ON MODESTY

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 83, 4 October 1924, Page 15

ON MODESTY

COMPARING MEN AND WOMEN.

Are men now more retiring than the gentler sex, whose shy and shrinking nature was proverbial until quite recent times? (writes a correspondent of the "Weekly Press," who deals in kindly manner with a vexed question). Has the woman of to-day lost much of the modesty that was her greatest charm ?

Sad though it may seem, we- must answer "Yes" to both of these questions, though with all her faults—and they are' many—the modem woman is not nearly so bad as some writers and preachers would have us believe. Do you realise that until shortly before" the war woman was a slave to fashions, conventions, and repressions of the most absurd and-galling kind? Her body was encased ,-in a kind of armoured sheath which prevented her from moving freely and naturally. She was compelled to swathe herself in an unlovely, uncomfortable, and unhealthy skirt which- reached to the ground in front, and was provided with a train—' whose sole purpose' appeared .to be to collect the dust and the microbes of floors and pavements. .THE TRAMMELS ,OF DRESS. A small foot (often pinched and deformed in a tight shoe) might be allowed to peep out now and .^hen, but that, was all. If she raised her skirt an inch or two when crossing a muddy road she was instantly condemned as "fast," and tlie followers of the late unlamented Mrs. Grundy predicted that she would come to no good. ■ We have only recently admitted that she has legs, and even now it is considered more proper to refer to them as "understandings." •> Quite suddenly woman was freed from all these trammels of dress. At the same time she found herself allowed to do things that she had only vainly dreamt of. She might go to a dance without -r chaperon, and dance with the same part--ncr as often as she liked without provoking a scandal. It was freedom unheard of, and like the schoolboy just home for the holidays she resolved to make the most of it; and make the most of it she did, with, in many cases, appalling results. Often, far too often, she has.succeeded simply in making herself rather vulgar and rather cheap. One of women's main charms is the mystery that surrounds; her; the mere man' feels that there is an unfathomable side to her character that he will never know, something as elusive and as attractive as the will-o'-the-wisp. But if she casts off all reserve the mystery departs .and she cheapens herself in every way. SEIZED HER OPPORTUNITY. Lack of restraint in manners .and in dress results in vulgarity. The short skirt is in itself an excellent thing, for it gives a freedom of movement wheh makes its wearer naturally graceful. No one, again, can deny that the open-necked blouse has done a great deal to improve the general health of women. But there are low necks and low necke, short skirts and short skirts—and why, oh, why, are the shortest so often worn by those whose "understandings" least deserve to be paraded before the world? Man has had his freedom for so long j that he has grown used to it, and he is prevented from'kicking over the traces to a great extent by the painful shyness that marks his young days. The girl grows up much earlier than the boy. At fifteen sho possesses twice the self-as-surance of her eighteen-year-old brother. Watch them together in "the company of others. She is perfectly self-possessed, and any natural shyness that sho may have is helped out by the knowledge that' she is attractive. Ho is red-faced, ton-gue-tied, and miserable; ho doesn't know what to do with his hands, which seem several sizes too large; and ho cannot forget the pimple on his nose, which blossomed out, as they always do, just as he was setting out for tho party. ' SCOPE FOR ORIGINALITY. Men, too^ in spite of all thoir boasted freehom, aro in many ways far moro hide-bound by convention than women ever wero. At ■ school aud all through life a man is forced to conform to the usual type. lie must dress as they do, talk as they do, behave as thoy do. If ho tries to strike out an original lino in any of these things he is certain to bo accused of "swanking," and to be laughed out of it by his friends.' Woman is far luckier. She must follow certain broad lines, but she has plenty of scopo for originality. Supply twenty women with identical clothes to wear, and each will contrive to give hers some little personal touch. Every woman has in her a strong desire rto show her individuality—she wants to create an effect, to be striking. And if she lets this desire run away with her, sho ends by shocking people instead of exciting their admiration. ' A MATTER OF TIME. Thero is no . doubt that the present tendency amongst women is to dress outrageously, and to exhibit far 100 much of themselves to tho public gaze. All this is simply v reaction that was bound to follow tho repression of Victorian days. It cannot last, for women are far too clovor to cheapen themselves permanentiy- ■ Yes, we must admit reluctantly that for tho moment men are more modest than women; woman is still enjoying the first delights of freedom and is celebrating tho occasion by doing all- the things that were previously forbidden Sho is still having a glorious "bust," but she will settle down ere long. The real womanly modesty is there all the time, and, though a few may have ovorstepped the bounds, women are at heart as good and ns modest as they have been since the world began.