Married Love

Taken in context of today's views on the subject, this book is hilarious yet frightening. M.C. Stopes produced what in 1918 must have been considered a scandalous and filthy tome, which discusses certain private aspects of married life in detail.

Many of the author's views are quite progressive. Subjects such as equality of self exploration and expression between the sexes are discussed as being vital to the establishment of a healthy relationship. The radical notion that wives should be allowed to read those books they desire is also mentioned. It also contains the astonishing revelation that women are physically able to enjoy marital relations and it may be the shortcomings of their husbands that prevents some from fully appreciating the joy of it.

In this regard, the book is quite refreshing. However, one must think these ideas would have been dangerous at the time of their publication and it was they, rather than the purely scientific explanations of the biological act which saw this book banned.

Though this book seems as though it were a serious study, some of the medical opinions are, of course, preposterous and laughable. That a married couple sharing a bed would be considered detrimental to the health and well being of both is rather amusing. The differentiation between the "English speaking races" and "others" such as the "Scandinavians" caused me to snort and chuckle with delight in its absurdity.

And yet some of the bold, immutable and blind ignorance of 1918 persists even in modern society. This is the frightening aspect of the book and many times I found my laughter and sense of modern superiority tempered by dread at how little we seem to have progressed in the area of education on the subjects discussed in this book.

I did find it somewhat humbling to consider that the science of today will likely become comic in later years.

As a serious scientific work, this book fails to deliver. There are far too many anecdotes and not enough hard evidence for many of the wild positions taken by Stopes. Perhaps this was due to the time in which it was written and the shame people attached to certain aspects of the content. However, it is odd to read with today's skepticism and I found myself longing for data to back up the author's claims.

In all, this was a brief and amusing book that appealed at once to my sense of humor, my critical personality and my interest in history. It was worth the read.

Great book!