WHAT LOVELY SKIN YOU HAVE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 13, 30 January 1937, Page 11

WHAT LOVELY SKIN YOU HAVE

Mothers and Grandmothers

Last night at a restaurant t saw a woman, . writes- Louis Latzarusv in ; a Oontinentalv paper. . She was>just getting vupS from i one - of the f tables ;and going toward. the,.door.l She looked like the ,Girl with - the Flaxen- Hair and the Cherry ,Lips,^ sung by'-.the "muclr»lamehted» Lecdnte~- de* 'LisleJ's Hairdresser,' cosmetician ■ and ' surgeon* must . have lent a hand; in .producing hefi beauty. She .was ravishing — until.- you looked - at her hands. For although the -beauty wizards- have. • found ; means' of rejuvenating the face,--the neck and the hair ^ .they have nofi yet • produced ointments and lotions that could teach the": hands to- lie. • Thick'veins. tell the tale of age," •and a ' brojvn blemish here and* there or a slight swelling' of the phalanxes he■tray, the.truth. - - ..." -That woman is sixty years old but she refuses to resign herself , to the fact.;: , She • does not v like meeting .me .because -I' know it and before I bowed •to J her last.. night, s I -could read the anxious • prayer in her eyes : "Oh. God, do not let *him*inquire about" my daugh- ' ter-i,or. worse' still, nay. granddaughter 1" She need not fhave heen- afraid for I am disGreet.- But if I don't say thingp, I tliink . my parti I think of the little ;girl of 'five who is the • granddaughter of -this petulant person, eo obstinately „9linging to.'her youth.. ■ ' - '3 I know- adorable grandmqthers who , think it -.the' most natural thing in the world, to -.be old : and rgood-Humburedly joke .about.it.t They • derive . beauby from their r spiritual wrinkles • so - -to speaktf - - How - their i eyes * shine "urider the ! : vmnkled- eyelids, and.T how well' their cheeks of pale old ivory- afe set in the frame of the silvery waves, and how we love and xespect theml I fail to eee how this person,- so pink and fair, with a mouth so perfectly curved, could be respected by her granddaughter and I cannot imagine that her daughter sees a mother in her. There is a tcrrible egoism in this obstinacy to seduce and please in spite of the years, but also a childishness which does not make for respect. Can you blame a daughter who suspeets all sorts of improper thoughts in a. mother so worried about her looks? In short, this belated vanity and frivolity is not a factor of good morality or education. The young generation of to-day is frequently accused of neglecting the real values, but perhaps the reason is that they have no good example to follow. The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are eet on edge. The mania tp stay young, which, by the way, is not confined to the weaker eex, for there

ara plenty of ridiculou* grandf •springs. trom the materialism *Sth which, our thoughts and «motions;;aro . ;imbued. Ai - soon ^ as .it hebomes, conscious .of 'jts environment, lihe ^child, is -eonvinced'- that ' life.: is .valuable ; only ; insofar as it. canjbe enjoyed. _Of -course,it behaves accordingly. ' ,, ask « me - .whether II. . aeriously •• ■think '-that all . grandmotheiw- are fike: ' the - one described above ? N4offfc£ • course •I dou't, - but I ,kn.ow ithat shet is;a ^recursor and that she 'will haVe at,n.umer-f . ous;? following.: For.that {matter i^ie" has it alreadyi V { V , iV Inf thetpasfc only;;. the; actresses e clmntg . to the-iliusiqni of:- youth aild' watched jealously oyer their /physical " charms.' l^ou could not .blame. them tlhen, as jiou cannot to-day, for ,thefe.-is -no mArq pitiful '.sight - than "an ',ageing actress. The eerious thing is that so manyi women of .the middle and ;nEPrer classes, so' manjr ' business womehv.try' tQ.'cimy them", "" % ,} ' Why is ifc serimis, yoii wdnder ? Because .by doing so they prbye'thafe. fee. only vthinglthey are proud- of /is..' th|iv complexion, the] sparkle in /the&r, ej^cs and the ehap'e of' &eirihps. /Because it .proves that their main "p^epccqpar tion. is to plpaseJ .,Formerly,./m'ore|tr less all . mothers 'resembled' a .little • '^ie ^ .mother .of the- Gracchi-wHose most' pre- ! cious jew!e]s" were' ''her-: sbhs.. ;They thought, that /- their charms and glory \ • and - their" >'rewafd ,consisted in being ] good'iwfvesj and mpthers;. and hct^amves,'*'in*lightehing the burden of tSoir; husbafids- and setting a ,good .'bxaiimle' for their sons and daughters. .Over this task the mother of old forgpfc aihd effaced,. herself. To-day two jjit of every three mothers no longer effacce themselves, nor are they fully cbnscious of the importance bf their task. I don't say it haphazardly for I have the birth rate statistics before me. The ideal of too many women consists to-day in being pretty and cxercising a physical attraction npon men. AlII aspire to be deemed worthy of fhe stage or screen, even thoughi they knbw that they shall never appear on either* Let it be said, however, that the men do not teach them to do -better. No only, do they put up with their ex~ travagance, but they encourage the antics of their wives and daughters, mothers and even grandmothera, The funniest but als® *th« most tragic thing about it is that by doing it they sincerely believe that they are fostering the .cause of progress and civilisation.