GAUCHE TOMBOYS OF TWENTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 229, 28 September 1938, Page 16

GAUCHE TOMBOYS OF TWENTY.

Does Higher Education Effect Girls' Poise?

TTiirhfr education for women equal idvantiigcs wit h men -cries we hour 011 •" sides. I'nt what exactly do the v frii'im? What should he the "higher"' education of women? That is an almuwt una rwwerable question. The term, an generally applied, means longer schooldays, followed by college or university - many years of hard work for exams.. ■nd quantities of outdoor sport. But a>k the average man what lie would consider the higher education of women should include, and it will he a verv different story. He would probably hint that the education of women should lie in womanly thingr. might he not have touched on a truth which we like to keep hidden ?

Intelligent Gawkishness. Oirls whose parent* arc well enough r>fT to have sent them to a good finishing school learn nil tliat they need there. Thoso pnrouts who cannot* afford such luxuries, but who have denied themselves many things in order to give their girls what they consider all the advantages of higher education, often do not realise the disadvantages that go with it. The intelligent girl, who has been kept at school until she is 18 or 19, and has then gone to a woman's college or university, only emergen into the world nt the age of 22 or 23. She is perfectly (it home with pads on iier shins and an implement of sport in her hands hlihiclich about a room-—sprawls in chairs talks loudly and laughs noixily. Well educated she may be, but dignified or graceful—never! There are some who are born with a, natural dignity to whom the social graces come as an instinct, but modern education seems to be smothering these feminine attributes more and more thoroughly as time goes

She Loses Her Tongue. Ask the college-".rained young woman to pour out tea at one of her mother's At Homes, or to carry a cup safely across a room, or to put that shy Mrs. So-and-so at ease, or to perform any of the hundred and one little duties bf a good hostcus. What a slopping into 'saucers there would be, and what a tongue-tied, limb-tied creature she would become!

Surely it ie up to every mother to see that her daughters have the same advantage* as their less educated forbears? The true combination of intelligence and jfrace should be an irresistible achievement. How easy it should be to teach the rudiment* of entering a room easily, «itting gracefully, making pleasant conversation, looking after the comforts of guests, and other such simple things. The groundwork upon which a girl may learn dignity and then build her own personality is simple, and the desired result follow* inevitably and imperceptibly.

The Victorian parent who seemed for ever nagging—"don't rush upstairs, girls" —"shut the door Quietly, dear"—"stop fidgeting at once, Eva"—was a wise woman, and knew the value of early training. It is a difficult task to teach poise to a gauche tomboy of 22. It makes her more conscious of her hands and feet and more noisy in everything she does, and may produce an inferiority complex which will have a devastating effect on her whole future life. It must be remembered that to a great number of women the task of carrying on the future generations !s their destiny, and in their heart of hearts' what most of them desire. To do this they must make a happy and successful marriage, found a comfortable home, and know how to bring up their children. There is an old eaying about a woman'* sphere—but to a woman's sphere must be brought a woman'* grace and charm.