WOMAN AND HEALTH.

Putaruru Press, Volume II, Issue 59, 11 December 1924, Page 1

WOMAN AND HEALTH.

“A medical man, speaking at Hull on the healthier condition of modern woman, attributed it largely to the use of more sensible clothing. He extols the low-neck blouse, short skirts, and silk stockings, which allow the sun to reach the body, and urges that man might profitably follow this example. A very bold reform is this that he proposes, if he wants man to adventure so far in courting the sun.

“The average man, we may well believe. likes the caress of the sun quite as much as his women folk, and is ready to admit its beneficial properties upon the human system; but is he in nature courageous enough to confront all kinds of weather in somewhat open attire for the good -that may come to him from a very occasional ray of sunshine?” asks the Birmingham “Post.” “Is he, in fact, fully persuaded that man is capable of supporting in this respect such test of hardiness as the superior sex?

“Long use in wrapping up has made him ‘nesh,’ as they say in Lancashire. And if, indeed, he were brought to the belief that he could epshut the severities of the seasons thus skimpily clad, would he ever be convinced it suited his style of beauty? There was a time when men, especially young men who had luxuriant hair, went about in town and country alike without a hat or cap on their heads. They thus obtained the advantage of an extra supply of sunshine, at the peril, it would seem 'to some, of securing sunstroke at the same time. It became rather a craze, but the ordinary opinion did not endorse this fashion. It was almost as much derided as was the umbrella when it first made its appearance in the walks of civilisation.

“While the eccentric person who introduced the ‘brolly' lived to see himself regarded as a public benefactor, ; the pioneer hatless brigade lost adherents rather than added to their ranks. There are some survivors, but not many. They may be quite sound in discarding head-gear, and perhaps we should all be the better if we did the same. Still, the fact remains that man peculiarly conservative in such matters, and above all things fearful of making himself appear an object of derision. So there docs not appear to be any likelihood that the Hull doctor’s advice to adopt a radical change of walking-out attire will be adopted by his friend and neighbors of the male gender.’’