women are instinctive7 rather than logical, governed by the emotions, devoted8 to the individual and[21] regardless of the whole, incapable9 of concerted action; and that these properties of woman, at any rate of normal woman, are specially10 devised by Nature for the making of good mothers and for nothing else, and that, moreover, the burden of motherhood which Nature has imposed upon women is so great that they have, or should have, no time or capacity for anything outside the exercise of that function.
I wish to declare at the outset that in my opinion any speculations11 about women, any schemes for their education and their life-conditions which do not take into account the fact that they alone can be the mothers of the race, are thereby12 rendered worthless and foolish. We have not to consider one generation only; even if some philosophers desire to do so, and if individuals here and there, as they do and always will, achieve it, the greatest of all impulses will drive to reproduction, and the strongest of all desires, after those for self-preservation and self-fulfilment (and frequently even before these), will be the desire of re-living in the children and re-living better than now. I use the word re-living not to mean that there is any survival of the conscious personality of the individual in successive generations, but to suggest the imaginative and purely13 altruistic14 contemplation of future generations which shall reap where we have sown; this, I believe, is one of the deepest and purest of those motive15 forces which lie beyond explanation or[22] justification16. And when I have said this is my opinion, I wish to add that in a large and varied17 experience of the so-called feminist18 movement, in England and abroad, I have found the importance of motherhood more fully19 understood and more religiously proclaimed by the women in the movement than by any other women. That they are in revolt against much that law and custom have laid upon motherhood is undoubted; also that they understand motherhood in a far wider sense than the vulgar one, and that they do not regard it as a specialised or vocational affair. It has been customary to divide female humans into women and mothers; this is altogether false. Women should not be trained to be mothers; to do so at once introduces all sorts of arbitrary limitations and restrictions20 and hampers21 the very mission it is designed to serve. Women should be trained to be whole human beings; the measure of a woman’s motherhood, like the measure of her love, is the measure of her whole nature. Cramp22 her nature, limit her activities, and you cramp and limit her love and her motherhood.
Of course the reactionary replies that we are demanding for women more than men have. That, if women have this great burden of motherhood, which men have not, the rest of the load must be lightened in proportion. We may all heartily23 agree that the load should be lightened, but who is to decide upon that portion of it from which women are to be exempt24? Men only? Do we[23] not find that reactionaries25 describe as a burden and a care what progressives regard as a tool or a weapon? There are people now, who, knowing that men have thought the franchise26 of such supreme27 importance that they have rioted and fought and died during centuries of the world’s history for the right to choose who should be their rulers, yet assert that to give women an equal share in that choice would be to impose a fresh burden upon them! In effect these people claim that women do their work better when it is left to men to decide what that work shall be and under what conditions it shall be performed; that, although woman is the guardian28 of the race, and bears the burden of motherhood, it is still to be left to man to dictate29 the terms of motherhood.
To us, on the other hand, it seems that no distinction of race or class is so fundamental and ineradicable as the distinction of sex. Breeds may be mixed, a rich man may become poor, or a poor man rich; a man may begin life as an employed person, and end it as an employer, or vice30 versa; alone from the cradle to the grave, man is man and woman is woman. When I insist on this I do not overlook all the interesting and as yet unproven speculations that are made as to the varying degrees of maleness and femaleness that there may be in different individuals, nor do I subscribe31 to the endless cocksure generalisings upon sexual variation (for until we can separate acquired[24] from inherited characteristics, we shall never get very far); I am content to base the essential differences between men and women upon the known fact that their share in reproduction is different and produces difference of life, needs and temperament32. How is it possible then, more peculiarly in sex-relations, for men alone wisely to prescribe to women?
