Sex Education

SEX complex is to-day steadily gaining ground in Gujarat as in the rest of India. And what is more, those who fall under its sway feel as if there is something meritorious about it. When a slave begins to take pride in his fetters and hugs them like precious ornaments, the triumph of the slave-owner is complete. But this success of Cupid, spectacular though it may be, will, I am convinced, prove to be short-lived and ignoble, and at last end in inanition even like a scorpion whose venom is spent. But that does not mean that we can, in the meantime, afford to sit with folded hands. The certainty of its defeat need not, must not, lull us into a false sense of security.

The Conquest of Lust

The conquest of lust is the highest Endeavour of a man or woman's exist-ence. Without overcoming lust, man cannot hope to rule over self. And without rule over self, there can be no Swaraj or Ramaraj. Rule of all without rule of oneself would prove to be as deceptive and disappointing as a painted toy-mango, charming to look at outwardly but hollow and empty within. No worker who has not overcome lust, can hope to render any genuine service to the cause of Harijans, communal unity, Khadi, cow-protection or village reconstruction. Great causes like these cannot be served by intellectual equipment alone ; they call for spiritual effort or soul-force. Soul-force comes only through God's grace, and God's grace never descends upon a man who is slave to lust.

Place in Educational System

What place has then instruction in sexual science in our educational system, or has it any place there at all : Sexual science is of two kinds, that which is used for controlling or overcoming the sexual passion, and that which is used to stimulate and feed it. Instruction in the former is as necessary a part of child's education, as the latter is harmful and dangerous and fit, therefore, only to be shunned. All great religions have rightly regarded 'Kama' as the arch-enemy of man, anger or hatred coming only in the second place. According to the Gita, the latter is an offspring of the former. The Gita, of course, uses the word 'Kama' in its wider sense of desire. But the same holds good of the narrow sense in which it is used here.

Function of Generative Organs

This, however, still leaves unanswered the question, i.e., whether it is desirable to impart to young pupils a knowledge about the use and function of generative organs. It seems to me that it is necessary to impart such knowledge to a certain extent. At present, they are often left to pick up such knowledge anyhow, with the result that they are mislead into abusive practices. We cannot properly control or conquer the sexual passion by turning a blind eye to it. I am, therefore, strongly in favour of teaching young boys and girls the significance and right use of their generative organs. And, in my own way, I have tried to impart this knowledge to young children of both sexes for whose training I was responsible.

Sublimation of Sex Passion

But the sex education that I stand for must have for its object the conquest and sublimation of the sex passion. Such education should automatically serve to bring home to children the essential distinction between man and brute, to make them realize that it is man's special privileged and pride to be gifted with the faculties of head and heart both ; that he is a thinking no less than a feeling animal, as the very derivation of the word shows, and to renounce the sovereignty of reason over the blind instincts is, therefore, to renounce a man's estate. In man, reason quickens and guides the feeling, in brute, the soul lies ever dormant. To awaken the heart is to awaken the dormant soul, to awaken reason, and to inculcate discrimination between good and evil.

Science of Sex Control

Who should teach this true science of sex ? Clearly, he who has attained mastery over his passions. To teach astronomy and kindred sciences, we have teachers who have gone through a course of training in them and are masters of their art. Even so must we have as teachers of sexual science, i.e., the science of sex control, those who have studied it and have acquired mastery over self. Even a lofty utterance, that has not the backing of sincerity and experience, will be inert and lifeless, and will utterly fail to penetrate and quicken the hearts of men, while the speech that springs from self-realization and genuine experience is always fruitful.

To-day, our entire environment—our reading, our thinking, our social behaviour—is generally calculated to sub-serve and cater for the sex urge. To break through its coils is no easy task. But it is a task worthy of our highest endeavour. Even if there are a handful of teachers endowed with practical experience, who accept the ideal of attaining self-control as the highest duty of man, and are fired by a genuine and undying faith in their mission, and are sleeplessly vigilant and active, their labour will light the path of the children of Gujarat, save the unwary from falling into the mire of sexuality and rescue those who might be already engulfed in it.

- Harijan : Nov. 21, 1936