THE FLAPPER.

Hutt News, Volume 1, Issue 8, 15 July 1927, Page 4

THE FLAPPER.

Types evolve. Man, as we know him to-day, is not the man of prehistoric times. We have, attained our' present stage through the slow process of evolution during aeons of time; and, whether we are worthy of commendation or not, we' have come to be rather proud of ourselves, "of our position as the chief of i created; beiiigs, and as the arbiters of the fates of the inferior creatures, ■In the mind's eye, we can see the great procession of humanity marching forward, along the corridors of time, from its earliest dawn—tramp! tramp! tramp!—through countless ages, down to the present. . ■ '.','' '" In the procession, of course, came the flapper, keeping step, with erect Jiead and proud bearing, as is her right; for is she not the potential mother of the peoples yet to be? And , those cduntless millions, who have not yet appeared on our horizon, look to no other than the flapper for. life, love, training, guidance and health. Important little flapper!! Is she conscious, we wonder, of the high honour .

in store for her? Will she shoulder her responsibilities? or will she cast them aside with a flippant "Why should I?" Does she realise that in her hands lies her country's-future, weal or woe? And, above a'llj does she care? • Who can fathom the mind of the flapper of to-day?—that dainty miss of shingled head and shortened. skirt, whose presence brightens our streets, and whose whole. aim in life, so far as' we can see, is to "have a good time," to' wear what seems to her exactly correct in style and' colour, and to horrify her'elders by calmly dabbling a little more' powder on her nose in the public street, if, by happy chance, her eye: should fall on a mirror, or a convenient shop-wihdbw ? •It seems to us a pity if her eye should be a roving one, as many say it is. How much better "the steady eye", of .which .;the poet wrote, and which, to him. and to most men, mark a true-hearted woman. Our future wives and mothers will show much wisdom in the cultivation of the virtue of, constancy. It is one which-has sometimes been abused (or. disused),

and there is not the slightest doubt that it is one of the most powerful of home-builders known to us. Its cultivation would do no harm, but much good. We know that "crabbed age and youth" cannot hope to see eye to eye. Yet, we are not so far removed from youth as to have forgotten its hopes, its ideals, its optimisms, and its "dear delights"; and because of this, we venture to say that, to our minds, the young girls of to-day do not seem to be getting the best out of life.' The girl of twenty or thirty years ago lived a life as full of pleasure; but her pleasures were of a quieter and less nerve-racking kind. She was a girl who put work before pleasure; she had home interests, and h6me, to her, was the one place to be desired. She loved it, and those in it, and she ■was happy to be with them. She took her share in its daily routine as a matter of course, and was all the better'for it. Home duties performed, she was ready for pleasure of another kind, and enjoyed her walking, swimming, picnicking, tennis, and dancing with a will. But she knew nothing

of rolled stockings, cosmetics, joyriding, jazz, or cocktails. Is it advancement to know of, or to indulge in. these things ? It may be, but to ua it seenis rather pathetic. It may even be possible that here lies the reason for our meeting in clubs, hotels, and boarding-houses, so many unattached men who, instead of making some women happy wives, and taking their places as the heads of families, have, apparently, apart from business, no further ambition than the "lowering of their golfscores." We do not forget that each age has its undivided type; nor the fact that while types change, human nature does not; but we wonder what the next twenty years will produce in the kingdom of flapperdom. We trust that the brains and the hearts of our girls are string, and sympathetic, and of high purpose. If this be so, we may trust the future to them, full of confidence that they will not betray the trust, and knowing that they will hand on all that is best in them to those who will, in time, take their places as the women of our race.