For example. Because willingness to sacrifice is one of the attributes of motherhood, it is too often assumed that the sacrifice of the woman must be for the good of the race. Nature gives to each child two parents; man in his wisdom makes the laws which assign one only, mother or father, as may be most expedient33 for him,—never both,—and when he discusses racial problems, he is very apt to attribute any shortcomings to the woman, who “has only one task to perform and performs that badly.” He forgets that the child may inherit not only personal qualities but racial poisons from the father as from the mother, and that the liberty he denies the woman in sexual relations (giving as his reason the sacredness of the home and the family) has too often been used by him to the great damage of the race. He forgets, too, that whereas fatherhood is voluntary, motherhood by far too often is not. He adds laws to laws, dealing34 with factories and workshops, and leaves the mother’s factory—the home—to take its chance in the sauve-qui-peut of industrialism. In Great Britain he contrives35 a National Health Insurance[25] Act and leaves out altogether from its compulsory36 provisions the health of the mother in the home, except for maternity37 benefit. In this same Insurance Act he arranges that the maidens38 shall pay for the widows, and the women shall pay for the unmarried mothers. And when death has removed the one parent whom the law allows, public provision and private charity alike have seldom any consolation39 to offer the widow who has lost her dearest, but to remove from her motherly care all or some of the children left to her (now undisputed) ownership. All these cruelties and absurdities40 are possible because of the subjection of women.
Reactionaries on the women’s question may be divided into sentimental41 and brutal42 reactionaries. The sentimentalists declare (very often in the same breath) that women are not in subjection, and that they like being in subjection, that progress lies along the lines of specialisation, and that women should not “interfere” with men’s work. Women, they aver43, are not inferior to men, but true economy is shown by increased division of labour: man’s to command, woman’s to obey. There is to be a specialisation in the virtues44, too. “Can we ever have,” asks Mr. Frederic Harrison pathetically, “too much sympathy, generosity46, tenderness and purity? Can self-devotion, long-suffering and affection ever be a drug in the market? Can our homes ever be too cheerful, too refined, too sweet and affectionate? And is it degrading the sex of[26] woman to dedicate her specially to this task?”[2] (To me it seems “degrading the sex” of man to suggest that he has no need to practise all these fine qualities, but that he will practise them vicariously through woman, who is to be dedicated47 specially to them.) The sentimentalists suggest that this willing service women have for centuries rendered to men, and been happy and good. The bold bad feminists48 have wantonly stirred up revolt, and peace and happiness will only return when they have been routed and the “awful rule and right supremacy” of man re-established.
I think we may dismiss without much argument the assertion that women are not in subjection, and indeed, sooner or later, the reactionary always gets tripped up on this ground. It is not possible to study our social institutions without coming to the conclusion that they are the result of the subjection of women and that many of them tend to perpetuate49 that subjection. It is inconceivable that women, of their free and enlightened will, would have chosen this position. That some women are found to maintain that it is not subjection and they like it, is only a proof of the mental and moral effects of subjection upon them. There is a brave spirit which declares that “Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage,” and much of women’s work has been done in that spirit. Exceptional women have triumphed over their prison[27] (at what cost the life of the Bront?s may show), but the world is not composed of exceptional women, and the mass of women have been degraded by the narrowness and irresponsibility of their lives. One is familiar with the idealistic assertion that no one can injure you except you yourself. It is a fine thing to hold to your sovereign will and force it to command your life, but who can look round on the world as it is and not see everywhere signs of how men and women degrade their fellows by cruelty, carelessness and greed? It sounds like cant50 to tell the girl and boy who have been reared in a slum and have never known decency51 that they need not have allowed themselves to be degraded. It sounds like cant to tell a woman she is not in subjection to men’s law when this law does not allow that she is the parent of the child she has borne, and when men can at any time, and do, deprive her of the inviolability of her own body and of the right to earn an honest livelihood52. No, it is not arguable whether women nearly all over the world (and certainly in England) are in subjection, and I do not intend to argue it. The only questions are, How came they so? Are the causes eternal and irremovable? Would it be well if they were removed?
