GIRLS OF TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 177, 17 October 1927, Page 9

GIRLS OF TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY

“NG WORSE THAN BEFORE”

“Twenty-five years ago a girl went away for a week-end with bulging petticoats and leg of mutton sleeves. To-day she goes away in the clothes she wears, and takes a one-piece bathing suit and an extra pair of stockings/’ That the girl of to-day was no worse than the girl of the past was the opinion expressed by Miss Jean Begg, secretary of the Young Women’s Christian Association, in an address given at St. Andrew’s Church last evening. The modern girl, said Miss Begg,

was accused bt a number of things—recklessness, love of excitement, a disregard of authority. Older people, however, should try to think how they felt at the same age, and also remember that the faults of the modern girl have really been characteristics of each generation. The successful training of the modern girl, said Miss Begg, depended upon the setting up of examples. She had often noticed how girls had been impressed by employers of sterling character, and although some employers might disclaim the role of character builders, it was there just the same. STAYING AT HOME Another complaint against the modern girl was that she did not stay at home. The reason was that times had changed, and that the factor of speed entered into life. Thinking, working, and playing had all been thrown into high gear, and the young were only a little more speedy than the old. “The community spirit is replacing the old home spirit,” said Miss Begg. “If we can only teach our girls to be good members of the community, we are doing as much, or probably more, than when we taught them to be members of a home.” Girls of to-day. she considered, were more ambitious and more self-reliant than ever before. They will not be told, but they will learn by example, and it was the duty of the older people to give them that example.