was never put into plain
words, but in an indirect way it was rubbed into every Party member from
childhood onwards. There were even organizations such as the Junior Anti-
Sex League, which advocated complete celibacy for both sexes. All children
were to be begotten by artificial insemination (artsem, it was called in
Newspeak) and brought up in public institutions. This, Winston was aware,
was not meant altogether seriously, but somehow it fitted in with the
general ideology of the Party. The Party was trying to kill the sex
instinct, or, if it could not be killed, then to distort it and dirty it.
He did not know why this was so, but it seemed natural that it should be
so. And as far as the women were concerned, the Party's efforts were
largely successful.
He thought again of Katharine. It must be nine, ten -- nearly eleven
years since they had parted. It was curious how seldom he thought of her.
For days at a time he was capable of forgetting that he had ever been
married. They had only been together for about fifteen months. The Party
did not permit divorce, but it rather encouraged separation in cases where
there were no children.
Katharine was a tall, fair-haired girl, very stra