The Little Review, June 1914 (Vol. 1, No. 4)

The Little Review, June 1914 (Vol. 1, No. 4)

A young American novelist stated the other day that the American woman is oversexed; that present-day modes of dress are all designed to emphasize sex; and that it is high time for a reaction against sex discussions, sex stories, and sex plays. But I think shes entirely mistaken. The American woman, speaking broadly, is pathetically undersexed, just as she is undersensitive and underintelligent. The last adjective will be disputed or resented; but its interesting once in a while to hear the thoughtful foreigners opinion of our intelligence. Tagore, for instance, said that he was agreeably surprised in regard to the American man and astonished at the stupidity of the American woman. As for our fiction and dramaweve had much about sex in the last few years, some of it intensely valuable, much of it intensely foolish; but its quite too early to predict the reaction. The really constructive work on the subject is yet to be done. And the pity of the whole thing is that the critics who keep lecturing us on our oversexedness dont realize that what theyre really trying to get at is our poverty of spirit, our emotional incapacities, our vanities, our pettinessesany number of qualities which spring from anything but too much sex. Nothing is safer than to say that the man or woman of strong sex equipment is rarely vain or petty or mean or unintelligent. But as a result of all this vague bickering, sex continues to shoulder the blame for all kinds of shortcomings, and the real root of the trouble goes untreatedeven undiagnosed. One thing is certain: until we become conscious that theres something very wrong with our attitude toward sex, well never get rid of the hard, tight, anmic, metallic woman who flourishes in America as nowhere else in the world. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 63809
Author: Various
Release Date: Nov 19, 2020
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Anderson, Margaret C., 1886-1973