RECEPTION AT Y.W.C.A.

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 61, 9 September 1941, Page 4

RECEPTION AT Y.W.C.A.

ADDRESS ON BENGAL

WOMEN'S INFLUENCE

LIMITED

The reception given in honour of Miss Mary Greenwell at the Blue Triangle Hall yesterday afternoon by the Progressive Women's Club of the Y.W.C.A. was well attended. Members of the Board of Governors of the association and representatives of various women's organisations were present, and were received by Mrs. J. Robson (president of the Women's Progressive Club) and her committee. Miss Greenwell, who had recently returned from Wales and a sojourn of 18 months jn India, to become general secretary of the Y.W.C.A. in Palmerston North, gave an interesting address on "Women of Bengal," illustrated by samples of various fabrics, silks, brass, and other articles used by the Bengalese in their daily lives.

How the great variations in the climate of Bengal were reflected in the characteristics and temperament of its people, particularly the women, was explained by the speaker, whp' said, that the Bengalese were a refined and intelligent people who became .strong leaders outside their own province, but within were limited by being subject to the influence and system of joint family life. STILL SUBJECT TO PURDAH. Many of the women were still .subject to-"purdah," Bengal being the last province to make the effort to. bring women out of purdah, and this, com-, bined with the seclusion within the family circle in their home life (the houses being built in the Eastern manner opening into the centre courtyard instead of outward to the community as in the Western world), made it difficult both traditionally and economically to educate them and to inculcate a knowledge of hygiene. * Behind the purdah, however, the higher education of women is becoming possible, for in Calcutta there is a school for Mohammedan girls, where they can attain university degrees. Miss Greenwell spoke of the work done by the Y.W.C.A., and described the way in which it has enabled many of the women to develop initiative and a community interest.

Miss Greenwell, who was presented with a floral shoulder spray, ■ was thanked for her address by Mrs. J. S Martin, president of the Wellington Y.W.C.A,