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IN A HISTORICAL PERIOD MARKED BY WIDESPREAD, EVEN UNIVERSAL doubts as to the validity of almost all traditions and values, the onslaught against the value constellations traditionally associated with women was inescapable. Resentment of these value constellations can, of course, be traced far back and has been verbalized not only by women but by men sensitive enough to empathize with the plight of women. By and large, however, in the past the injustice of nature or fate was emphasized, whereas at present the social differences of the genders, allegedly always to the disadvantage of women, are regarded as exclusively the upshot of male prejudice, arrogance, injustice, and superciliousness.
The opinion seems to prevail that the two genders do not demonstrate sufficient relevant differences to warrant the view that their personality development as well as their mental, social, and creative potential differ in any significant way. This comes to the fore with particular poignancy in the recently published Hite Report(1976) with its appeal for abolishment of traditional attitudes and beliefs culminating in a devaluation of intercourse and an exaltation of female masturbation. As is known, the demand for equal rights has always met opposition. It can be best characterized with the words of Alan Watts, who called that demand "a terrible thing, because I think we should enjoy the difference between men and women, and make it as different