The Field Of Sex And Family

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31089, 18 June 1966, Page 4

The Field Of Sex And Family

The Family and the Sexual Revolution. Edited by Edwin M. Schur. 427 pp. Allen and Unwin.

Here is a book which demands from the layman intense concentration and sustained effort. At times the terminology threatens to become overwhelming. A random example of the kind of prose typical of many of the writers follows: “In almost all sex revolutions on a mass scale, the increase of motivational power of sex drive is due mainly to the weakening of the controls of the psychosocial factors or values, and the replacement of the inhibitive psychosocial factor-values by those that approve sex passion, sex prowess, and more varied sex relations.” But if it is at times a difficult book, it is proportionately rewarding, and those who persevere will find it a very stimulating point of departure for further reading, discussion, and thought. It consists of a series of extracts from the works of various writers—most of them sociologists—relevant to the central theme of change in the structure of the family, of attitudes towards sex, women, and birth control. The editor has attempted to draw from every major body of opinion, and consequently the book contains some violently conflicting theories. The subject is bound to arouse strong

feelings, since most people are prejudiced to a degree by their own up bringing and experiences. Indeed, the social scientists themselves are inevitably affected in the same manner to some extent, however impartial they desire to be —and this is another fact which makes such a study all the more interesting and none the less authentic. The fact that two highly educated men or women can take an identical series of facts and draw conclusions which are diametrically opposed, is in itself a perfect example of the confusion of our attitudes in this field of sex and family. Although, on the whole, twentieth century Western society is evolving in general a more liberal attitude to sex, our values are still hopelessly contradictory and entangled. For instance there is little consistency behind the laws relating to sexual offences in the United States. The traditional standard of absolute chastity before marriage has to be reconsidered in view of the ready availability of contraceptives. There is considerable disparity between the way we are officially expected to act and the way we actually do behave. Accepted norms are found by some writers to be illogical at best—Bertrand Russell, for example, considers petting and necking to be perversions forced on young people by convention. Other writers believe that masturbcurrently frowned on by authority, can be harmless, helpful and an innocent way to relieve tension.

A. S. Neill 'is an extremist who does not protect himself with the conventional wall of qualifications and equivocations: he states firmly that if all little girls and boys were actively encouraged in sexual exploration and experiments, there would be an end to homosexuality, flagellation and other perversions, neurosis, impotence, frigidity—and war. At the opposite end of the spectrum of opinion is Pitlrim A. Sorokin, who interprets the new spirit of inquiry into all matters of sex as one of many symptoms of a society si<’ with an obsession with sex. He believes that “our sex freedom is beginning to degenerate into

anarchy.” Although they express such totally opposite opinions, Neill and Sorokin share a profound concern about our society as it exists at the moment, and both consider that our attitudes towards sex are at the heart of the matter. Other topics which are discussed with just as much vehemence in this book are the role of parents, the history of contraceptives, the sex life of the working class woman in America, and woman’s new place in society. The latter is a subject which has lately aroused an enormous amount of interest, and several fascinating chapters are devoted to it.

One very challenging section of the book deals with life in the kibbutz. In these now well-established communities, parenthood is regarded as a profession, and trained girls care for groups of children of similar chronological age. The children appear to grow up free from the neuroses which are associated with the intense emotional involvement of a normal Western home, and their parents have the pleasure of enjoying their friendship and affection without the strain of coping with their needs for twenty-four hours a day. Although the writer of this chapter, Bruno Bettelheim does not advocate that we all cast aside the conventional family pattern, he rightly asserts that we have a great deal to learn from the serious attitude which the Israelis bring to the education of children. We

drift into parenthood, usually bringing up our children by a sort of trial and error method, although it should be regarded as a very serious vocation. This is not a book which claims to offer a solution to all, or any, of our problems as sexual partners or as parents. It is a book which ought to force us to begin trying to solve them for ourselves.