THEY PREFER FEMININITY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 April 1940, Page 8

THEY PREFER FEMININITY

NO UNIFORMS FOR FRENCH WOMEN. Trousers and uniforms seem to have a subtle fascination for Englishwomen and since the outbreak of war they have been indulging their fancies to their heart’s content. Not so the French women. It is not that they are taking their place in the new scheme of things any less keenly or capably than their English cousins. They know by an instinct bred through many years of war just what is expected of them. And consequently they take it all so much as a matter of course that they refuse to look on their duties as in any way masculine, and therefore demanding trousers or uniforms. Frenchwomen are taking the place of the men as capably as Englishwomen, and are'turning overnight into land workers, bus conductors, canteen organisers, and car and lorry drivers. Eut because their grandmothers and mothers had to do the same or the equivalent, they refuse to think that they are doing anything out of the ordinary —something which calls, for instance, for a special outfit.

Love of Individuality. The real reason why Frenchwomen refuse to don trousers and uniforms is perhaps their love of individuality. They do not want to run the risk of being accused of apeing the men, but, more than that, they do not want to lose their own personal individuality. To be a Frenchwoman is to be individual, and the thought of any sort of regimentation is unbearable. It is not that they despise masculine touches. Not a bit of it. But they will have none of them until they have been thoroughly femininised, thereby leaving the purely masculine behind and becoming in turn purely feminine and fantastic and fetching. Although France has lived with a background for war through many generations, France refuses to mobilise its women for war service. This is because French women have not yet been given a vote, and until this privilege has been granted, the Government cannot officially organise any corps for women.. There is another reason, too, and that is the system of military training in France. Unlike most other nations, France always has an army of 3,000,000 trained men ready for an emergency, and women are not needed for national service as soon as they are in England. But, though they are keeping in the backgrounds, and are refusing to make themselves “conspicuous,” as they call it, by wearing uniforms, Frenchwomen | are carrying out many services fori their country. The Ministry of Lab- j our has already a census of women who want to undertake factory work. Women without children receive first preference, but women with children are not barred from this work if they can make arrangements for the good care of their children during working hours. Schools have also been opened to train women for various semi-skilled factory jobs. Mie. Eve Curie, daughter of the famous Madame Curie, of radium fame, has been appointed by the Government to assist in the coordination of women's activities. But perhaps the most spectacular organisation of Frenchwomen is the newly-formed corps of women parachutists. This corps has been formed among nurses who arc willing to be' dropped out of aeroplanes to give first aid to soldiers who are isolated in positions difficult of access by ordinary means of transport. So. though Frenchwomen prefer to stay in the background, they nevertheless play a very big part in the wartime life of their country.