The Marble times and Crystal silver lance., 1901-07-05
QUALITIES OF SEXES.
MASCULINE AND FEMININE
TRAITS COMPARED.
Certain Physical Qualities Not Exclusively
Confined to One Sex or tho Other
Their Virtues and Faults Are All
Merely Human.

From time immemorial, poets, phil
osophers, scientists, and essayists have
considered the psychic life of men and
women strictly differentiated accord
ing to sex. So deeply rooted has this
idea become even among the masses
that certain psychic characteristics are
generally believed to be typically mas
culine while others are considered
typically feminine. All qualities based
upon or kin to psychical or physical
strength are essentially attributed to
man, those growing out of depth and
intensity of sentiment to woman. Thus
one speaks of manly energy and vigor,
courage and pride; on the other hand.
of womanly devotion tenderness, res
ignation and modesty. There are,
however many cases in which an in
dividual is devoid of some or all char
acteristics believed to be typical of its
sex, while it displays many of the
characteristics attributed to the other
sex. Such cases are universally voted
anomalous exceptions, confirming the
general rule. 1t is one of the generally
accepted theories that sentiment and
imagination predominant in the
psychic life of woman; reason and will
power in that of man. Ever since the
beginning of the modern movement to-
ward emancipating woman, its oppo-
nents have used that arbitrary classifi
cation of psychic qualities according to
sex as weapon against that move
ment, which, they said would make
the man unmanly, the woman unwo-
manly. A careful and unprejudiced
investigation proves, however, that the
theory of a strict differentiation be-
tween the psychic characteristics of
man and woman is absolutely unten-
able and at variance with the methods
of nature. Regardless of all theories
to the contrary, each individual COM
bines in itself certain psychical quail
ties, and any attempt to classify the
latter according to sex must fail, owing
to the fact that no such quality is exclu-
sively confined to one sex or the other.
There are great many strong-minded
and physically courageous women in
this world, just as there are highly
sensitive and imaginative men. To
consider those men and women anoma-
lies is arbitrary and unjustifield. 1t is
undoubtedly true that among the civil
lied nations there is an apparent diff
ference in the psychical characteristics
of the two sexes. Certain qualities pre-
dominate in the masculine, others in
the feminine character However, this
differentiation is not a natural one,
but has gradually developed with the
progress of civilization. 1t does not
exist among primitive and uncivilized
races, but like moral ethics is the pro-
duct of thousands of years of expert
ence and heredity. Compared with the
profusion of expressions upon the sub
Ject of woman's peculiar characteris-
tics, barring a mans superiority of
physical strength. The latter has been
constantly referred to as the one quail
1ty which gave man the right of domi-
mating woman. A compilation of all
the expressions regarding the nature
and character of woman that have ever
cSSii AAAuC Woulu LII d So library.
Those expressions are remarkably con-
f1icting; some glorify, others vilify wo-
man, and few are just and unbiased.
The reason may be found in the fact
that three classes of men are princi-
pally represented among woman's
critics-those who do not love women.
those who love them excessively, and
those who are not loved by women.
From an ethical point of view there
are no specifically masculine or femi-
nine virtues or faults; they are all
merely human. The higher the moral
and intellectual development of a peo-
pie the more individual units will be
free from the typical faults and defici-
encies of both sexes, the more har-
moniously they will combine the typi-
cal virtues of both sexes.-Chicago
Tribune.