Feminine Interests

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 645, 23 April 1929, Page 5

Feminine Interests

Chameleon Women

! Men are for ever poking fun at the | chameleon shades of a woman’s per- | | sonality, for men, as a clan, know ; nothing of ‘adaptation to circumstances,’' and are strangely reticent of \ making the least effort to appear at- i tractive. They are contented to stand or fall I on their merits, saving grandly: “Well, here I am. I shall be pleased if you like me. On the other hand, I don’t I I tare tuppence if you don’t.” And i while half a dozen men. discussing an acquaintance, will all sum him up in much the same words, six women, talking of a seventh, will have extra- I ordinarily diverse conclusions to offer.! since she has taken enormous pains to ! present a suitable side of her person- ; ality to each of them in turn. They are Such Friends! Men derive great pleasure from pointing out a w oman’s inconsistency through her relations with her friends “How' is Mrs. So-and-so?” they ask j “Have you had a row'? Oh!” (A long masculine chuckle.) “Women are in j one another’s pockets one day and | not speaking the next.” : Women make an infinitely more j fatiguing business of friendship than jdo men, who seem to keep their atj tachments at the same steady temperature year after year, i Men make few demands on their ! friends, and have no ulterior motive in any such relationship. But women are always playing themselves off i against one another’s appearance, men tality or environment, quite conscious j that their friends, In their turn, are ! using them in a similar fashion. A woman pigeon-holes her friends. | and draws upon her store to comply j with the need of the moment. When

Adaptation to Circumstances

! a woman hurriedly seeks another, it is generally lor something of this purpose: “My dear, you’re the only per- , son I could have come to now ” recklessly confiding troubles, vexations | and anxieties that men lose in their sleep. Men glory in their honesty. If they are particularly anxious to make something out of an influential male, they turn him over to the elastic personal- : 1 ity of their wives. No woman dares to be quite honest. It is a piece of swagger that might: easily ruin her life. Men imagine in I consequence—at least, I suppose, that j is how the idea arose—that women are ' untruthful. They declare they will go j | 10 any lengths to get their own ends. (The most accomplished prevaricator 1 ever knew, by the way, was a man!) The Game That Pays Well, certainly, a woman allows her personality to blow where it listeth—she changes her mind without a qualm to suit a whim of the moment —in contrast with a man’s enormous effort to present an unblemished record of steadfastness and integrity to the world. Upon mature deliberation, l can’t help thinking that some male —prehistoric probably—trapped in a little masculine inconsistency, must have artfully flattered the victim of his capricq, and when she was t deceived to care about either reproaches or reprisals, neatly turned the tables, furnishing the reason for men’s condemnation of women —their inconsistency. Woman accepted the challenge, and has thanked Heaven ever since for the j opportunity. She smiles loftily when men upbraid her. She knows she is j playing the only game that pays.