EXIT THE MANNISH GIRL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 35, 11 February 1930, Page 6

EXIT THE MANNISH GIRL.

It isn't smart any more to ape men in their ways and in their dress. Not any longer. If you look around you, you'll find that this affection is as passe to-day as fainting, for instance, a generation ago (remarks a special correspondent). You will also see that the ultra-fashionable women are wearing their skirts longer and more frilly than they have been for some years. Naturally there's a reason, .livery change we make has a good reason, or we'd follow the path of least resistance and hold on to the old. And the reason why women arc coming back to feminine tilings is because they, have discovered that the mannish type of girl isn't getting the most out of life. They see that the men they set out to. please aren't exactly charmed with them. That's the point. Men prefer them to look and act like women. Don't let's be prudes and shrink from the truth, though one wouldn't expect you to shout it from the housetop. But whether we acknowledge it or not, it is true, nevertheless, that way down deep one thing that is of paramount importance and matters most to every girl is how she can make herself most attractive to men. I am thinking now of the nice girls and the nice men. This isn't news, nor is it anything to be ashamed of, because it has been woman's heritage to attract attention since the creation of the world.

At all times and in all ages women were expected to don their Lest and to indulge in all the little niceties that accentuated their charm and feminine beauty. We know it through history and fiction. Rulers abandoned their kingdoms for beautiful women, and we know that many charmers were powers behind the throne. Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, Du Barry—there were hundreds of them throughout the ages whose charm was more powerful than the sword. Frankly, it is something we think about, and that is the reason ladies have always been aflutter when a man enters the room. He doesn't really have to be any one in particular. It doesn't necessarily matter who he is, nor does he,have to be someone around whom they build their romantic illusions. He can even be a plain little man. But if you'll watcli you'll see that, when a man comes into a room filled with girls, he alters the atmospheric tone. The girls begin to flutter and to fuss and to make subtle overtures. It matters considerably if they know they are making an impression. I am not saying this in mock criticism, I assure you. Nor do I mean to be disparaging. Not in the least. I merely say this because a woman's reaction in the presence of a man is a perfectly normal condition of the mind.

In our mother's day it was smart to be delicate and fragile and to weep and cling to win a point. That type was. the quintescence of femininity, and she made the prettiest picture in fluffs and frills. In those days women belonging to the best fanylies were those whose whole world revolved around feminine matters. They weren't expected to understand universal problems. The more delicately moulded they were, the further removed from mental things, the greater their appeal to men. Their clothes reflected the spirit of that day; garments were long and confining, allowing very little freedom of movements. They did not need to, for in those days women did not indulge ill the sports as they do at present. A gentle canter through the park on a sidesaddle satisfied feminine desires for riding; tennis and golf were not indulged in by many women because these sports were considered too strenuous. Women's track events were, of course, unheard of. Women positively feared that they might develop a bit of muscle and lose that general plumpness which was then considered most attractive. Thus the prevailing styles of that period not only conformed to the standards of beauty, but actually discouraged the athletic activity of any who might be inclined to play the tomboy.

Then the World War broke out. Women had to put themselves together to fill jobs they never filled before. They were called upon to occupy vacancies that couldn't be held open until the men came back from war. Immediately the war, when women still carried their heads high because they had been put to the test and proved that they were mentally equal with men, the natural sequence in fashion was to set aside the soft and flexible things that had to do with feminine charm and substitute for them the ways of men. The severely-tailored dress, the short hair, the boyish swagper —these came into being right after the World War. Any girl who had respect for her looks began to diet and concentrate on the boyish figure. Then the cigaretto followed. If you remember, its popularity began at that time. Before that date the women who smoked did so in the privacy of their own homes. But when the lid was off the argument was that if it was all right for men to smoke why shouldn't women, now that they have stepped into men's shoes? Suffrage, war, new occupations for women—all these things led up to a revolution in the status of women. The new vogue dictated that the nearer she could approach the masculine things the smarter she would be. Now, after ten years, all this man-aping is old-fashioned. The flapper of a short time ago either is married or has remained a pathetic hangover. Her little sister, who grew up in the meantime and watched the older generation with a keen eye, prefers to be a sweet little thing. This generation isn't afraid of anything. The little sisters turned back of their own accord, because, as they followed on the heels of older ones, they found that their wild ways weren't bringing them the most out of life. . It seemed to them that the only after effect was a sour taste in the mouth the next day.