WOMEN AND TRUTH

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 102, 26 October 1929, Page 15

WOMEN AND TRUTH

•THE ART OF MAKE-BELIEVE

• As a London Magistrate and also Mr. Shaw D'osmond have, just rcniindeci us once again, ■ women bear a reputation for being less truthful than men, says an English writer. To' some extent thoy, deserve it. Yet nothing could ho more unjust than to a'ssnmo that all their mako-believo and cunning arc expressions of innate wickedness, that they aro artful dodgers because tlioy dote on dodging, and becauso thoy hnd it less amusing to deal in truth than in subterfuge. If women are more accomplished intriguers than men, and if they are moro given to guile, it is for the sako 0.. sclt-preaervation. Whilo men have tought in the open, womon havo had to defend themselves from ambush If women had not cultivated tho fine art of-cajolery, and if thoy had not employed every ruse they could invent they would havo perished from the earth long ago, liko the great aud powerful dinosaur, which probably was too clumsy to hold its own with auimals of lesser size and strength. If a tbam of women wore to -debate tho quostion with a team composed of men, they, could mustor a number of perfectly valid reasons why they have dealt in polito dissembling since the adventure of Evo. First on the list is weakness. Women havo less physical -strength and endurance than men, no mattor what tho feminists say. For this season, and because they aro the mothers of the race, they havo had to look to mon for sustenanco and protection. And oven to this day the great mass of them are dependent in j some mensuro upon men. If a woman I is not dependent upon husband or father, sho is depondent upon a man for her job. "So long as the balance of power is held by men, women will continue to use finesse with them. And men will hold it as long as possible. They will fight to keep it, if needs be. For centuries, too, women wore taught that cu no account were they to speak or act like human beings. They must set up a fine pretence of being plaster of Pans saints. It muttered not if there surged through a woman the divme impulse to creative love; she must pretend the greatest reluctance, blush and stammer if a man took her into his arms. Is it surprising that women, after practising love's fictions for generations, confused modesty with the acting and telling of lies? A whole code_ of artificial manners and philosophic negations was built on prudery. Sexual selection has involved woman in a whole tissue of lies. MODEEN CANDOUR. "From babyhood a girl is tau-ht to conceal her-evory-defect, and to let tho husband, but not the lover, find it out. If she had a bad temper, she must coat it over with sweetness; and amiability- outside tho privacy of her home If s ho were stpid, she must make her stupidity appear to be modesty and innocence. If she had made up her mmd that she would rear no children, it was expedient for her to drop an occasional remark about the joys of motherhood. • "To the credit of modern girls and women it must be said that thoy are -.•ranker and more truthful in courtship than thoir mothers or grandmotherwere. If they want children or do not want them, they do not hesitate to say so before the marriago certificate is signed. They usually arc as candid regarding careers. Any girl, of course, will learn to mould herself, to the ideal oi the man of tho moment—that is if she is clover. Sho will- be', as far as possible, "all things to all men." After centuries of training in tricks and wiles, after a long inheritance from the grandmothers who loved and triumphed by the. wits, it is surprising that women wear so few masks and tell so few lies. "One of the signs of woman's growing honesty is her eagerness to "learn about life and living an interest that is keener than the avorage man's. She is much more Tcsponsivo to a now idea, moro willing to give new manners and customs a trial."