WOMEN'S WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 248, 18 October 1924, Page 58 (Supplement)

WOMEN'S WORLD.

WORDS OF WISDOM

(By EOSALINE TUIIDKX.i

SPORT. Are New Zealand women fond of sport ? Are they sports? These two questions look very similar, in fact the unobservant may think them synonymous; but in reality they are diametrically opposite. The remarkable difference may not be shown in the dictionary, but that does but prove once again, how frequently one's faitli may be shaken in and by the dictionary. And when one considers the lamentable want of plot and continuity in these works, one wonders how they pver get past the publisher; and marvels That, having done this, they are bought Rnd read by the public. You see the dictionary has little regard for facts of life; it takes a word and gives the meaning that word possessed when first it was launched upon life's turbulent sea. As the years drift past, each frail little craft gathers barnacle of habit and usage; and, by the vimp. it reaches port, its shape, significance and general cargo have changed beyond recognition. Consider the word "sport." The dictionary tells you that it is a pastime or amusement in which a person engages. There is no reference to the meaning of the word in the phrase, "Be a Sport," a plirase which has ruined many a banking account and been the cause of the downfall of numerous well-intentioned women as well as men. In fact, it would he within the realms of veracity to state that this plirase has done more damage in the world than either drink or gambling. Be a sport. Literally that means act against your principles and your conscience for the sake of fun and good fellowship; and unless the person addressed possesses a strong will and grim determination, she becomes a "sport," there being but two courses open to her; either to be a sport or be regarded as a wet blanket. But she is well advised if she holds out, for we all know how

easy it is to slide down the slope, and a very large percentage of those who are "down and under" could trace their ruin to that phrase, "Be a Sport." It has made the writer what she is, and that is a very grave statement. Sport: Those pastimes and amusements alluded to in the dictionary. These, of course, have a widely different moaning, and the women of New Zealand have eagerly taken them up. Golftennisj cricket, hockey, tramping, swimming, and in some cases football —all have their feminine devotees in New Zealand. It would be interesting to know whether neurasthenia is as prevalent among the women of New Zealand as it is among women of countries where eport for women is forbidden. It seems to the writer that open-air sport should be not only a preventive, but a cure for neurasthenia and hy3teria. For eports afford exercise in the 6pen air, keen interest, and a healthy outlook on life. Of course, sport may easily be overdone, and this is why many of the stay-at-homes are down on it. , Wo hear of women cavorting off to golf tournaments and leaving their homes, their husbands, and their families in a etato of pernicious neglect. But this is certainly the exception rather than the rule. Some women, again, have a rooted objection to golf, of all things. Why I cannot Bay. To mo golf appears to be an ideal sport for women as well as men. It is not as strenuous as hockey or football, and many pleasant and healthgiving hours may be devoted to it. These words, overheard by the writer, may give some indication regarding the objections some women have against it: "No," she said, "my hands and feet are quite large enough, and my face quite ugly enough, without playing golf!" That would seem to indicate that women expect golf to turn a pretty woman into a plain one. Surely it cannot possess that power, especially when we remember that nothing on earth will"turn a plain woman into a pretty one. Certainly most women golfers are dreadfully sunburnt, but many regard •xuiburn not as a disfigurement, but as k *n added beauty. I do not think that

golf, although it may liave its faults, pan bo regarded as so '"•unwomanly" a sport as football and hockey, but I may, of course, be wrong, and am cjuite open to conviction. Tenuis is a pretty game to watch, but many find it too strenuous to play. It seems to be a fine game for the flapper, but for the stout, middle-aped matron hardly a game, sport or pastime to be recommended. Possibly if the matrons of New Zealand embraced tennis, as it were, they would cease to be stout; certainly they would if they played it as Mdlle. Lenglen does, if magazine pictures of her are to be believed. In the days of long skirts and tight corsets and gloves tennis was considered quite a ladylike game. One wonders if the matrons of those days would consider it ladylike now. If a woman wants a really gentle sport, what is the matter with croquet? Tramping and swimming afford plenty of exercise, and many New Zealand women indulge in both forms of sport, one in the. winter and one in the summer—it is scarcely necessary to state which. Cricket 1 Yes, there are women cricketers in New Zealand, but up to the time of writing I have not come across them in very large numbers. Not thnt the writer would ever consider cricket as a form of pastime or amusement for herself. It may be exciting, it may be a cure for mumps and measles, and it may afford healthful exercise, but as long as the ball exhibits all the characteristics of a stone or a rounded flatiron cricket must be a sealed book to her. There may be, and I believe there are, women in New Zealand who "dote ,, on cricket—these are the brave, the courageous ones of <>ur sex—but I am not, and never shall \c one of them. In fact, I am, where cricket is concerned, an arrant coward. That, Tod assures mc, is what makes mc so lovable. Hockey I cannot say truthfully that I recommend for women—not for women over twenty, and not even for those under that age. It is too much like a fight. Thef© are New Zealand women

who, in spite of this assertion, and' in some cases because of it, enjoy a good rousing game of hockey in the winter months. Well, they are welcome to it. Far be it from mc to throw cold water upon their hockey, their taste, or themselves. Racing I have purposely left out of my list of sports in which New Zealand women indulge. In the first place, I cannot regard racing either as an amusement or a pastime in the ordinary acceptance of those words. It is a business. It is conducted in the open air and amidst beautiful surroundings. . It is not, considered as a sport, a.a strenuous as hockey, cricket, or football, nfd is really less fatiguing even than croquet. Yes, I suppose it is a sport, and one that most women love with a love passing the love of woman! That does look a little startling in print, but every woman will know what it means. •Racing is the sport of kings. That, of course, is the last word on it. Football for women? No, I cannot discuss that—it is a sore subject, very sore; and, besides, I" do not like the costume 1