The sun., 1908-01-12

penhauer. but the former advances reasons
for believing that these characteristics
are the outcome Of environment and he
redity. not Of fundamental femaleness.
At the same time. Prof. DensmOre would
not deny that Schopenhauer. drawing his
deductions from what he saw around him
in a given time and locality, put his finger
on a crucial spot, namely. that woman had
inherited and cultivated a body incapable
Of entering into competition with man in
artistic and intellectual pursuits on terms
in any way approaching equality. Our
author even comedies that although since
woman has entered into business and pro-
fessional pursuits she has greatly in
creased her efforts and with correspond
ing success-her success at all events is
becoming less exceptional-nevert
upon the whole the limitations remain
What is the remedy? Darwin, as we have
seen, has pointed out the necessity for
every earnest and intelligent mother to
encourage her daughters TO pursue those
activities that stimulate the development
alike Of the body and the brain.
II.
The book before us does not overlook
the remarkable argument put forward as
lately as 1901 in a work by DR.. Otto Vein
niger, which was translated and published
in London about a year ago. Weininger.
however. like Schopenhauer. deals not
with verified facts but with assumptions.
Thus he takes for granted that the normal
woman in always sexual and is always
absorbed in the contemplation Of marriage,
in match making. in children. and in the
management OF men through sexuality.
In Wagner's KUndry Weininger recog-
nized the most profound conception Of
woman in all literature. In her redemption
by the spOtless PdrsifdI the young phil
oSopher sees the way OF mankind marked
OUT. With Il he contrasts unfavorably the
programme of the modern feminist move
ment. and in conclusion returns to the
problem OF the sexes and. the possibility
of a highly moral relation between them, a
moral relation fundamentally different
from what is commonly understood by
love. In other words, Weininger shared
the old anchoritic horror Of woman He
declared that -womanly modesty is nothing
but prudery, that "a, an eXtraVagant denial
and insincere rejection Of her natural i'm
modesty. Whenever a woman evinces any
trace Of what could really be called
modesty hysteria is certainly answerable
for it." Again: "KundTy appealed often to
PdrsifdFs compassion for her yeArnings
But here we see the weakness Of sym
pathetic morality. which tries to grant
every desire Of those around, however
wrong such wishes may be-" According
to Weininger the fundamental question is:
How ought man TO treat woman? As she
herself desires to be treated. or as the true
moral idea would dictate? -If he is going
to treat her as she wishes he must beat her.
since she likes TO be hurt; he must hypno-
tize her. since she likes to be hypnotized:
he must prove to her by his attentions how
little he thinks Of himself, for she likes COM
pliments and has no desire to be respected
for herself The final chapter Of Weininger's
Woman and Mankind" closes with the
recommendation that mankind should OK
emplify the course that Pdrsiidl pursued
with KURdry-even to the extinction Of the
human race.
Our author finds il easy to answer that
while Weininger laid down the postulate
that woman is wholly sexual. where As
man is but partly sexual" he presently
encountered difficulties he encountered
women not in the least governed by sexual
considerations. How did he strive to sur
mount this difficulty? In his -Emanci-
psted Women" he averred that a woman's
demand for emancipation and her qualifica-
ton for IL are in direct proportion TO the
amount OF -maleness" in her, though he
never even attemp pied TO explain how a
woman may come by her possession Of
her alleged male elements" Il maintain
he said. that the real female element has
neither the desire nor the capacity for
emancipation in the sense Of craving to
acquire mans character. to attain his men,
tai and moral freedom, TO reach his real
interests and his creative powers All
those who are aiming at this real emancipa-
tion, all women who are justly famous and
are Of conspicuous mental ability, reveal
at the first glance Of an expert some Of the
anatomical characters Of the male, some eK-
ternal bodily resemblance 20 a man" Wein-
niger gives some illustrations. He recalls
that George Eliot had a broad, massive
forehead; that her movements, like her ex-
preston, were quick and decisive, and
lacked all wOmanly grace. The face Of
Lavinia Fontana was intellectual and de-
cided. but very rarely charming. while that
OF Rachel Ruysch was almost wholly mascu-
line. The biography Of that original poet
ess Annette Won Droste-HulschOff, speaks
Of her wiry. unwomanly frame, and Of her
face az being masculine. The authoress
and mathematician Sonia Kowalevska, like
Sappho had an abnormaly scanty growth
OF hair In Rosa Bonheur ne cannot detect
a single female trait as regards appear
Ance or character. and he reminds us that
Nine. Blavatsky was extremely masculine
in her appearance.
DIR. DensmOre. OF course, does not deny
that some emancipated women like Rosa
BOnheur and Nine. Blavatsky are quite
masculine in outward aspect. but he main
tains that the hypothesis Of environment
and sexual heredity upheld by Darwin and
Spencer accounts readily for such cases.
Meanwhile. he invites us to note that in
Weiningers list Of celebrated women are
found the names Of Nine. Lebrun. Mary
Somerville. Mrs. Browning and Marie
BashkirtSeh. who we're women Of q dis
tinctly feminine type. For these Vein
niger makes no effort to account.
Our author pays some attention also to
Charles Godfrey Lelands thesis that the
fundamental intelligence Of the two sexes
is radically different. but that there exists
in each sex just so much Of the others pecu-
liar mental characteristIcs and to Edward
Carpenters theory that in certain indi-
viduals there is such union or balance of
the feminine and masculine qualities that
they become to a great extent the interpre-
ters Of men and women 20 each other. Such
interpreters Carpenter considered indis-
pensabe for without them the two sexes