Woman and Socialism

[Transcriber’s Notes:

This e-text is a translation of August Bebel’s “Die Frau und der
Sozialismus”.

Table column headings that have been supplied by the transcriber
are enclosed in [square brackets].

Bold text is denoted by ~tilde~, italic text by _underscores_, and
gesperrt (spaced-out text) by #pound signs#.]






  WOMAN AND SOCIALISM

  BY

  AUGUST BEBEL


  Jubilee [Decor: 50th] Edition


  AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY
  META L. STERN (HEBE)


  SOCIALIST LITERATURE CO.
  15 Spruce Street, New York
  1910






  Copyright, 1910
  by the
  SOCIALIST LITERATURE COMPANY
  New York




  [Printer’s Logo]
  The Co-Operative Press, 15 Spruce St., New York






CONTENTS


                                                             Page

  Introduction                                                  3

  WOMAN IN THE PAST.

  Chapter I.--_The Position of Woman in Primeval Society_       9
      1. Chief Epochs of Primeval History                       9
      2. Family Forms                                          14
      3. The Matriarchate                                      20

  Chapter II.--_Conflict between Matriarchate and
         Patriarchate_                                         28
      1. Rise of the Patriarchate                              28
      2. Traces of the Matriarchate in Greek Myths and
         Dramas                                                34
      3. Legitimate Wives and Courtesans in Athens             37
      4. Remnants of the Matriarchate in the Customs of
         Various Nations                                       44
      5. Rise of the State--Dissolution of the Gens in Rome    50

  Chapter III.--_Christianity_                                 56

  Chapter IV.--_Woman in the Mediaeval Age_                    63
      1. The Position of Women among the Germans               63
      2. Feudalism and the Right of the First Night            66
      3. The Rise of Cities--Monastic Affairs--Prostitution    69
      4. Knighthood and the Veneration of Women                75

  Chapter V.--_The Reformation_                                78
      1. Luther                                                78
      2. Results of the Reformation--The Thirty Years’ War     83

  Chapter VI.--_The Eighteenth Century_                        88
      1. Court Life in Germany                                 88
      2. Commercialism and the New Marriage Laws               90
      3. The French Revolution and the Rise of Industry        93

  WOMAN AT THE PRESENT DAY.

  Chapter VII.--_Woman as a Sex Being_                         96
      1. The Sexual Impulse                                    96
      2. Celibacy and the Frequency of Suicide                100

  Chapter VIII.--_Modern Marriage_                            104
      1. Marriage as a Profession                             104
      2. Decline of the Birthrate                             106
      3. Mercenary Marriage and the Matrimonial Market        110

  Chapter IX.--_Disruption of the Family_                     116
      1. Increase of Divorce                                  116
      2. Bourgeois and Proletarian Marriage                   124

  Chapter X.--_Marriage as a Means of Support_                132
      1. Decline of the Marriage Rate                         132
      2. Infanticide and Abortion                             135
      3. Education for Marriage                               140
      4. The Misery of Present Day Marriages                  147

  Chapter XI.--_The Chances of Matrimony_                     153
      1. The Numerical Proportion of the Sexes                153
      2. Obstacles to Marriage--The Excess of Women           164

  Chapter XII.--_Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution
         of Bourgeois Society_                                174
      1. Prostitution and Society                             174
      2. Prostitution and the State                           178
      3. The White Slave Trade                                188
      4. The Increase of Prostitution--Illegitimate
         Motherhood                                           193
      5. Crimes Against Morality and Sexual Diseases          204

  Chapter XIII.--_Woman in Industry_                          209
      1. Development and Extension of Female Labor            209
      2. Factory Work of Married Women--Sweatshop Labor and
         Dangerous Occupations                                222

  Chapter XIV.--_The Struggle of Women for Education_         233
      1. The Revolution in Domestic Life                      233
      2. The Intellectual Abilities of Women                  239
      3. Differences in Physical and Mental Qualities of Man
         and Woman                                            245
      4. Darwinism and the Condition of Society               253
      5.