HIS POINT OF VIEW.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 559, 14 July 1909, Page 3

HIS POINT OF VIEW.

(. "So George is married/' he said; "'What fa the girl like?" , "She is pretty and well-born, and welleducated, and beaming, and " "Oh, I don't caro about'that,'" he said, "can she cook?" ' The woman who lives her own life anil finds it full'of interest, who feels that tho days are not half long'enough for the pleasant things she wants to do, and the people she/wants to meet, who takes a keen, if curious, .interest, not only in the affairs of men, but in the ,men' themselves, and who realises,that.men must be regarded as individuals, not as so many copies of tho same type—such a woman finds it increasingly difficult to understand why men look at woman with such blind eyes, regarding her in all her variations as having only one , character, one sphere, one destiny. They all . do, or at least they all say they do. If tho average man must bo judged by his words, he is incapable of crediting woman with any individuality that is _ more ..than Skin deep, or of believing that' she .was brought' into tho world for any other purpose - than to make some man a little more comfortable, to oobk his potatoes, and to darn'his socks. Their point of view may be forgotten, lost Bight of for an instant, but at the first possible opportunity one realises that man is , standing just thero once more, looking at the whole world of women with tho eyes of the cavo man. - • - ' Take, for instance, tho establishment of a women's club in "Wellington. For years and years men have had their own clubs; they have,a lot of them in Wellington, and though here and there a wifo grumbles and says that' John spends-far too much timo at his club;'it is only John she cares about, and'she never thinks of saying'that Tom and Dick should stay'at homo'as a matter of principle, 'because ' homo is essentially the placo for a-man in the evenings. But tho average, man who, thinks about it at all will freely express 'Sis' opinion'that it is foolishness for women to play-about in clubs of their own; bn6 man even was heard to speak of a woman's club poetically as "the lure of tho'mother." 'Deep at the bottom of every unthinking man's hoart is the conviction that a woman should not only bo content within the restricted ' borders 'of -her home—she should positively glory'in her'prison walls. It has never entered his head that women,differ from each other in character and taste just as much as 'men do,- and that where one ■ woman finds ■'''perfect' happiness,./ another woman, with the best intentions in tho world, can "only find boredom." ' .■ l lt is to be hoped that'as long as homelifo lasts; the great majority of women will, love,* 1 their homes, and servo' tho -'best' interests 'of the" home,'but it is also to bo hoped tin* an 'increasing number of' those women will find delight and profit in a wider life outBide the home .circle, returning to it aftei their little excursions into the world outside,, with minds that have been brightened and broadened by their, new experiences. It, has for too long been supposed that the 'greatest thing the mother of a family, could do for. her children was to feed them well, clothe them warmly, and keep their father in good humour, and women ,at least are recognising that it is by developing her own character in every possiblo direction that a ■ woman will best ,serve her children." It is quito true'that no family would prosper if i it lived on cold potatoes while tho nouso mother Vead books qf history and travel, but ■ it is not'good for a mother to drop, bohind ■ her,children.in their journey through life; she should always be one'step ahead of them in their interests, but it is a woman of very exceptional character who can shut herself up altogether to household cares and, interests,'.and retain an alertness of mind, or the grasp new ideas. Probably in this queer view that men take of woman as a whole, alertness of mind and the power to grasp .new ideas, do not present themselves as desirable characteristics. If a woman has .only one littlo sphere, the less she looks beyond it the better, and if she bo found right outside that sphere at any time, the man scolds violently, but. reflects that she will'return to her limitations in very'good time. Meantime, the woman gazes round her world, and studies the men around her with 'their little weaknesses and their many good qualities, and if she allows herself to goneralise at' all, it is to say that most men aro a little vain. For the rest, she knows that some are wiso'and generous, and others are prejudiced; that somo aro willing to accept any de'greo of responsibility, while others will shift -work and responsibility .alike on to broader shoulders; that some arc made for outdoor lifo and destined to livo indoors.' and others only fit for a bookish life, which is, by the way, as far removed from nature's crude ideal for man as any' wild pursuit that woman could take up would be from the obvious intention of nature with regard to her. She knows that man's mind .is as vari-coloured as the sea, and that a dictionary full of philosophical, and it may be said frivolous, terms would be „required 'to define "him, and while she ponders over his many-sided nature, knowing -it yet to be'less complex than her own, she hears him say in a tono of finality: "All women "are alike," following it up with tho torriblo little sentence that usually forms his first and last argument with reference to any, .suggested advancement of the sex: , "Nature never meant' a woman to " If man never did anything that nature has not expressly designed him for, he would bo today chasing wild beasts for his dinner, and sleeping up a tree. It was when man began to improve on nature that his civilisation with all its joys and all its miseries began, and tho sooner he .understands that women must be allowed a free hand to work out , their own improvement, -the pleasanter will it bo for all concerned.