MOTHS OF PLEASURE

Evening Star, Issue 19044, 12 September 1925, Page 21

MOTHS OF PLEASURE

A TYPE OF MODEM WOMAN ( [By Mrs Crrur. Cixesteeton, in the 'Sunday Chronicle.’] What is the modern woman ? According to Sir William Arbnthnot Lane she is “ liighly strung, nervous, suffering from overstrain, . . . looking for pleasure and excitement.” This seems to mo rather a sweeping generalisation. Tho description most aptly applies to a certain type, the neurotic typo. But to get down to root facta, when wo use the word . modern ” it lias not that particular significance. Broadly and generally, the difference between the “ modem woman and tire woman of the Victorian age ia this: The woman of to-day -is acquainted with the facts of Ido, has learnt to discard unnecessary and unhygienic clothing of the body and of the mind. She lias thrown aside those swaddling garments which divorced her from a knowledge of reality. THE NEUROTIC TYPE.

The woman cf to-day no longer thinks it unfeminino to earn her own h' n ’ 1 £’ nor does she suspect any man who takes her out to tea of matrimonial mtentions. I do not say that_ every _ \ ictorian woman nourished this suspicion, but numbers of them did, which was why such a small percentage ever got taken out at all. It has become recognised by intelligent people that a man and a woman can find many other topics of conversation besides sex, and_ it is perfectly certain that there exists a large proportion of friendships between the sexes, which, tl ough tinged wita sentiment, are absolutely divorced Irom passion. To turn to the neurotic type. I do not think that she is a special product of this immediate age. There_ have always existed women with an insatiable appetite for sensation, an unquenchable appetite for every kind of excitement. But what has happened is that social conditions to-day provide easier and more numerous opportunities for her gratification. The difference between the _ modern ” and the neurotic woman is_ that most of tho former have many interests in life. There is so much to do and to see and to think about that a suggestion of boredom is impossible. Ihe neurotic woman is different; her sole point of interest is herself. lor reason she is very largely a luxury product. She could not maintain her pose five minutes in the rough and tumble of a workaday practical life. BORED WITH HER EGO.

Fashionable physicians necessarily come into frequent contact with these exotics who suffer from every kind and variety of nerves. There is the woman whose restlessness shows itself in brain storms which devastate herself and her entire surroundings. _ There is the woman who, while maintaining a detached demeanour, is interiorly a mass of diseased nerves. She is imprisoned within her ego, and, as may be expected, becomes so bored with that ego that she is for ever trying to find a method of escape. Yon may know this exotic and neurotic type bv certain signs and portents. 'Emotionally speaking, they have no place or habitation. They take one man after the other as husband or lover, but with nono can they_ establish that working philosophy of life which makes for satisfaction, if not happiness. , It is said by certain scientists that this neurotic type is incapable of appreciating what is and is not a fact in other words, it is suggested that neurotic women are all liars. 1 do not think that this is so. In my opinion their perception of fact has become warped, because they can only look at things and people from their ov.n point of view. *A man may Wow out Ins brains for love of her, but the occinrenco would only shock: the neurotic woman in so far as it a fleeted her comfort, and in all probability she would regard the tragedy as being an ant which showed an extraordinary want o) consideration. “It upset mo dreadfully’’can t yon hear her saying it?—“l never could have dreamt he would no as selfish as all that.” . Wo have also the neurasthenic woman who gets rid of her suppressions by explosive outbursts. _ They have certain traits in common with the other typo, but ns a rule Mature has not been so bountiful to thorn, .they are neurotic misfits, shall wo say, and lack the feminine allure so conspicuously present in the others. They axe the true descendants of those Victorian females who suffered from vapors ami megrims, loudly demanding bnnu feathers and lavender water. But as a rule the Victorian neurasthenic was content to devastate her own immediate family. Her sister of to-day inflicts her moods and tenses on a wider Generally speaking, however, the neurasthenic type geis more settled >3 marriage. Marriage has little or no effect on the neurotic. They rely so much on externa! stimulants that they must for over seek newer and newer forms of excitement. You rarely hud one of the sisterhood keenly interested in things which are not material. Art, literature, or science do not attract her. And for this reason, lo enjoy any of the pleasures of the mind it is 'necessary to merge your ideas in something bigger than yourself. But for these unhappy creatures there is nothing bigger; life itself is centred m their sensations. They behold themselves as the leading actor in every situation; indeed a situation in which they are not the chief person docs not affect them. SEEING ONE SINE ONLY. This is why I think they arc so often judged untruthfully. What is wrong witli them is that they see only those things*they want to see. Their memory automatically rejects what docs no.please them. Only 'the other day I listened to an exquisite-looking creature complaining bitterly of her treatment by a friend. “ We wore going to a show, and she kept me waiting two hours, and then never turned up.’’ Someone reminded tho lady that her friend had been taken suddenly ill, and had been unable to let tho other know. But it was no use explaining. Facts did not impinge on her consciousness. She visualised herself deprived of her pleasure, and the friend appeared merely_ as an unpleasant person who had disappointed her . ... The neurotic type is almost invariably attractive. She has an easy influence over men. Her manners arc never aggressive. Self-centred people on first acquaintance arc quite charming. They aro so completely wrapped up in themselves that they feel. certain everyone shares their admiration. But though they attract readily, they rarely retain devotion. Sooner or later the infatuated male realises that he has married a beautiful statue., a modern Narcissus who regards life as a mirror which must perpetually reflect herself. ETERNALLY UNSATISFIED. And yet the neurotics generally have a good intelligence, for—and this is an interesting point—they are .able so completely to dramatise themselves that they can withstand _ the most searching criticism. Life is for them a film in° which they pa>s from r " ' " pleasure. Daughters of the horseleech lot ever crying out for more ana mm. they grow incapable of satisfaction, am for that reason are eternally uu,satis fied Rut no matter what life brings B

them they always earn thoir own punishment. They rely so much on extern il stimulus that when they have exhausted cyory form of excitement there must 'descend upon them a pall of apathy from which they cannot escape. Their orison of self_ grows smaller and smaller; their imagination, turned for ever inwards, becomes diseased, so that with the whole wide world before them for which to choose they have at last no choice.