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active attraction of men, and by a subtle technique that is not by any means apathetic take the initiative in courtship.
This undeniable evidence of sexual interest and activity in woman in the pre-marriage state is analogous to the normal sexual activity of woman in the conjugal relations. It is her privilege to actively participate and find pleasure in sexual congress equally as much as it is the man's. Montaigne went as far as to say that women are "more ardent in love than men." Certainly their eroticism is more extensive, and diffused.
It is vitally important to the success of love in marriage that both husband and wife have an adequate knowledge of the physical and psychological requirements of the sexual union, upon which so much stress has been laid in this chapter. The wooing, the loving preparedness, the physiological preparation of the organs for contact, the mutual responsiveness, and the solicitous care of the husband for the wife's feelings in the matter, are fundamental.
While it is true that the man takes the initiative and, if an understanding lover, holds the guiding hand in sexual congress, the sensible woman desirous of realizing the greatest happiness in married life, will recognize her function and be an active participant.
Malchow (The Sexual Life) sums this phase of the problem up as follows: "The woman cannot properly fill her position as wife unless she is competent to supply what is necessary for the satisfaction of the sexual function. By giving that which gratifies the dictates of normal manhood, she will discharge her womanly obligation and bring upon herself a condition that is healthful and, therefore, attractive, together with such a mental state as will make her disposition admirable and amiable. First of all she should remember her humanity and judiciously keep in