Hairpins and Whalebone as Woman’s Lot

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 423, 3 August 1928, Page 7

Hairpins and Whalebone as Woman’s Lot

Michael Arlen, Author of “Green Hat” Propounds Question. WHAT OF THE FUTURE? Not everyone agrees with, or likes, Mr. Michael Arlen’s views of women as set forth in those famous novels, “The Green HatA “Piracy/’ and “Young Men in Love/* and his brilliant short stories, tf These Charming People.** . Put his enormous popularity shows that he does deal with a phase of life, and present a point of view, which most people find absorbingly interesting. In this piquant and amusing article , written for the “Paily Mail/* Mr. Arlen sets out to answer the question, “Where is Woman Going?** THE Future of Women! Wliat a headline! What a subject! All the same, nothing can be gained by concealing the fact that I am more fitted than most men to write on such a subject, for I am young. I love women, and I cherish illusions. I say nothing of “ideals.’* I am no Rotarian. And one is conscious of a certain feeling of shyness when using American slang expressions in an English essay. But the point is, a man without illusions could not write this article. Lord Birkenhead could not. No doubt he has tried to time and again in secret, but has he delivered the goods? Has Sir William Joynson-Hicks? 1 challenge them. I challenge Mr. Baldwin. Why, the good man has so few illusions about the charm of young women that he is giving them votes. Imagine their embarrassment! The future of women. We w'ell may gasp. The imagination reels, the brain is stunned. In short, only a welltrained mind could face the thing. What a subject! It goes without saying that the note to strike is an optimistic one. Whither are women going? Whither will they go? Will they become a Force? What will they wear? They can’t wear less. Or can’t they? But will they wear more? That is a very grave question. Wells Starts Worries No thinking man can nowadays, of course, deny that women have a future. That was guessed first of all by no less a thinker than Ibsen Naturally he was at first derided, and his morals held in question. Later Mr. H. G. Wells wrote of young women who were satisfying companions for men; he wrote of women and

| men who could exchange ideas with ! each other, who could help each other 'in their work. He wrote of a woman ias a beautiful friend. Naturally Mr. 'Wells was scorned and feared for these views, and for a time there were murmurs against him as a fit guide for youth. All that is changed, of course. Mr. Wells is now rapidly becoming a ! Grand Old Man. For in England a man is considered to be a genius until he is 30, old-fashioned from 30 to 60, when he instantly becomes a Grand Old Man and enjoys the acclamations of critics and populace, no matter what he writes. This is a painful subject, for I am 32. It is now generally admitted that women are lit companions for men. Victorian men did not think so, by any means, but were content to substitute a vague but dusty affair they called “chivalry” for a decent con-

sideration for women’s feelings and a decent respect for their individualities. We have gone far since then. But what of the future? Are men fit companions for women? It goes without saying that the well-trained mind approaches such a question by taking girls first. Recently there has been a great deal said about girls. I like them myself, but it is said that girls are not what they were. Girls are rebuked. Their habits are criticised. Their clothes are condemned. They are called “leggy.” They are called lax. They are called loose. They are accused of drinking. Wrath to Come In short, women are warned of the wrath to come. They are warned of a puritanical reaction. Their legs shall be hidden, their powder and paint taken from them, their waists be embraced by whalebone, and hairpins shall bind their hair. Nor shall their shining arms and delicious shoulders any longer engage the idle imaginations of men. Women of the future, then, will be

-atjeddu Jjeqjj njs jo apmu ance will be more rugged? Their principles austere? They will not be so confoundedly attractive? They will, in short, aspire? And chaperons will be set to watch over the young, while corsets shall fortify the elderly, to see that they will jolly well have to aspire ?

There is a point to be made here which has never been made before aud is published exclusively in these columns. That is, that young people should be left alone for the time being They are in need of improvement certainly.

Well, there is still hope for them. In the meanwhile w*e very strongly recommend chaperons and corsets f«»y those who really need them—their mothers and grandmothers. It is thus that the well-trained mind approaches the Future of Women. What a subject! A great deal of admiration is extended to something called Vitality. Originally an American invention, like chewing-gum, it was brought over here by Lady Astor when she discovered England. That section of England which is still, too often merely out of politeness, referred to as the “upper classes,” has taken to it with avidity. Now Vitality is, like most Ameruva inventions, a good thing. And like most American inventions it is a confounded nuisance in the wrong hands. That young people will do silly things is deplorable, but not unnatural. But there is still some hope for them. They may still grow up and become decent, responsible citizens. But what hope is there for their mothers and grandmothers when they have too much Vitality? How gruesome they are, those playful white-haired women, in the watches of the night! How gruesome are their idiotic blaudishments! How gruesome their gay clothes look on their old bodies! How gruesome are the twitching blue veins that stare out from the powder and emeralds on their tireless hungry hands! Girls should be warned against it. It should be impressed on them tlu-’ they must get rid of their Vitality while they are young. Then, later on, they might have enough real Vitality left with which to take care of their children. Then we shall see something! We shall -see the Future of Women! What a headline! What a subject—if only there was a well* trained mind to deal with it.