WOMAN'S WORLD.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13105, 2 May 1908, Page 7

WOMAN'S WORLD.

DAUGHTERS WHO WORK. BHAIXB AND "hOUSBKEDPINOh (Melbourne "Argus.") TSiore are fwr women nowadays who do not lament ihota&of hotuohoping tastes ir. tho presemi generation of girls of working age; but tnero arc fewer etiU who B*eui to have die«.rned the real reason why the home is commonly deserted for the factory, the counter, amd the office. Not only tli© "iris, who, in tho natuTO of things, might be* expected to eeek their livelihood in domestic service, but the daughters of the homo in almost, every ~redo of society, aro displaying th© same disinclination to devote their cmenjice to tho work Hμ* lies nearest to their hands. Most mothers would unhesitatingly declare that the girls are animated by two motives—the dosi re for excitement aad change and the desire to have money of thoir own to spend. And there is no doubt that these two reasons, and more ©specially tho latter, have contributed to etrengtbon the determination, of the modern young woman to earn her living outside of tn© home. But the fundamental and essential cause of the reaction against domesticity is the fact that tho outside work, serving behind the counter, type writing, and the like, is easier work, and requires a much smaller expenditure of both mental and physical effort than do the varied and complicated duties of/ the housekeeper. •

No doubt to 6ay so is,, to utter a heresy against our accepted traditions. Kror einoe the beginning of the "woman movement" it has been the practice of the average household to dedicate its brightest * and, presumably, most intelligent daughter to a "career, ,, or in cases -where the ambihitione of the family do not soar to "careers" 'to send "tie 'femart" -girj out to'earn her living. IV the ijeaX' ing, modest, and unobtrusive daughters, the quiot, unselfish, plodding women, has been' left the task of organising the household, of doing •Uio family "wash," of cookrne fcho family dinner, of minding the babies, : and scrubbing the floors, and doing all tine other often itabeautifuL. but" necessary, things that ina'l*e life possible at all. -'■•■ • ' *••■

The average parent rates at a much higher value than the rest the girl who makes the more rapid "progress at school. . . •

"You have inspired Milly with some ambition at last," said, a mother to a teacher. "We are iso grateful to yon. It's so good-for her to can do something.- The others .'&?©, so clever, and poor MiUy.really,has >:«> brains. ,, .; v "Oh, do you think'So," was 'theijuiet reply. '"For.my part; I think it takes, brains to make a,' rood , cook just aa' much as to make a llnivereity scholar, and Milly is a splendid little cookY The mother smiled indulgently. "It's very, you'to say so, but, of course, we all know, atilly has. no brains." That is the accepted ( 'attitudes the, girl with "no brains' , will do lor. the - , home, the othprs must bef sent, but into thY world, industrial .or scholastic, ;to make their mark or earn their livelihood'there.. I , f, ■%..' ' It" is fortunate. for tho world asi »a whole that mothers and fathers aresuch bad judges of real capacity. Jfcor frcguecatly happens -that toe ho*mo girl with the plodding ways hat* a capacity for work; an ability for organisation', far superior ■to tliat erf the ' 'quick" eieter who (Scorns tho drudgery of housework. Day in, day >q,ut, sho-j toils through the endless tound of duties that are necessary to/keep the; honift homelike. Sheas up early, makes tbt? breakfast, cuts the lunches, gets the children y.ready\and away to- school, washes,, up," arid sweeps and dusts, and 'Moos", tho beds; attends to the .tradespeople whojsill, -cooks the luiicheon and lays ,j *; the stable, ;bakes .. and prepares For visitors, attends to? thw thousand and one things hy the way that happen in every house, caresses the babies when they hurt themselves; sews on "the button that fathers.hasty fingers have reft from his shirt, spares a while now and then to attend- to mother's aching head, copes with tb* constant interruptions all day long—' and all without those about her: ever suspecting what a wealth of resource, what a fund' of energy,- itrhafr an orderly mind she must possess to do so many things even passably well, and to be able to do them always to tiinft. We have never recognised that the i successful home-maker- must of necev I sity be a "brainy" woman. Compaic her endless round of duties with tht> services performed hy tho girl in "a chop! Compare th« brain ' power needed for the composition of a tasty dish out of yesterday's meat,* with that required fox writing letters on a typewriter. For the cooking in an ordinary household is not the mere following out of cookery-book recipes. It is the discovering how to get the same or an approximate result with "what we've Cot in- the house." Given, two cold fish cutlets, and an egg, and part of a roast leg of mutton, and some bread and butter and milk and potatoes, how to prepare an appetising meal? : It is not an easy problem; but' the head ot the ihouse, who sits down to his dinner of white soup and fish-balls and curry, takes it as a matter of course, and pays little or no tribute to tho brains that have cooked it... Yet he will beam with pride over tho maiden who has de* ! voted all her time to study and "taken a scholarship,'.' or over the daughter who has bcqfn rewarded for her efficiency by a rise of five shillings a week in wages. The "Cinderella"" story 6t as a mere.' fairy story to him, and not an allegory. But if, like the prince, he came to the kitchen, fireside to find hia princess, ,it is as like as not he would come to the right spot-to-day. . ■■•/

No one would belittle the value of scholarship and business work. . It they hare done nothing else for women, they have taught them something of their own worth. But we are- in grave danger to-day of.-,overrating the ambitious girl at the expense of her homekeeping sister. In some American magazine not so long since women wert> advised, "Always, aim at devoting your energies to the thins: you can do best." Employ spwialiste for your works the article wont on to eay/.m effect.-•• Get oompotent cooks and" housemaids, for the Tidueework and competent riuiees and "Tdndergartejiers , to train s'your

children, if by any chance jouXlmw* ;•■ the ability to earn enough special occupation to pay them. Wnat that article ontimlv overlooked i* the fact that all tho cooks and houaexnaide/.; and nurses and '•kindergarteners" *in ~ tho world cannot make a home. '•: In our desire to open up all avenues of employment to women, to give them an opportinrity to "epecialieo" on their own account in any direction in which ~ th»»ir "bent" may load them, we'have suffered ou.rsely«i to do a grave in-V justioe to thoso ivhoso "Tjent". does not lead thorn away from tho home. There is no rebuking nowadaxe of the pert young: woman who declines to be "a household drudge." . She m«nts with sympathy, secret or open. What wo ought to bo doing is impressing on her the fact that eho has, so far as we can see. "not onotigh brains'' for household duties, jtot enough unselfisJhntes or common-sense, she goes out into the world, with ite mxxremenfc and variety ; she earns her own pocketmoney, and is allowed, as alhe expecte, constant opportunities for recreation and enjoyment. lhe girl at home must keep her brains and her hande at work, all day and every -day, Sundays and high days and holidays; and iwaro often than not no one thinka of her as needing or desiring pocketmoney, and holidays must be taken ''whon she can be'spared. , * This is the attitude* which has brought domestic work into disrepnte. To anyone who knows t!h© rclativ© difficulties of home-work and outside work , the injustice is glaringly obvious. A' reaction, no doubt, will come in time, and we must hope, in tho interests of nil,,that its coming will not be tardy.