THIS FREEDOM.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 152, 28 June 1924, Page 22

THIS FREEDOM.

"I don't believe in the right of any able-bodied, able-minded human being being supported by anyone else," was the revolutionary statement made to a Melbourne journalist by a recent visitor to New Zealand, Mrs. Nancy Barr Mavity, who holds advanced views about the social and economic independence of women. Her views on marriage are well in advance of the present day's ideas, but, like so many things that were looked at askance only a short time ago, these views may be accepted toii.urrow. "This talk of women's place being in the home is awful bunkum," declared this advanced thinker from America. '■Some women are temperamentally unfitted for housework, and if a wife is going to shirk, the running of a house, then" she has no right to expect a husband to support her. If she can't keep her part of the bargain, then she should make an effort to contribute a share to the household expenses." Mrs. Mavity has put her theory into practice. She is literary editor of the San Francisco "Chronicle." Her husband is Pacific Coast manager for Henry Holt, a big publishing firm. They have been married for nearly seven years, and have two children. Neither of them has let marriage interfere with their business lives. Their friends declare they have never known a happier union. MrSi Mavity gives away the secret. "My husband and I regard our marriage as a co-operative partnership. We don't belieSe in the right of either making decisions for the other. There is no head of our house. Husband and wife are co-partners. Our mental companionship is entirely independent of other relationship. In any decision that affects my life my husband makes no claim to decide for mc. We both enjoy freedom of thought and action. "For instance, when I made up my mind to take this trip to Australia it did not occur to mc to consult my husband. Of course, I was eager to discuss the matter with him, but I came to the decision myself. Some people suggest that we can't see much of our children under our living conditions. As a matter of fact, we manage to be with them a good deal. We don't believe that the care of the child should be left entirely to the mother. Surely the father has a right to have some share in the bringing up of his own children. "When mothers are in constant attendance on their children the arrange-

ment is bad for both sides. Tired mothers have no mental freshness to give their children. To my mind, one of the most pathetic things in life is the way children grow away from their parents. They haven't kept up with the young lives. lam going to try to hang on to mine, and I believe I will." Mrs. Mavity is an attractive brunette (said the Melbourne "Herald"), and has a vivacious manner. Se has come to Australia to write a series of travel sketches for the Sunset Magazine. Her literary work includes a book of verse, "A Dinner of Herbs," "Responsible Citizenship," written in collaboration with her husband, and "Hazard," a novel on modern womanhood. Seeniingly there are no half measures in this freedom of thought and action of partnership. When the Mavity household was bereft of domestic help the husband and wife stayed home from work on alternate days, and ran the house. The only time Mrs. Mavity has been taken to task by her husband for not being true to her colours was on one of her nights on home duty, when she called upon him to put the cat to bed in the coal cellar. The culprit makes a laughing admission. "My husband had every right to protest. A feminist should not have done that." MALE DRESS DESIGNER. ! With regard to the masculine dress instinct, a curious feature of it is that it can rarely be taught, but seems to come to men quite naturally, whether they be born in the purple or follow the plough. For instance, the son of the Russian Grand Duke Michael became a dress designer when Wtune failed him and his family after the Great War, whilst only a few weeks ago the London papers ..were dilating on the talents ..d success of a young farmer's son in this direction, who came almost direct from the plough to open a shop in Bond Stre«t, London's centre of Fashion.- And the most successful "modis 1 i" in Paris of to-day is an Englishman who held commissioned rank during the war. AN ARTIST AND MODERN HOUSES. It is not often that domestic architecture is praised,- but Sir William Orpen seems to think that our '. ouses of the modern type will compare favourably with those of other couftries. Externally, sheer uglii-io* has gone, and interiors have been adapted to save work, but, unfortunately, what is gained in this way is often outweighed by defects in construction. No house ever gets the Lome of her dreams, but many would be nearer to it if houses were better built than they are in these days of super-jerry building. Sir William Orpen thinks that women's growing influence in Parliament will maite for art and improvements in house construction, -and we can only hope that it will be sol.