WOMEN’S PLACE IN A DEMOCRACY

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 197, 17 May 1941, Page 6

WOMEN’S PLACE IN A DEMOCRACY

Pearl S. Buck’s Viewpoint TEACHERS’ CONFERENCE One of the most interesting experiences of the AVomen Teachers’ Conference this week was the reading of extracts from a speech by Pearl 8. Buck on “AVomen’s Place in a Democracy.” The reading was given by Airs. E. How-Alartyn in an address on the Women’s Alovemeut. Pearl Buck’s speech was delivered at a convention of the National Women’s Party (U.S.A.), and Air. Carl Hinshaw, a member of the House of Representatives, was so impressed with the importance of what she had to say that be presented copies of it to bis fellow congress members, and it was printed in the Congressional Record. It was from a copy of the Record that Airs. How-Alartyn gave the following extracts of the speech Pearl Buck’s definition of true demo- ■ eracy is "a way of life among people ■ wherein individuals are given the greatest possible liberty consistent with equal ' liberty for all others and where the in- • dividual is allowed and encouraged to . develop to the highest and fullest possible point consistent with the development of all others.” She points out that sueh a democracy no nation has achieved, but that some have chosen the path that leads to that democracy while others have consciously chosen the path leading away from it. As the conclusion of a mature : person, she says, “I had rather ‘be an - American than the citizen of any other country. The chief reason for this is that above all peoples, I believe we are 1 true lovers of democracy. . . . AVe are ' the children of men and women who loved democracy, our traditions are the traditions of liberty and of hatred of ' tyranny. And yet even we have not.-yet ' achieved a democracy. AVithin our borders there still exist today grave inequah- • ties. One of the most serious obstacles to the achievement of democracy in our j country is the national discrimination ' against women.” After discussing the meaning ot complete freedom, in equality and harmony ! between men and women, and unity in citizenship, Aliss Buck says: “The emotional relationship between men and women is the foundation of democracy. If this primary relationship is not right, democracy cannot come about. Aud this right relationship between men and women cannot be made by laws or compulsions. It has to come from within —from a genuine mutual appreciation of each other, and out of this appreciation, mutual respect, _ without any feelings of superiority or inferiority, either in men or women. Giving up Old Traditions. “The respect which American men give to women today is too often unwilling, too often tinged with fear. CLhey are afraid to give up tlie tradition which has kept women segregated from men. And women should give particular heed to this fact, for fear is what has made Fascism compel woman to the home again and has removed her from all possible places of competition with men. “The proper education for demodacy should produce young men and women equally eager for marriage and lor work, and for the development to be found m both. , , . “If it be true that womans place in a democracy is to be everywhere that man is so that between them they can main- • tain that balance which alone will bring : peace and order into human life, how can . we get women to see it? AVomen are bound bv a traditioualism which they themselves maintain. Women themselves are not fully aware of the discriminations against women. Accustomed to special ■ privileges, they do not understand their : true situation in our democracy. i “Women should be forced to realize that it is not enough to create, as blindly as beasts do, simply more life. The environment of their children today is not primarily the home. It is far more truly 1 the world. And with the world women have had very little to do. If they refuse to come out of their _ seclusion, their i safety, their irresponsibility toward the policies which compel us to chaos and , war, then there is no hope for the human race. . r .. Preservation ot Lite. "Women's strongest instincts are to- ' ward the preservation of life, and the ' bettering of its conditions. But these • very instincts are what the world needs today. The fact that wars continue to ' break out in ever-increasing fury shows 1 the complete lack of of life , as an end worth having in itself. tor , this, women are responsible. By their - continued retreats from those centres of t energy where the affairs of the world arc . shaped and controlled, they have with- - drawn from the world the possibilities of , order, the betterment of conditions of . human life, and above all, the possibility s of peace. “I believe,” says Bearl Buck, 'that till , the constructive instinct* toward life 1 which is primarily woman's is fully em- , ployed, not in the narrow confines of her . home, but in the affairs of nation and - inter-nation, we shall have the sort of . world we have tpday. Not because man . is evil, or woman good, but because un- . less men and women work together, their 1 instincts co-operating and supplementing , each other, we shall have an ill-balanced . world full of maladjustments, individual , and national, inevitably resulting in war. , Pearl ‘Buck is considered the greatest - living interpreter of the Orient to the 5 Occident, and has a mind trained in the . fundamental mature clarity of the Orieni tai. She is best known for her book, , “The Good Earth,” which won her the , Pulitzer Prize in 1931. Following this. . she was awarded the William Dean 1 Howells Alednl in 1935, and then the . Nobel award in literature in 1938. At . home, she is the wife of Richard J. , AValsh. and mother of several children. : THE NEW-BOOK CLUB AT WHITCOMBE’S 1 Members are invited to bring their . friends along to inspect our new pre- , niises situated on the Balcony Floor. The newest books, comprising a liberal supply of novels, and a selection of popular works of travel, biography, and other general literature, by the best, writers of the day are procurable al the New-Book Club immediately on arrival. Lists of new books added to the Library are issued each month and supplied to all members. Terms are moderate, and a full prospectus will be gladly supplied on application. For Ihose not desiring to take an annual or six-monthly subscription, arrangements have been made for the latest books to be secured upon payment of a nominal sum per annum and a small rental fee for each book when it is taken out. Telephone 11-OSO. or write to the Librarian, at Whitcombe and Tombs. Ltd.. Wellington—P.B.A.