One observes this in
the relations between husbands and wives.
During the 19th century, as the blight of
Victorianism degraded the relationships
between the sexes and diminished the resources
from which some understanding of
human needs might have been gained, both
sexes became increasingly less demonstrative.
Display of affection was considered
“vulgar, ” “in bad taste.” It may be that this
had a significant bearing upon the fact that,
in the 20th century male pediatricians advised
against lavishing too much affection
upon the infant, against picking it up when it
cried, against breast-feeding, against feedingon
demand, and against rocking babies to
sleep in the cradle-that magnificent means
of caressing and otherwise conferring physiological
benefits upon it