[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Pace Sir Maurice Amos,
the whole trend of psycho- analytical research proves abundantly to the open-minded that in the realm of sex what is natural is " axiomatically good." Just as people who have strict rules and " taboos " in their diet invariably suffer from indigestion through constant preoccupation with food, so the present conventions, which seek to maintain the fiction that gratification of the sexual sense is " immoral " except when the pretext is repro- duction, directly result in a universal obsession with sex which is inimical to the ends of civilization if that term be held to cover a concern for a full and fruitful life on the part of individuals and not merely a mechanism of regimenta- tion. This sex-obsession is manifested in two ways, directly and indirectly, to the enormous detriment of life in all countries which have adopted the Christian sex-ethic, and more especially the Anglo-Saxon, which, where hypocrisy is concerned, discover a genius for organization. Directly, it is responsible, e.g., for the practically universal indulgence in self - abuse among males before marriage with its fatal
attendant train of life-blight and guilt-feelings ; and, indirectly, it accounts for the morbid prudery and prohibitory mania displayed by more elderly people to whom more direct means of obeying the dictates of a primary impulse are denied. A tradition of culinary refinements and " good living " is characteristic of a high degree of civilization in nations and a guarantee against gastronomical excess. The same con- siderations apply with regard to good loving.
Lastly, it is ridiculous (again, and most appropriately, pace Sir Maurice Amos) to speak of men " realizing their nature in war." The sadistic and masochistic forces rampant in war-time are not symptomatic of a natural appetite seeking normal satisfaction, but are psychopathic manifestations in
which the neurosis of sex-repression plays a vital part.— West Holme Farm, Wareham, Dorset.
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