Psychology of sex - Total No. of Records in System :: 2032

MARRIAGEnot to marry at all, alike for the sake of themselves andof their partners, however difficult the problem of sexualgratification may be to them in the unmarried state; thereasons against marriage in the case of such persons becomeall the more emphaticif there is a highly developedsexual deviation which the partner may not be able togratify. But for the milder neuropathic cases these objectionshave less force, while the attraction is often so strongthat opposing advice has but a small chance of beingaccepted. In such cases the necessity of distinguishingbetween procreation and marriage becomes stringent.The necessity of birth control is now generally recognized,not only by those who do not desire to have childrenbut by those who do. The reason is that, both forthe sake of the mother and for the health and well-beingof the offspring, it is desirable that births should be properlyspaced, allowing at the least an interval of two yearsbetween births, while there are various legitimate reasons,economic or other, why those who marry early do not seetheir way to become parents immediately. The child,therefore, however much desired, should come at a timewhen the parents are best able to receive it and to carefor it. Moreover, the day of large families is over. Alikefor the sake of the family, and for the interests of thenation and the race, an average of between two and threefor each married couple suffices, and under the hygienicconditions of civilization isample to keep up the numberof the population. When, for any good reason, such asthe health of the mother or the existence in either parentof a bad heredity which should not be carried on, conceptioncannot be allowed, then strict birth control iscompulsory.We are not here concerned with methods of birth control.The literature of this subject[287]is now extensive,