e male--The female is mainly
responsible for the race--The female led and the male followed
in the evolution of life.

CHAPTER II

THE ORIGIN OF THE SEXES

"Before studying the sexual relations, and their more or less
regulated form in human societies, it will not be out of place
to say a few words on reproduction in general, to sketch briefly
its physiology in so far as this is fundamental, and, to show
how tyrannical are the instincts whose formation has been
determined by physiological causes."--LETOURNEAU.

Let us now, as the first path of our inquiry, turn our attention to
that biological point of view which is indispensable and fundamental
if we are to understand those primary emotions, impulses and
differences of the sexes, of deep organic origin, which were rooted
long ago in the lowest forms of life, and hence were passed on to man
from his pre-human ancestors. No apology is needed for this inquiry;
for in these uncounted ancestral forces, dating back to the remote
beginnings of life, we shall find hints, at least, of many things
which lead up to and explain those problems which must be solved,
before we can determine the true position of woman in the complex
sexual relations of our social life. We cannot deny our lineage. The
force which drove life onwards from the start drives it still to-day.
The reproductive impulse is the chief motor of humanity; our seed is
eternal. And the point of view that I wish to make clear is that the
sex-impulses, which are, as few will deny, the base of the present
unrest among women, have an inconceivably long history, and thus
spring up within us with a tremendous organic momentum. To deny this
force is futile, to suppress it impossible; all that can be done is to
so regulate its expression that it may serve life instead of waste it.
Implanted in every normal life is an instinctive desire to function in
two ways: to grow and to reproduce, from the simple cell to the
highest type of life, including man and woman, these two desires are
essential and imperative. The irresistible Force of Life has been
inherited by us from millions of ancestral lovers. Only when furnished
with a re-interpretative clue to the origin of sex and its functioning
can we come to realise its strength and its beauty, far stronger, far
subtler, than we suspected before. It is the shirking of these
life-facts that has resulted so often in error.

And let no