TIE BACHELOR GIRL IS FREEDOM INCARNATE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 828, 23 November 1929, Page 18

TIE BACHELOR GIRL IS FREEDOM INCARNATE

“If many girls of today on ready to forgo the greatest <>* all accepted emotional thrills — marriage—there m be a very valid reason u>r it ! “Marriage has always been greatly overrat'd. Jt holds out just ont ■motherhood. “It is better to her-: a S as a bachelor girl than to make, a mess of being a poor wife! “Not all mothers are successful mothers. The fate of a really successful bachelor girl compares favourably with that of any mediocre or unsuccessful mother." Knie Hurst,, brilliant short ist, came to the defence on the bachelor girl. The famous authoress expressed her sentiments while halt reclining on a divan in her beautifully furnished studio apartment near Central Park, New York City. The simplicity of her black gown was emphasised by the sumptuous background. The atmosphere of the huge, highceilinged room was like that of an ante-chamber in the residence of a mediaeval prince, writes A. Paul Mae-ker-Branden, in the San Francisco “Chronicle.” As my glance travelled about the studio, Miss Hurst mused half-aloud: “You referred to. me before as ‘the missing link between the bachelor girl and the married woman.’ No doubt, you wish to imply that I have succeeded in eating my cake and having it. “Marriage has not solved the problem of life and love from a psychological nor even from a biological or physiological point of view. The institution of marriage has assisted in advancing the race. But has it advanced happiness? “When Mr. Dainelson and I agreed to enter the relationship of wedlock, we looked around and discovered that the connubial temple of our generation had a leaky roof. It needed to be modernised here and there, but, on the other hand, not too much tampering must be done, lest the old structure be utterly destroyed. The amount of renovation which we undertook for our own, very special and extremely personal case was neither too much nor too little. That is why, after twelve years, we are still happy on the same basis that- provides freedom and privacy for each of us.” “Twelve years is surely sufficient time for a working test,” I admitted. “Exactly! And my marriage still seems highly satisfactory to me,” Miss Hurst assured me. The happy glowin her fine, dark eyes, as she uttered these words, was ample proof of their truth. “But I really don’t know,” she resumed, “whether we are side-step-ping marriage or elevating this timeworn institution into a higher, more modern sphere. “Motherhood is assuredly the big thing. There is no doubt about it: However, there are some close run-ners-up, and somehow I feel that I have not done so very badly by myself. Motherhood, of course, is onlv this real, very big thing if it is the right kind of motherhood. “Too many children are raised amid continual dissension. Children born into such an atmosphere feel themselves cheated out of something which they are not even able to articulate. Generally, too, they manifest physical signs that belie the overpowering love that is supposed to be the inception of their very being. The majority of newly born children are none too welcome under present-day conditions. In one way or another they show the stigma of being unwanted. “While, idealistically speaking, motherhood places women upon the

Fannie Hurst, brilliant short story writer and author 0 f new scheme for solving m a tri monial problems, has a word of praise for bachelor girls very pinnacle of the world i- tr quently results in a decided disadwT tage. under prevailing conditions T veloping into sheer drudeerv j„ majority of cases. Therefore, t 0 .C minds of many thinking voung won! whom wo now call bachelor rfmotherhood is not fulfilling the promise held out to it bv nature* -lu many instances mother!**, stntply a mechanism to perpetiL mankind, thoroughly lacking ail 7)’ glamour that other feats in the „ riculum of civilisation offer. That; G>e very reason for the bachelor aw being: It accounts for her lookj„ around for a substitute itr that? hereinly unconscious urge for creath application which lier inborn ties demand.” Miss Hurs rent for adg then continued:— ■ “Anything and everything n,, bachelor girl may hit upon i n t,,’ ; quest for a career is liable to be . mere makeshift. There is no 10fl 7 cent, substitute for wifehood asJ motherhood, as nature decreed it be. However, in practical appij... U Hon. many of these makeshifts ar*' much better than what wifehood an’ ; motherhood in general offer t 0 7 j day’s young womanhood, j “Motherhood naturally enjov s t> : accepted place of honour in our eiv ■ | isation: rightfully so: Motherhood in itself doubtless constitutes ! hood supreme. But this supra* womanhood is frequently humiliated by intolerable conditions. Moth!" hood, and even wifehood, is too often a wreath of thorns rather than ; c(own of glory. Observing this, mail young women, prefer to rent, *gar?onesses.’ “No longer will the girls of todar meekly accept the idea that moth* hood is the greatest achievement It all. Too often they have observed ho ! any allusions to motherhood in speeches, in pictures and plays. wi ts applause. ‘Your mother and tc, mother:’ ‘The old-fashioned mother’ What sure-fire hits: Almost as surefire as waving the flag. But the modern girl cannot be duped so easil She knows that, while there may U much handclapping when the oldfashioned mother is paraded forpuhi. acclaim, there is very little applied thinking as to how the lot of a mothcould be bettered. “What, after all, is -he lot of a mother ?** Miss Hurst demanded “What is the lot of parents in generalTake my own case! lam the onlv child of my parents, and they had in sacrifice me to so-called success! 0! course, it is expected that the fled, ling will leave the parental nest os? day and strike >ut for himself, thin spite of the law of nature, old agalways rails against youth. Realising, perhaps, that it was g:or ing late, Fannie Hurst suddenly rose. “Summing it all up.” she concluded, “the bachelor girl of today is emunc pation incarnate:” Fannie Hurst’s path has not always been strewn with roses, nor did fans cast its aurora about her without & struggle. She was born in St. Lout and attended high school and Wasl ington University in that same city. During her college course she was fired by the ambition to write. He: first stories were published in a St Louis newspaper, whose editor encouraged her to continue with her writing. After graduating from college sis wished to go to New York to get in closer touch with editors and author feeling that this would help he: greatly in her work. Then the great adventure begc She lived as cheaply as possible ate took part-time jobs to piece out kr allowance from home. Even then Itwrote constantly, but without mici success from the editors’ standpoisfor her manuscripts were premptlrejected. Then came the momentous day whet an editor offered her £6O for a stop an undreamed-of price to this your.: woman. This incident seems to bait marked the turning point in MisHurst's career. From that time, slowly hut steadily, the size of her cheque* and the number of her stories sold increased. Today she is one of if highest-paid authors in America.