By contrast a female enjoyed a lively internal sensibility. Her attention was constantly claimed by inner sensations. Her whole psychic life was physically involved. She was always aware of her body as interposed between her inner self and the outer world; she devoted constant attention to it. One result was that her body appeared to literate man as mysterious. Her body was firm, but filled with tremulous spirit. She created an impression of weakness. The erotic attraction she produced was not aroused by her body as body, but by the mysterious spirit permeating it. Literate man spoke of feminine mystique, feminine intuition.

But this inner sensory concert is not uniquely feminine. In the tribe, it characterizes both sexes: hence all members adorn and ornament the body. Nothing could be more natural. The inner life imposes on every tribal member the habit of noticing and beautifying the body which becomes the most immediate object in the perspective of his world. And so tribal members everywhere create that remarkable culture of the body: adornment, cleanliness, and finally, courtesy, which inspired invention, which is indeed a subtle gesture. Today, as we re-enter the tribal world, sharp difference between the sexes, which marked the past, disappear rapidly. Sex is cooled down. Men and women dress alike. They share hair-styles. Men wear jewelry. They are interested in scents, hair dyes, cosmetics. This disturbs older, literate types who keep saying, “You can’t tell the difference,” and then slap their knees.

Young men and young women today share a common sensate world. Their feelings about themselves are much alike. After twenty-five hundred years of lonely separation, they can once again share their experiences.