[111]
This ignorance has been fostered by the fact that women, often disguise
even to themselves the real state of their feelings. One lady remarks that
while she would be very ready for coitus during menstruation, the thought
that it is impossible during that time makes her put the idea of it out of
her mind. I have reason to think that this statement may be taken to
represent the real feelings of very many women. The aversion to coitus is
real, but it is often due, not to failure of sexual desire, but to the
inhibitory action of powerful extraneous causes. The absence of active
sexual desire in women during the height of the flow may thus be regarded
as, in part, a physiological fact, following from the correspondence of
the actual menstrual flow to the period of _pro-oestrum_, and in part, a
psychological fact due to the aesthetic repugnance to union when in such a
condition, and to the unquestioned acceptance of the general belief that
at such a period intercourse is out of the question. Some of the strongest
factors of modesty, especially the fear of causing disgust and the sense
of the demands of ceremonial ritual, would thus help to hold in check the
sexual emotions during this period, and when, under the influence of
insanity, these motives are in abeyance, the coincidence of sexual desire
with the menstrual flow often becomes more obvious.[112]
It must be added that, especially among the lower social classes, the
primitive belief of the savage that coitus during menstruation is bad for
the man still persists.
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