The male does not do violence to the species, because the species can only perpetuate itself by renewal; it would perish if ova and sperm did not meet; but the female whose job it is to protect the egg encloses it in herself, and her body that constitutes a shelter for the egg removes it from the male's fertilizing action; there is thus a resistance that has to be broken down, and so by penetrating the egg the male realizes himself as activity.