I confess to a much higher regard for the honest brutalitarian than for the sentimentalist; for the man or woman who says candidly53 that women are subject to men because they are inferior to men, either physically54, or intellectually, or both. Even among these there is a tendency to allow, with a[28] shrug55, the moral superiority of women, and one is left wondering whether this admission shows the greater contempt for women or for morality. But a few thinkers, more robust56 and far more logical (for a fine morality is not separable from intellectual force) go the whole way and assert that women as a whole are morally inferior to men as a whole. They say women are notoriously less brave and less truthful57 than men; their unselfishness is weakness or slavishness, their continence is due to coldness or compulsion. I propose to deal with the physical superiority of men in the next chapter. With regard to their mental and moral superiority, it is an interminable discussion, which is mostly conducted entirely58 by the light of one’s predispositions, and which leads nowhere. There does not seem much that can be profitably said about it except this: that until the incubus59 of brute60 force is removed from those who have a smaller share of it, we shall never know what other force they may have. Some of the faults attributed to women are manifestly the faults encouraged by subjection. Men’s standards have been applied61 to women, and it may be that they do not suit women. As barriers have been removed, so many of the old confident assertions about women have evaporated that the scientific mind will suspend judgment62 for a while. It is quite true that in music, painting, sculpture, poetry, no woman has ever yet attained63 to the highest that men have attained. It may be that women’s lack of genius in the arts is due to some[29] inferiority of mind, or it may be due to an essential incapacity for or an artificial prohibition64 of the passionate65, concentrated egoism, which alone can produce the greatest works of imagination. The special pleader against women will declare that if they had any capacity at all, it would have shown itself in music and painting, for young ladies have always been encouraged to sing and to play and to sketch66. And as for poetry, it is only necessary to have pencil and paper and—genius. As if the kind of parlour tricks that used to be expected of marriageable young ladies had any relation at all to creative art! The eighteenth century or early Victorian parent had a short way with any daughter who wished to take any art seriously. We know how Maria Edgworth humbly67 submitted to have her work blue-pencilled by her affectionate but inferior father, how Harriet Martineau suffered from the endless task of shirt-making, how Jane Austen hid her compositions under fancy work, lest visitors should suspect she was that unsexed thing, an artist.
But the whole discussion whether women are mentally inferior to men is indeed impertinent to the practical issue whether or no women should have their lives and work controlled by men. Only by liberty of action and scope for our powers can we develop healthily and harmoniously68, and the fact that so much of a woman’s life and experience lies altogether outside what a man can experience should surely make men a little diffident about[30] dictating69 conditions. The opportunity to develop is not a reward of virtue45 nor a prize for genius. Women, as well as men, should have the fullest possible opportunities for development, not because they are “equal” to men (a most unfortunate phrase), but because it is good business, socially speaking, to develop all your human as well as your material resources. The developed person will be more useful, more companionable, more reasonable, more happy and more amusing than the undeveloped. And if man be really the intellectual superior of woman, why should he fear her competition?
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1
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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obstructing
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| 阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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arbiter
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| n.仲裁人，公断人 | |
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reactionary
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| n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的 | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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altruistic
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| adj.无私的，为他人着想的 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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feminist
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| adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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hampers
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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cramp
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| n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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reactionaries
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| n.反动分子，反动派( reactionary的名词复数 ) | |
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franchise
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| n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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31
subscribe
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| vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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contrives
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| （不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的第三人称单数 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到 | |
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compulsory
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| n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的 | |
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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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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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absurdities
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| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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aver
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| v.极力声明；断言；确证 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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45
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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46
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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feminists
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| n.男女平等主义者，女权扩张论者( feminist的名词复数 ) | |
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49
perpetuate
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| v.使永存，使永记不忘 | |
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50
cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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51
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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52
livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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53
candidly
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| adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地 | |
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54
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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55
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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56
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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incubus
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| n.负担；恶梦 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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63
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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64
prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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66
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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67
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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68
harmoniously
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| 和谐地，调和地 | |
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69
dictating
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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