Vanity Now a Virtue

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 211, 20 August 1927, Page 5

Vanity Now a Virtue

Lauded by Doctors qpHIS is certainly an age of eyeA openers. After long years of scoffing at the vanity of women it is rather surprising but pleasing to learn that those who came to scoff are remaining to praise. One dear good doctor has said that feminine vanity is fully justified by its results. He asserts that vanity and the comforting feeling of being well-dressed are a vital tonic. A correspondent in an eastern paper goes so far as to say that vain women are not only healthier, but live longer than their dowdy sisters, and that sounds quite feasible, as it is well known that good health is the basis of good looks, and that a woman is as old as she looks. It is the bounden duty of every woman to make the most of what- ■ ever good looks she possesses, and if she is plain it is not use sitting down and bewailing the fact; she must set to work to make herself as attractive as possible. If reasonable care and attention were paid to hair, teeth, complexion, etc., very very few really plain women would be found. Of course true beauty is not skin deep. Personality shines out strongly, and a beautiful life lies mirrored in the liver’s eyes. Dr. Eugene Fisk, medical director of the Life Extension Institute of New York, says that women who struggle to retain their youth should not be subjects for mirth; but should be acclaimed as public benefactors. In trying to look and be as young as they can they have to keep fit, and thus set a higher standard of health for the whole community.

Aren’t the doctors patting us nicely on the back, after aH that has been said about our morals and lipsticks! We have become quite accustomed now to being told that our scanty frocks are much more Spartan and hygienic than the stuffy clothes of men; and some grave doctors have even unbent so far as to declare our dress pretty.

Only the dear young things of Cambridge and Glasgow Universities, in their debates, are now bold and old-fashioned enough to disapprove of women. All the rest of the world —after scolding us for so long—applauds what was once our cardinal sin, vanity. Edith Shackleton says that pretty girls are not only happier than plain ones at parties, or while they are being told just how heavenly their eyes and noses and mouths are, or how they are graceful as young birch trees in the forest. They are happier in all these longer stretches of life, when they are going about their work or getting up in the morning, or doing any old thing. Because, in fact, to be as graceful as a young birch tree implies a physical pleasure in movement, or, at least, a negation of physical discomfort. Well-shaped noses are the best for the deep breathing that keeps blood pure and tempers sweet. Lovely mouths are not only good to kiss, but can deal better with breakfast and luncheon and dinner than those that are ugly, weak, or crooked.