GIRLS, BE HONEST

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 287, 28 November 1908, Page 3

GIRLS, BE HONEST

X early every girl becomes an actress when thrown into the society of a nice, ! pleasmit, young man, and does her very 1 best to bide her real self from him by ■ appearing to be a girl of quite a different type. Thus, a girl of high spirit and equally high temper strives to appear as sweet a,s ever a girl could be, and won't allow anything to upset her; in fact, her object seems to be to impress the youii" fellow with the idea that she is the meekest girl on earth. On the oilier hand, the sweet-tem-pered girl of 11 retiring nature does all jshc can to appear haughty and cold, evidently trying to make the young man understand that she is a very severe lady indeed. Rather strange, is it not J Yet perfectly true, j Similarly, when a girl is really very : fond of a particular young man she acts a part, and pretends to be unite indifferent, to him. On occasions, wh;n j she observes that a young man is just on the point of proposing, she behaves 111 such a manner that he is effectively choked off' for the time being. Or, if he does 11 dually propose, she hesitates, beats about the bush, and ultimately informs him, coyly, that she will reuuivc time to consider her answer. As to this latter form 01 acting—it is just acting, you know—it may, to some extent be due to modesty." The' girl may not want to appear eager to accept the proposal. But, after all, that is a piece of rank folly. I'robnbly she has been waiting patiently, nay, yearning, for that very propositi, yet, forsooth, when it does come along, she must have time to think it over! Time to think over the proposal she has been wearying for!! Of course, they must have been courting, else a proposal could never have been made.

The absurdity of the whole thing is abundantly apparent, yet it is happening every day, and through it many a girl, no doubt, loses a chance of marrying, for young men in these times do not like to be toyed with and kept dangling on a string merely to please girls, or the vanity of girls.' Of course, every woman, more or less, is an actress, but it is a pity when this acting is introduced into their dealingß witli the opposite sex. It is neither right nor just to act in this manner, and girls would be the first.to condemn it in young men were they addicted to the habit. ;,, ••.<jj,j>j|j Women want honesty in these times, honesty of speech, honesty of actiou. If a girl knows that a man loves her, ■and is well aware that she loves him, it is not honest to appear indifferent. If a young woman is really expecting a proposal, it is dishonest to appear half-pained when it comes along.' Honesty is ever the best policy. Ir a

girl loves a man, and knows that ho loves her, she need not be asliamed of showing it. It is no disgrace to love, surely, although really one would almost imagine it was, judging by the way in which some girls try Lo give the men they love the impression that they don't care a button for them. Doubtless mock modesty* is at the root of most of the dishonesty of speech and action in women. Dearly would they like to be candid and real, but they fear to be so lest the world terms them hold and unmaidenly, not to say immodest.

But why cannot a girl be herself, and trust to her own instinct? Y'et, instinct rarely gets a chance. Instinct says to a g'"'l> "Do this, or do that"; but conventionality, Mrs. Grundy, and the laws of etiquette, say, "Do not do this, or that," and in far-100 many cases a girl crushes her instinct and obeys the dictates of the latter. But 1 can assure all girls that 'ustinct is a pretty safe guide. Girls never go far wrong if they are guided by instinct, but if they allow the dictates of the above triumvirate to rule them with a rod of iron, and to evolve them into actresses pure and simple, then they may go very far wrong indesd. You must know a girl who, although well known to you, appears to be quite another girl when a particular young man is in the company. If you do know n girl of this kind, yon can be certain she is playing a part, also you may be sure she is a little in love with the young man. But her conduct makes her stilted and unnatural. She would seem a hundred times more attractive in the man's eyes if she behaved normally and did not pose and assume all the tricks wlrch we associate with the lady behind the footlights. Happily, many girls are real all the time; thev are the best girls, the pi-'k of the bunch, and they always get married. The other sort very often don't, all as a result of their acting, of course.