The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1914 TYPES OF WOMANHOOD.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1968, 27 January 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1914 TYPES OF WOMANHOOD.

What is the matter with' the. women I They appear to be tossing about in the midst of a gi'eat sea of unrest. Many of them have cut' adrift from the old moorings, and have not yet found a new anchorage. ■ Their whole outlook upon life is undergoing a complete revolution, and in their struggle against the limitations of their own lot they are shifting the ecntrc of gravity ."of Society in general, and turning'.-'the world upside down. The record'of their strange doings occupies , much spacc in the daily papers, and serious- ■ minded people are wondering when and where the amazing movement is going to end. In to-day's issue/no; fewer than three cablegrams- -have reference to the ways of tho modern woman—the latest dress crazes and: the newest ideas in dancing. Be-'' wildered ecclesiastics arfi 'continually issuing threats and warnings and appeals in order to secure more consideration to the. claims of decorum in the matter of costume—but all in vain. Satire and ridicule .are equally ineffective, and even legisla-; tion has been tried without any success worth speaking about. Fashion is the supreme law for a, certain type' of woman, and its . command takes precedence over all the regulations of Church . and State. ■_ Clergymen find lawmakers and satirists having' failed to check the craze for freak dresses, the military authorities" arc. seeing what they can do,' and it is. announced in a cablegram which",wc publish in another column that an Austrian Field-Marshal has deelaied./ that the slit skirt goes beyond)the' limits of propriety, and is not to lie permitted at military functions/ 'It; is not at all likely, however, that , the J "Society''" women of Austria.#,Rrci. going to be out of the fashion4/'npt; even to oblige a field-marshal. But it is not only in the matter of., dress and dancing that old ideas-'are? being thrown to the winds. The "advanced" woman' is clamouring; for euianvii'rtiion from : many ■ of-'- therestrictions which Nature and/liinc-i honoured custom have phte.-d upier Ij.t activities. She' regard.';.:. l!r management, of the humr a.; drg,-a-i-. ing drudgery; she wants to eompru-. with luni! its sport and in'; and to vcf.'lis'- in othersphcros ofjlife/: her ideal if equality of the/sexes.'ii in England the Suffragette has 1/i-n fighlMi;; lib- a fury for-the right'to! vote, and in has been announced that? she intends to make tilings .'during* the pres'-n'; year even more-icxeiiing'.' Iran in Hie past. •. This "may'seern impossible, but. there is no. knowing v hat some hysterical women.- mnj£,ld. : under stress of unusual .'excitcrtrrifl when they hive thrown 'oKy.'trij t.ional restraints .and the generally

i^'f ; V:©' ; . : " if ' fitness hi. .'tiyii'gsi j'Jiw- ' 1 lie'.. United Stales tlii: ".citation hits j nut(rcccived ;v lez-ba'ck, init; in; of her things. 3(thS-, "forward'^; movement- goes 'oii. iipiice. W !i ; : ifJl i riie rt a a i "tic eft access 't(o : t!if::.]Hi!i& fo'rcc, am! : iii St; I.tiais two: :wbmen'Judges 'have • lirvii--appt.iriled to t rv. eases, in wliieii th«'-r( ;qwnSscjKarcfJ;coiicorn<: j;. ,iltXsiVsi' s bq iV<. li o ep roigyi 11| Uworlc;^jujt^'tj&ycp.t^'inf6^itixKtioW''-i£f'pnii (California rc : g:u-diiig(fhe world'? first I Grand ;<J ui'y:(of;!Wome^ ; ngi»g- was >mj)an.;'{l.-d at a .piacc: (calwd'Sßcdy®^ (conduct .of (eejtSitf|cpnhtjfeoffieiaisS ■ ?jury-:i women; :'sa,id:;.thoj^weve?;n6^v;yicces^ their: finding, being l based|SffiSjnad«S $u a to. knowledge a n'd" tri vfali ti c ■ ;|2 /In discussing; iIvo;. modern' .wom-an and - h-.;r. ways-' (nic/.'should ; -always guard against', the' tendency. to .judge .the.ses-as i aiwholc!byl;tl)c,'sayiHga.and doings^of^thatjminori^bfjiibisyiand aggressive extroiiiists,to. v. liieh the .conrl women': do n ot'f o i'get- the d ignity'of- wo in nn -. hood eithei n^thei rj cl {'theii ; manners?!: ; ftThey:(manage|their households and.bring. up, then-children,- or do' whatever'otJier,-svork m.\y fall -.to.' <jf tho previous generation; ..but by. 'rcasori^bfi-tlw?'unpstenfatiouß|?nseful% :.hcss:of -.t he i .1 i ot i- crcato""1 sensations f f qrjget : Vthemscives^tall!cd about. : .It. is. the. wild .worn-en who . force. themselves upon the. attention of the public,-and thus attract far more:,.notice-hthan^their^rnumijers justify."'.; -They., shout • everyone. ; else down, and'there is a real- danger, "as points out in her book on i"The Vocation of Women," that men shoiild ; nsten .lo these piercing voices, and "believe.them to- be. speaking -.for the sex' •• as (a- whole.". She goes onXo-say^-:- : r.(( ; ;i» To such'men it'.'may'.well «em that" the sacrifice Jof -. teif which s \ life..' demands of many : Vomen ■ is-'iiv' !sutxlen too hard to be bc-rne.'.: But deep tionrn. in: the/hearts 0 f women 'themselves—beneath the: super-' ftcinl discontpnt.-'and demand for "lights"-.' —lies the kiiowledßs-thatoiu' strcnstli is mnde perfect, in weakness,-that-vr must lom pur li;V i»!adb to- find if, and that for us. there .'can. bo- no..trHe'- freßdom'Jsave in the <?vv\(e of love. -. ... This is- tho' ; truc..::ideal.- of i-woman-hood. It. does, not mean -. that -. a womah .should*di'ag/"out a 'weary and .shallow existcn.ce:as,a mere household drudge'' with' lier" outlook limited by' the four walls of her own dwelling'; nor does it cxclude : her from the exci-'-cise 'of the- -.franchise or.- any ■ other.. public duty.-'which." she is fitted by- ; Nature and education to perform. But it does place the home first, and the greatest _ service-that any-woman can.render to State is..to raise, the standard ■'of. horns'life,. and to bring-; up'-K family.;: of. iwholcsome ; minded and lwalthy-bodied children. A cultured mind and'an understand-, ing heart arc necessary,;;for,this' stir nremely fz-vimportantHask;-v i t: would : be au unhappy;, day : for-the nationy' : -if-veycrvtheij.fWomen v ; as a: ; whole should tuvn'i.'from this great, .duty in order to strive after.some,vain ideal* of .-self-realisation' 'or.;, develop-ment'-'of personaliiy • whidr would conflict with' I 'the -highest' 'conceptions of home and motherhood.