RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume C, Issue 29444, 21 February 1961, Page 22

RANDOM REMINDER

WHICH BETTER HALF

It might be a useful exercise one of these days when a referendum is being held on some relatively unimportant subject to hold a secondary vote on a matter that exercises the minds of most of the community—whether men or women work the hardest. There is little concrete evidence to support the arguments on both sides and with the population more or less evenly divided on the question, an objective survey would be welcome. For years, housewives have pointed to the long spread of hours they work, the lack of overtime for week-end and holiday work, the fact that their work is never done, their close attention to the requirements of babies, toddlers, schoolchildren, teen-agers and husbands and their continued battle for the welfare of the family—all for

no pay. Men have wasted a lot of time uselessly countering these arguments by pointing to the vast audience for the morning radio serials, the shopping jaunts, the attendance at film matinees and to the fact that women can throw up their work for the day if need be. .And another small weapon has been added to their armoury by the news that of 3316 enrolments for WJE.A. classes, twothirds were women and rather more than half of them gave their occupation as housewife. This may be proof that women have more time for this sort of thing, but it shows too that they are greater seekers after knowledge, They need it, you can hear the cyngial reply. The figures, however, may not prove anything more than that women like and need a change in their sur-

roundings and company and the W.EA. provides that, as well as stimulating lectures. But it may be that this feminine interest in economics, history, political science and especially public speaking is part of the preparation for a gigantic feminine takeover bid of our society, If it is, men cannot expect much in the way of bonus issues, but they should not be too alarmed. For one thing, women could scarcely make the worid any worse than it is right now, they would find that running governments and business would make them work much harder than at home and would enable men to do something, as their wives KtaggAtwi home in the evenings, that few women eouid accept—have the last word: “I told you dear, I did use to work -harder than you.”