WOMEN'S FORUM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 302, 21 December 1932, Page 13

WOMEN'S FORUM.

TORTURED HEADS. Englishwomen spend far more time and money on their hair now than ever before. Whether short or long, a woman's hair is usually her best feature. Japanese women are famous- for blueblack hair, as : . sheeny as'the raven's wing; but they, torture their, heads to keep it in position.. As their'ajstom ie to dress coiffures about twice a week only, to prevent' the elaborate dressing becoming disarranged they, sleep' with heads resting aipon hard, wooden , pillows, hollowed to fit their heads. Dainty Mousmes oil their hair, pile. it high, and decorate with gay fans and quaint prongs. Zulu ladies regard their clothing as of a second importance to their hair, which they painstakingly twist into weird, corkscrew curls, which they wax or day to the head, and then make to lie in a low fringe over the eyes and at the back of the neck. Bone charms and rings are then made to adhere to the sticky mess. Rhodcsians shave their heads to coax the hair into order, and other African girls torture their hair into plaits and, with infinite care, make tight, complicated designs with it. LAUGHING TONIC. A travel story comes to us from a much-travelled Auckland lady who, wliL'ii in Switzerland, accompanied a friend to have one of the famous seaweed bathe. Again it illustrates the different point of view of individuals of different nations and shows how misunderstanding can arise. It would appear that human nature is the same the whole world over, but different outlooks on humour give the words the lie. An Englishman, for instance, finds it difficult to smile at the too intimate humour of the French; on the other hand, he smiles mockingly at what the American thinks deadly serious—thinks like "uplift," improving the mind and so on. And in turn the French think the English unsubtle, able only to laugh at good hunting stories and the English "Johnnie" is thrust into hosts of American plays and produces ripples of mirth. To return to the story, The seaweed bath went along very" nicely until my friend realised the absurdity of being rubbed briskly all over with branches of the smelly, slimy weed. She began to laugh. I heard her laugh ringing over the partition, and, knowing her, I knew she was enjoying hereelf immensely. The attendant, however, thought she- was having hysterics, and proceeded to treat her for thorn, in epite of the giggling protestations. A doctor was summoned, and this set the patient I off again. Fancy calling a medical man Ito stop anyone from laughing! Neither : of us spoke the language, and we were getting further into the mire, or at least the seaweed, every minute. I began to laugh myself. In the end they got hold of an interpreter, who entered screaming, "Where's the woman that's got hysteric*?" In reply to the familiar, ■words of English, my■■ friend was able to say, "I'm the one you want, but hysterics be blowed. I was having a jolly «6<?d iT'ni 'euro' it's , done me more good than all the seaweed in the world." Perhaps it ie understandable that foreigners think all Englishwomen mad. - EFFICIENT CITIZENSHIP. That women failed to take their place in civic affairs and the need for training- them into efficient citizens was the theme of Mise Kathleen Moore's address to the women's branch of the Christchurch Citizens' Association in the Chamber of Commerce hall last week. Giving the dictionary meaning of the title of her lecture, "Efficient Citizenship," as "competent- civilians," Miss Moore stressed the importance of efficiency in everything. There was always someone j who said "You keep out of it" whenever i women ventured to take part in some public proposition.. This, Miss Moore considered, was wrong; women should take more interest in the city and. take their share of abuse ■ with the rest. ..VYomen should enter into public affairs because of their competency. There should be' no sex in these things. It 'was, therefore, necessary that women should" be .trained for good citizenship. •lit- was because of this, said the speaker, that she iad..been preseing for a. junior .branch of the association. The young should be trained to take an interest in public affairs arid to be the women in public life in the future. WOMEN SMUGGLERS. ,3 A practical use has lately been found for the yashmak and the flowing robes still: affected by Moslem women in many parts of Yugoslavia. Bands engaged in smuggling Albanian tobacco over the .frontier have been employing the ladies I as porters,- and in the voluminous folds j of veil and dress they have been able to I carry really large quantities of contraband.. .