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

THE ART OF LOVEinstinct but on principle to eliminate any problems hereinvolved by reducing sexual activity to a mere routine,involving no deeper thought than is involved by eatingand drinking, or a mere amusement like dancing or tennis.But, as an acute exponent and critic of modern fashionsin life and love, Aldous Huxley, has truly remarked, followingRobert Burns: "Nothing is more dreadful than acold unimpassioned indulgence. And love infallibly becomescold and unimpassioned when it is lightly made."Moreover, it must be added, we do not really touch thewith, or with-problem of the adjustment of the sexes by thus reducinglove. We were far from Nature when, in the days now passingaway, we made the sexual act a duty,out, throwing in sentiment and romance but we areequally far away if we make it a routine or an amusement.Not only in civilized man, but in the physiological factsof Nature, even going beyond the mammals, we are hereconcerned with an act which normally evokes resistances,and demands for itscompletely satisfactory achievementboth passion and art. If we seek to disregard that essentialfact, one way or another we inevitably suffer.We are thus led to emphasize the therapeutic importanceof the art of love. In old days not only would suchemphasis have been impossible but the whole idea wouldnot have been intelligible. The art of love in this connectioncould be ignored or spurned, partly because the eroticneeds of the wife were never considered, partly becausethe erotic needs of the husband, it was generally conceded,could be gratified in silence outside marriage. But alongboth these linesour attitude has now changed. We aretending to concede to women the same erotic privilegesas to men; we are also tending to aspire after a monogamywhich, unlike our present system, may eventuallybe realand not nominal only. Thus it comes about that today the[345]