RELATION OF SEX DISTRIBUTION TO INTERMARRIAGE 127 
men intermarrying and a surplus of 370 p.c. adult males, furnish a second illustration. 
Other similar cases are the Bulgarians, Japanese, Serbo-Croatians and Italians All of those 
peoples are characterized by large surpluses of males. Generally speaking, where the 
surplus of males is great, the proportion of males intermarrying is large as compared with the 
proportion for the women. Conversely, where the inequality in the numbers is not marked, 
the proportions of men and women marrying outside the group usually tend to be more 
nearly equal. 
But there appears to be yet another factor involved, quite apart from differences in 
the relative numbers of the sexes. If one selects the 7 non-British and non-French peoples 
with the smallest surpluses of males 21 years and over in Canada, they are found to be 
the following: Icelandic, Indian, Hebrew, Dutch, German, Negro and Hungarian; the Ice- 
landers with only 2 p.c. surplus males being the lowest, and the others mentioned in ascend- 
ing order. Now in 5 out of those 7 cases, larger proportions of the women have contracted 
exogamous marriages than of the men. This points to the conclusion that when sex 
inequalities are eliminated women are less conservative than men in crossing the line in 
marriage. 
However, before dwelling on that point, the two exceptions should be dealt with, viz. 
the Jews and the Dutch. The first case, that of the Jews, is readily explained by the rigid 
attitude of the Jews with regard to intermarriage acting as a greater deterrent to a daughter 
contemplating an exogamous marriage than to a son. While other factors may be involved, 
it is probable that the one mentioned is the most important. At least it seems adequate 
to explain the situation. 
With the Dutch the explanation is more difficult. The pecularity may be a distinct 
characteristic of the group in respect to marriage preferences, but other factors are involved 
in terms of which at least a plausible explanation may be found. The Dutch in the eastern 
provinces are, as a group, the oldest non-British and non-French residents in Canada, and 
they show the largest proportions marrying with the British. Indeed in the East the Dutch 
have already intermarried with the British to so great an extent that they are almost 
indistinguishable from those appearing on the census records as of British stock. Conse- 
quently, it tends to be a matter of indifference to one of Dutch origin in Ontario whether 
he marries a wife of British or Dutch stock. The same tends to obtain with the women. 
Since there is no barrier in the case of either sex, no occasion arises for the women to 
appear less conservative than the men in crossing the line. Further, that the men appear 
to intermarry to a greater extent, can be explained by the fact that men move about and 
meet more people than do the women. In the West the situation as to barriers to inter- 
marriage is entirely different. The majority of those classified as Dutch in the three 
prairie provinces in 1921 are Mennonites, who have intermarried to no great extent with the 
British or French nor indeed with any other stock in Canada. They live in more or less 
isolated communities and are entirely agricultural people. The women rarely leave the 
farms or villages, but the men are able to move about the country, and although they do 
not congregate in the cities in the West, the young men are seen very frequently in the 
towns and villages adjacent to their communities. So with the Mennonites also one would 
not be surprised to find the men, because of the opportunity of meeting people of other 
origins, marrying outside their group to a greater extent than the women. 
Having disposed of the two exceptions, one again puts forward the suggestion and with 
greater confidence, that the tendency among women of most stocks other than British and 
French to marry outside their respective groups is greater than that among the men. If 
further research establishes the existence of such a tendency, it may prove to be the result 
of a true sex difference or it may bez largely a matter of residence. In Chapter V it was 
shown that in the case of immigrants from virtually every foreign country, larger percent- 
ages of females than males live in urban districts. Urban life is more cosmopolitan, and 
with large proportions of women of a given origin living in incorporated cities, towns and 
villages, it is natural to expect, other things being equal, that they would show a large pro- 
portion marrying into other stocks. Thus, in examining Table 70 both the difference in