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Within this last century, "the woman's century," the century of the great awakening, the rising demand for freedom, political, economic, and domestic, we are beginning to write real history, human history, and not merely masculine history. But that great branch of literature Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and all down later times, shows beyond all question, the influence of our androcentric culture.

The ideas of the past, the sentiments of the past, the attitude and prejudices of the past, are in our way; and among them none more universally mischievous than this great body of ideas and sentiments, prejudices and habits, which make up the offensive network of the androcentric culture.

It is not only that we have reduced the play impulse in women by restricting them to one set of occupations, and overtaxing their energies with mother-work and housework combined; and not only that by our androcentric conventions we further restrict their amusements; but we begin in infancy, and forcibly differentiate their methods of play long before any natural distinction would appear.

"Women do not understand politics," we are told; "Women do not care for politics;" "Women are unfitted for politics." It is frankly inconceivable, from the androcentric view-point, that nations can live in peace together, and be friendly and serviceable as persons are.

But we have hindered, perverted, temporarily checked that growth, age after age; and again and again has a given nation, far advanced and promising, sunk to ruin, and left another to take up its task of social evolution; repeat its errors and its failure. One major cause of the decay of nations is "the social evil" a thing wholly due to the androcentric culture.

As life widened and intensified, the artist, if great enough, has transcended sex; and in the mightier works of the real masters, we find fiction treating of life, life in general, in all its complex relationships, and refusing to be held longer to the rigid canons of an androcentric past. This was the power of Balzac he took in more than this one field.

Furthermore they put forth those naively androcentric protests, women cannot fight, and in case their laws were resisted by men they could not enforce them, therefore they should not vote! What they do not so plainly say, but very strongly think, is that women should not share the loot which to their minds is so large a part of politics.

That we have progressed thus far, that we are now moving forward so rapidly, is in spite of and not because of our androcentric culture. In the change from the dominance of one sex to the equal power of two, to what may we look forward? What effect upon civilization is to be expected from the equality of womanhood in the human race? To put the most natural question first what will men lose by it?

Grave professors, in lecture and clinic, as well as grinning students, used offensive language, and played offensive tricks, to drive the women out a most androcentric performance.

The elaborate shading of "the color line" in slavery days, from pure black up through mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, quinteroon, griffada, mustafee, mustee, and sang d'or to white again; was not through white mothers but white fathers; never too exclusive in their tastes. Even in slavery, the worst horrors were strictly androcentric. "Society" is strictly guarded that is its women are.