Mack Reynolds - Equality - In the Year 2000

“Many women—as well as men—simply didn’t want children. They would interfere with their lives, their jobs, their entertainment. Fun was no longer a matter of quilting parties, church socials, and candy pulls. Women wanted to be out and doing, as their husbands had been out and doing for a long time.”

“But it’s an instinct to have children.”

“Yes, but not herds of them. In your day, a lot of people who had children didn’t want them, couldn’t afford them, couldn’t support them. When the new, more efficient birth control devices came along about 1960, the growth rate slowed considerably. Today, you can have children or not, as you wish. We have perfect birth control methods for both men and women. One shot makes you sterile indefinitely. If you change your mind, another shot makes you fertile again within twenty-four hours. We also have very competent sexual instruction in our schools. In the mid-twentieth century literally millions of young people went into marriage each year without the vaguest idea of just what a sexual relationship consisted of, let alone how to avoid conception. Largely, of course, these were the uneducated, under-educated, and especially those of conservative religious backgrounds.”

Julian was on the defensive, though he wasn’t sure why. He said, “Okay, that’s the story in the advanced nations. What happened in India and China?”

“Roughly the same thing, but it came about a little later. In countries such as India, the original reason for an exploding population also ended. In the days of small farms, the parents wanted large families to help, and to take care of them when they grew too old to work. But the small farmer was getting squeezed out, and his children were going to the cities and the manufacturing centers. As a result, the children became a drain on their parents rather than a help. You conceived and raised a child until it was in its teens and then it disappeared. Obviously, it was less than profitable.

“China? They were in the forefront of limiting population. Their dictatorial bureaucracy soon realized that the nation could not allow a population boom. As far back as half a century ago, young people were not encouraged to marry until a minimum of twenty-five years of age. Birth control methods were made readily available and they were one of the first countries to institute free abortions for all.”

They had finished their lunch and Edith put the dishes, utensils, napkins, etc. in the table center to sink away. When they went back into the living room, she sat down on the couch and Julian went over to the auto-bar. “Would you like a liqueur?” he asked.

“I’m not very keen on spirits, Jule.”

“I can recommend Kahlua, if they have it in your liquor supplies. It’s a Mexican drink based on coffee, and not too strong.”

“They probably have it. I’ll give it a try.”

He ordered verbally into the screen and shortly two cordial glasses of the dark brown, thick drink arrived. He brought them over and sat near to her.

She sipped, and pronounced it delicious.

He said, “Our being on the subject of children and birth control and so forth brought back to me something that you said the other day. When I was—was proposing to you, after you said that you had gotten a teenage crush on me when you saw me in stasis in the hospital—under glass, so to speak…”

She smiled. “Yes?”

“You told me that you no longer had love. But that’s ridiculous. The, human race has always had love. Why, it’s the finest of all emotions.”

“You misunderstood. What I said was that we no longer had love as you used the word. The relationship between man and woman has evolved. Some of the older institutions, such as marriage, have all but disappeared; engagements, marriage, divorce have become antiquated. Primitive man didn’t have marriage. It evolved when private ownership of property came along. A man wanted his property to descend to his own children, so he demanded that his wife be a virgin and, after marriage, sleep with no one but him. Strict laws were passed regulating marriage and the rights of men over women. But we have no private property now, beyond little personal things, so the need for either marriage or divorce has disappeared.”

“But love…?”

“Surprisingly enough, Jule, romantic love is a fairly recent development. The Crusaders, and especially the troubadours, brought it back with them to Europe from the Holy Land. If you remember your mythology, all that promiscuity and rape by the Greek gods and heroes could hardly be called love. It was simply lust or passion.”

“But love…”

“Think about it, Julian, and you’ll see how elastic a word it is. You love your mother, your father, your country, and possibly you love apple pie. Is that the same feeling you claim you have for me? Possibly you love a parade, too, but would you want to go to bed with one?”

“Well, you certainly haven’t given up sex.”

“Of course not. It’s one of the most important elements in life. We begin educating our children about sex as soon as they can comprehend it. I had my first sex tutor when I was fourteen.”

He looked at her with a complete lack of understanding. “You had your first sex tutor at fourteen,” he repeated uncomprehendingly.

“Yes, my first sex instructor.”

He imagined that he was still misunderstanding her. “You mean actual instruction?”

“Yes. The age varies somewhat, since young people mature at different ages. I was fourteen when I applied for a sex tutor, after I had been medically checked out to see whether I was fully adult in my body’s development; it’s all done very carefully, since it’s of so much importance. Then I had my hymen surgically removed and was given my birth control injection.”

“You had your hymen removed !”

“But certainly. Some girls have a great deal of difficulty the first time or two they have sexual intercourse if they have a strong hymen.”

He was staring outright at her. “Just a minute, now. This sex tutor. Who assigns him to you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I selected him myself from the volunteers available. Some sex instructors will have as many as four or five students.”

“All right. Then what happens?”

“Why, usually a girl goes out on a date with the man she had decided to have as her tutor—or a boy with the woman he has selected—just to see if she really likes him and is attracted to him. If it turns out that she’s made a suitable choice, the instruction begins.”

“Where?”

“Why, at her home, or his, or at a hotel—wherever they choose.”

“And what does he teach you?”

“Jule, I continually get the feeling that you aren’t following me.”

“And I continually get the feeling that every other sentence is being left out of this conversation.”

She merely shrugged. “He teaches you sex. How to make love. How to have successful orgasms and multiple orgasms. How to have a successful sex life, in short.”

“How long does this go on?” Julian managed to ask.

“As long as you still like him, or until you select a different tutor. Or until you’ve grown to the age when you want to make a more permanent arrangement with some man.”

“And you had a sex tutor when you were only fourteen?”

“That’s right. I had four altogether over several years. Then I met a boy I liked considerably and we, moved in together. We were still students.”

“And what happened to him?”

“He wanted to continue his studies in Guatemala and moved down there. I found another suitable fellow shortly afterwards. I think he was the best bed companion I’ve ever had.”

“The same thing applies to boys as well?”