The Evening post. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1914. FUTURE OF THE WOMAN

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 48, 26 February 1914, Page 6

The Evening post. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1914. FUTURE OF THE WOMAN

Of course, woman will always be woman — with a difference, which the husband of the future may regret. With an intellect which has a deep delight in Plato the woman may be . puzzled by such, an earthy thing as a potato, and she who can enjoy Homer in the original may not be able to read the gas-meter. Such is the gloomy foreboding of certain pessimists, but such dismal speculation touches only a fraction of the modern feminist problem. The anxiety of sociologists in this country is not caused so much by exceptional young women as by the average one, whose equipment for the proper management of a home and the care of children may be very defective. The trouble' begins^ with pate-nts, whose laxity, laziness, ignorance, or weakness may involve lifelong injury to a daughter, and the penalty of the "spoiling" may pass on to the new generation. The lack of discipline and dearth of respect for parents in many a colonial home have become notorious. It is a deplorable fact that thousands of girls, during school age, have very little domestic training from their mothers, and when they are fourteen or fifteen years of age the doors of factories, shops, and offices swing wide open for them. At this time their inclination for ordinary domestic duty usually diminishes ; indeed, they may have a positive distaste for housework, afc which they are awkward and slovenly — and then (in the view of some oomplainnnts) comes a winning young man, marriage, infants, ancl general muddlement. This comment has to exclude many, working girls, but it fits plenty of them. This, too, is only one phase— a very serious one— of the feminist problem. Hard need compels many girla to earn^their own living, and their impulse, during leisure hours, is more towards amusement than to lessons in homemaking. The average human beihg is naturally selfish till the higher qualities are cultivated. Thus, while the hosts of the young women in the factories increase, th& ranks ol incompetent mothers are continually recruited. Society generally may take a smug satisfaction in the benefits of the women's industrial toil, bu_the debit side of the ledger, from the"%iewpoint of the race, may b«* tragic. Another thought brings another part of the problem to the front. Many a time The Post has given proof of the glowing disposition of parents to shift as much as they can of their responsibilities on to the school teachers. Mothers who, by scarcity of time, patience, or moral courage (a dash of the physicalsort is sometimes desirable) neglect the home training of their daughters, expect that the much-burdened school teachers will somehow make amends for the parental omission. The teachers do their best, but they are subject to limitations which interfere with a proper regard for the real educational needs of girls. The Education 'Department has scant concern about the word sex ; it is mainly an " unsexarian " system, in which girls, afc^a critical age, have to compete on even terms with boys for scholarships. This is absurd, but who is moving for reform? A few journals and a few enthusiasts, including Dr. Truby King, who spoke helpfully last night, are trying to convince politicians and the public that this subject is very important to the future of woman and to the future of the race, but it takes a tedious time to make an impression on either the political or the public mind. Some of those who have condemned the evils of the present " crammings," ■ which are grotesque travesties of that education which should be for life, do give the public some excuse for a feeling of bewilderment. For example, one valuable sympathiser with the reform movement, Dr. PlattsMills, stated in The Post yesterday: "I have always advocated the economic independence of women as being one great essential in the uplifting of humanity. Every woman should be capable of earning her living by skilled labour. Every woman has .% right, equally with men, to the highest intellectual development. 1 would never yield one inch of the ground we women have won in the fields ,'cf 'higher education .; rglker .would 1

go further, and claim for women the right to be highly educated intellectually, without the sacrifice, bo often demanded now, of much that goes to the making of a perfect w6tnanhood." It happens in life that the average woman marries the average man, who cannot afford to hire help. Dr. Platts-Mills seems to contend that this law of nveiages should not be regained as a factor. She wants the average woman to be able to fight successfully as an economic unit in the battle of life, and at the same time to learn thoroughly the science and art of home-making. Does not this involve an increase, nofra lightening, of the average girl's present load? .She is to do as much as the boy to qualify for economic independence, and is to have the extra study and practice (no mean trifle) of things necessary for good housewifery. Room has to be made for the domestic training by cutting out, wholly or partially, certain things known as non-essentials, and the general purpose is to reduce, not to increase, the strain on the girls. Educationists have here a task that must be tackled ; delay means trouble for many girls and an injury to the community.