ported by
arguments, if that ever happens, they are of an antiquarian
character which can only call forth a pitying smile.

It may be added that there is a further reason why the custom of
branding sexual variations from the norm as "immoral" is not so
harmless as some affect to believe: such variations appear to be
not uncommon among men and women of superlative ability whose
powers are needed unimpeded in the service of mankind. To attempt
to fit such persons into the narrow moulds which suit the
majority is not only an injustice to them as individuals, but it
is an offence against society, which may fairly claim that its
best members shall not be hampered in its service. The notion
that the person whose sexual needs differ from those of the
average is necessarily a socially bad person, is a notion
unsupported by facts. Every case must be judged on its own
merits.

Undoubtedly the most common variation from normal monogamy has in all
stages of human culture been polygyny or the sexual union of one man with
more than one woman. It has sometimes been socially and legally
recognized, and sometimes unrecognized, but in either case it has not
failed to occur. Polyandry, or the union of a woman with more than one
man, has been comparatively rare and for intelligible reasons: men have
most usually been in a better position, economically and legally, to
organize a household with themselves as the centre; a woman is, unlike a
man, by nature and often by custom unfitted for intercourse for
considerable periods at a time; a woman, moreover, has her thoughts and
affections more concentrated on her children. Apart from this the
biological masculine traditions point to polygyny much more than the
feminine traditions point to polyandry. Although it is true that a woman
can undergo a much greater amount of sexual intercourse than a man, it
also remains true that the phenomena of courtship in nature have made it
the duty of the male to be alert in offering his sexual attention to the
female, whose part it has been to suspend her choice coyly until she is
sure of her preference. Polygynic conditions have also proved
advantageous, as they have permitted the most vigorous and successful
members of a community to have the largest number of mates and so to
transmit their own superior qualities.

"Polygamy," writes Woods Hutchinson (_Contemporary Review_, Oct.,
1904), t