Nothing could be more fallacious. Even a cursory glance at the customs of various nations and races ought to expose the untenability of this bold assertion. To pick out only a few salient examples from an overwhelming mass of material, we may cite peoples among whom chastity is required of the single man, while the girls are completely unrestrained in their sexual life. Some tribes do not exact fidelity even from the married woman. So little value is placed on chastity by many tribes, that to offer a wife or daughter to a visitor for the night is a sacred duty of hospitality, and to decline the favor is to give mortal offense. Thus we are told of the Asiatic Chukchis: "They offer to travelers who chance to visit them, their wives, and also what we should call their daughters' honor, and resent as a deadly affront any refusal of such offers" (Erman).
The Indian Chinooks lend their wives and daughters for a
fish hook or a strand of beads, and to decline the offer is to offend the lady and insult the
whole tribe. The Bushman husband often accords his wife permission to cohabit with a
stranger, and the Greenland Esquimaux call a man noble and good tempered if he lends his
wife to his friends. They also consider it a mark of great friendship for two men to exchange
wives temporarily; and the Chippewayans, who have the same custom, esteem such an
exchange as one of the strongest ties of affection between two families.
While these savages attach so little importance to the purity of their women, others go
a step further and consider chastity in the bride a downright disgrace, being evidence of her
unpopularity with men. The Chibchas "think their virgin brides unfortunate and without
luck, as they had not inspired affection in men: accordingly, they dislike them as miserable
women."
Frequently, absolute freedom before marriage is found co existent with great strictness
afterward. The same Chibcha husband who is grieved because his bride is a virgin, becomes
very sensitive to infidelity in his married life. Among the Koniagas, a single woman is
unrestricted in her sexual relations with men, but once married, she must be faithful to her
husband; and the same is reported about many other tribes.
An interesting compromise between complete liberty and rigid fidelity has been struck
by certain Arabs, among whom marriage is for a part of the week, usually four days (if the
bride's mothers is an able bargainer, she may succeed in making this interval only two days);
the remaining time belongs to the wife, who is free to indulge in amorous adventures, and it
is even said that her husband feels flattered if she has many intrigues on her off days. The
same significance as a transitional stage may be attached to a rather common custom in
various countries of permitting complete sexual liberty to men and women on certain yearly
festivals, tho strict chastity is enforced at all other times.
Lest it be retorted that such standards are inconceivable in a civilized nation, we may
here refer to the Japanese. So free are they from our squeamishness, that obedience and
self abnegation are rated above chastity in their hierarchy of virtues. In one of their most
popular historic dramas, the heroine voluntarily sells herself to the proprietor of a brothel in
order to retrieve her family's fortunes. Such episodes used to be quite common place, and the
custom of selling daughters for a specified period is alleged to be far from extinct even today.
No disgrace attaches to the girl, who returns to her family afterwards; on the contrary, she
is honored for her filial sacrifice. Equally familiar is the Japanese institution of temporary
marriages. It is quite customary for Europeans who visit Japan to marry native girls for a short
period, and dissolve the union on leaving the country.
A Russian writer tells the true story of an army officer who contracted such a marriage with a young and beautiful girl of good
family. He was so enchanted with his fair consort that he resolved to make the union
permanent. Urgent duties called him away for a few months, and he spent the interval in
dreaming of their future bliss. On his return, a most affectionate meeting takes place. In the
midst of tender caresses the delighted husband notices a young man packing his effects and
preparing to leave. "Who is that?" he inquires. "Oh, don't mind him", replies the smiling wife.
"He has to go now. I admitted him only on condition that he depart at once when you come
back". This ingenuous confession breaks the officer's heart, and he deserts the dearly loved
woman. She, too, is grief stricken, yet totally incapable of understanding his indignation.
"Had you only told me it would hurt your feelings", she exclaims sorrowfully before the final
parting.