East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-07-29
SINGLE STANDARD
OF MORALS COMING
SAYS EUGENIST
WOMAN NOT INTENDED BY Ma
TURE TO BE SUPERIOR TO
MAN, BUT SHE is.
Loose Standard Responsible for
QuadrWpllng of Detective POpula-
tlOn-lSeadjustmcnt Of the sexes Isl
Now Possible, Necessary and Inev-
liable.
RY Erred S. FERGUSON.


SAN FRANCISCO; Calf, July 2s,-
Did God make women to be morally
superior to meng Prof. Thomas w,
shannon. president Of the Single
Standard Eugenie Movement and ed
itor of Practical Eugenics," thinks
not, And he says, unless men rise
to the higher plane Of morality which
obtains among women, the women
will soon sink to the lower plane OF
morality prevalent among men, or
both sexes will meet on a compro'
mise plane of morality, threatening
the vitality of the human race.
Prof. shannon, who had come on
from the headquarters of the move
ment Delaware, Ohio, to attend the
recent international Purity Congress, |
remained in the city few days to
see the fair
In every land, in all ages, among
all races" he said, "barbarous and
civilized peoples have held a higher
standard of morals for women than
men. In our penal Institutions seven
times as many men as women are
found Men drink barrel of whis-
key where women drink a pint; they
sow their wild oats where women SOW
purity and love, Are these social and
moral differences conclusive evidencel
that men are inherently more deprav-
ed than women? For ages mans
selfish interests have led him to af-
firm this. Women's aequiescent ma
ture and fondness for compliments
have led her to accept the opinion.
THAT women have been and are
better by practice than men l cheer
fully admit, that they are inherently
better, positively deny.
"A perverted public sentiment toll
crates and fosters the inconsistencies
of profanity, tobacco, alcohol and vice
I'M men and condemn these habits as
objectionable sins when INDUCED in
by women. BY practice men are less
consistent than women for no other
reason than that public sentiment
permits them. to be; women are bet
ter than men for no other reason than
that public sentiment compels it.
Savage selfishness placed woman
on a pedestal of purity from which
she could not afford to descend.
"Our savage ancestors stoned to
death the wayward woman and lei
the equally guilty man go free. We
socially ostracize the erring women
force her into obscurlty, into hideou'
diseases, an untimely death and ar
unmarked grave. For centuries We
4 have denied her child of unfortunate
birth the social and civil rights deal
to the heart of every human being
We permit the equally or more guilty
man to go unmolested and if h'
chooses, to become national reform
er
while we are doubling our norma
population We quadruple our defec
) tives. Every ten to fifteen years W.
double the capacity of our penal ant
feeble-minded Institutions. Eighty pc
cent of our children are physicall'
I defective at birth and more than tel
per cent are mentally defective II
childhood We are beginning to real
ize that we are facing a race crisis
We have imposed heavy taxes upol
the normal classes, forcing them t.
support a million pauper, crimina
and mental detectives, while we hav
left public sentiment encouraging IN
: chief causes of degeneracy. Dealin
with effects instead of removing tn
causes has been one of the suprem
weaknesses of reform effort.
IF the double standard of moral
is responsible for nine-tenths Of tn
; Inconsistencies practlced by men, an
these habits are responsible for min
: tenths Of race degeneracy, then tn
teaching of a consistent standard o
morals is the only practical and ra
tional solution of these problems
"A readjustment Of the sexes
now possible, necessary and newt
: able. When the natural restraint
forced upon women in the past sha
n have been fully removed, women wi
{ graviate to the level of men, or me
= must rise to the plane of respectabl
) womanhood or they will yield to eac
other and meet on a compromis
e plane.
o There are more men and wome
e of character today than ever befor
o While this is true, owing to the grac
II ual removal of unnatural restraint
= thrown about women in the pas
there is a marked and growing lei
j. dency among an ever increasing nun
Il ber of women to indulge In llpertlt
a formerly INDUCED in by men onl!
Unless this tendency is overcome .
j. the immediate and universay teacn
= ing Of a consistent single standard
l. morals. It will continue until the seA
= es meet on a low or compromls
e plane. In the past men and wome
d have lived on separate planes
the future they must rise and fall tc
! | pether"