William Isaac Thomas

Sex and Society William Isaac Thomas

This suggestive and stimulating volume by Professor Thomas gives us a new interpretation of the character and origin of some of our social institutions and occupational activities. It is an attempt to explain certain important facts of social life as originating in the physical, biological, and psychological differences between man and woman. The various chapters are disconnected in the character of their subject-matter - each chapter being a complete study - but ." . . the general thesis running through all of them is the same - that the differences in bodily habit between men and women, particularly the greater strength, restlessness, and motor aptitude of man, and the more stationary condition of woman, have had an important influence on social forms and activities, and on the character and mind of the two sexes" (Author's Note). In this work Professor Thomas has made the first attempt to develop a scientific unified theory regarding the influence of sex in social life and activity. While the basic evidence of the author's theory is somewhat fragmentary and as yet incomplete, the inferences and deductions made are on the whole conservative. The last two chapters, on "The Adventitious Character of Woman" and "The Mind of Woman and the Lower Races," are of peculiar value to the student who is analyzing the social position and influence of modern woman. The limitation which existing conventions and prejudices place upon woman and the social results of these limitations are described and analyzed. The new view-point of recognizing sex as a fundamental factor in social life, and the development of a scientific theory of the influence of sex from that standpoint, make a suggestive contribution to scientific thought along these lines. The book is to be commended to all those who are interested in sex problems and sex relations. - James G. Stevens, The Sewanee Review, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Oct., 1915).