Sex efficiency through exercises : special physical culture for women / by Th. H. van de Velde ; [photos, by E. Steinemann].

so fail; for the taboo set up by religion and social custom against the investigation or discussion of sexual matters " blinkered " them and rendered them blind to any but the reproductive and the pathological aspects of the feminine genitalia. But neurologists have found ample occasion to recognise the extent of the influence exercised by inferiority or inadequacy in the essential feminine organs or functions on the whole human personality. This may sometimes be observed in an unmistakable manner in cases of sterility, especially of sterility which has at first been voluntarily sought and then irrevocably regretted.(42) And we have already attended to the grievous results of the disappearance or disfigurement of the breasts through neglect after mater- nity. But genital inferiority feelings manifest themselves most strongly when their centre of disappointment or humiliation is the sexual act itself. This is even the case when the woman does not love her partner or does not desire sexual pleasure per se, or rather, imagines that she despises it ! How much more so, then, where there is both the ardent wish to give pleasure to the beloved man, and to experience that pleasure herself, but where ignorance, psychic repres- sions or physical defects make it impossible to realise that wish ! Indeed, such a reduced feminine potentiality or ineffective womanhood, especially in specific sexual inadequacy, rouses inferiority complexes which may injure the whole feminine organism, bodily and psychically, and have unfavourable and often very serious repercussions on individuals, institutions and communities. But enhanced or accentuated potential womanhood, bringing full capacity to achieve and enjoy normal married life, technically as well as in other respects, and the consciousness of being able to pass through pregnancies and births, without loss of sexual sensation or charm for the marriage partner, must give women a wholesome and justifiable sense of security and pride in themselves. This ease of mind and pride will make them happy helpmates in every sense ; will enable them to understand the children they bear and love, and to bring the distinctive qualities and experiences of their