Counsel to Parents on the Moral Education of Their Children.
Blackwell On The Importance Of Sexual Education
Blackwell, Dr. Elizabeth. Counsel to Parents on the Moral Education of Their Children. New York: Brentano’s Literary Emporium, 1879.
8vo.; final blanks dampstained; brown cloth; spine sunned; covers dampstained. In a specially made quarter-morocco slipcase.
First edition of Blackwell’s work on “the moral education of youth considered in relation to sex.” In a prefatory note addressed, “To Parents,” Blackwell admits that her subject is “so vast, and of such vital importance to the race, that only an outline can be attempted in this little work.” However, she claims that her experiences lecturing on the physical education of girls made her realize that this second topic is “of equal importance to the health of a nation.” She writes,
It is with a keen sense of responsibility that I venture to lay before the wide community of parents a subject which must necessarily bring forward questions not generally considered suitable for public instruction. I know, however, from long medical experience, that such instruction is now needed, and ought no longer to be withheld by physicians. If not given by those authorized to give it—those who are immediately responsible for the health of the nation—it will be given by those who are not qualified to instruct; given in a wrong way, and with injurious results. …(pp. 5-6)
As “[t]he instinct of sex always exists as the indispensable condition of life and the foundation of society,” Blackwell contends, and as it is “[t]he strongest force in human nature,” it must finally be addressed. She laments the fact that “[i]n whatever concerns the subject of sex, customs are blindly considered sacred, and evils deemed inevitable,” and that “[t]he mass of mankind seems moved with anger, fear, or shame, by any efforts made to consider seriously this fundamental idea” but feels that the time is at hand for a change of course (pp. 10-11). The final paragraph of her introduction, sounding several prescient notes, merits quoting in full:
The family, being the first simple element of society—the first natural product of the principle of sex—the whole structure of society must depend upon the character of that element, and the powers that can be unfolded from it. Morality in sex will be found to be the essence of all morality, securing principles of justice, honor, and uprightness in the most influential of all human relations: and as it is all-important in life, so it is all-important in the education which prepares for life. A great social question lies, therefore, at the foundation of the moral education of youth, and influences more or less directly each step of education, and it is indispensable to consider the relation of this subject to the various stages of education; and the methods by means of which education may guide and strengthen youth in their entrance into wider social life. (p. 12)
Blackwell divides her “counsel” into two parts. In Part One, she addressees two questions: “What is the true standard for the relation of men and women—the type which contains within itself the germ of progress or continual development?” And, “Is this standard attained, or attainable by human beings?” Throughout her examination of these issues, Blackwell directs the reader to other sources for more detailed information, and footnotes many of her assertions with recent legal rulings, scientific and philosophical papers, and international analogies. In Part Two of her argument, Blackwell asks if Virtue is both desirable and practicable, and again backs up her claims with outside sources which she urges her readers to consult. These two parts culminate in a short list of propositions, based on her “proofs” of the benefits of early chastity and later monogamous sexual relations within the context of marriage. In addition, Blackwell here defines the roles of mothers and fathers in guaranteeing the national morality, and points out as “fundamental
Print Inquire
