They were both “moderners” through and through.

He—Hans Padelevsky—and she—Laura Danner.

He was one of the writers with the label “misogynist.” She an emancipated, decadent woman—man’s enemy.

Her hatred had various reasons. His was merely an interpretation of the sexual overstimulation of his entire gender.—

Men had done anything to stimulate their numbed nerves into new facets of lust. In fact, they only interacted with prostitutes nowadays. They trained the women according to their needs.

These prostitutes were allowed to wear daring undergarments and then even more daring, and more and more enticing and daring, until at last, they had nothing left on their bodies but bare skin. Now men could no longer pull anything down. But the naked body is always too sacred, more beautiful than any kind of veiled appearance and thus never evokes lust. So nothing was left to excite their senses.

It was no longer possible; one had enjoyed too much of this food—now came disgust—nothing new that was more stimulating to wash it down with—nothing!

He rose and grew and spat on the other, the female sex. Suddenly, he deposed of the “goddess woman” and declared her to be the “worst, most disgusting devil.”

But women remained what they were, people. Not as good as they had once been praised, not as bad as they were now condemned.

But something new came into their lives. They woke up, they began to think and were frightened. Why all of this love and devotion to men who mocked them, despised them, betrayed them? Men, who saw this fraud as something eligible for sanctions? Men, who did not care what would become of the women, of the unmarried and old, as long as they had enough young bodies for their purposes? Men, who treated the most sacred that women gave them as something indifferent, not believing in women’s feelings (oh these heartfelt enthusiasms!), but only in their lust. The egoist who turns his back on women when her body bears his fruit. Oh! The white slaves opened their eyes and saw their chains. Their belief in man, their sole belief as if he were a God, crumbled. What came next was a blood-red hatred of the willful or involuntary deceiver.