WOMAN IN THE WOULD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 238, 5 September 1935, Page 11

WOMAN IN THE WOULD

HOME AS THE CENTRE. WORK FOR HUMANITY. Per Press Association. DUNEDIN, Sept. 4. Woman’s place in'the modern world, the problems, complexities, and opportunities of her position, and the work that lay to her hand formed tire subject of the presidential address of Miss C. E. Kirk, of Wellington, at the thirteenth Dominion conference of the National Council of Women of New Zealand. While admitting the claims of home on her sex, Miss Kirk sought to show that the activity that was confined to the four walls of home was insufficient in itself and tended toward social incompleteness. There was no doubt that most of them would agree with the average man who said, “Woman’s place is in her home,” but what they did not agree with was a full stop at home, said Miss Kirk. If a woman was the possessor of a home, that home was certainly her place, but not her only place. It was the centre in and from which she worked and took an interest ill what was going on in the world. It was not instead of these other interests that she had a home, but rather as a- foundation in the interests of humanity. What would be the opinion of any man if women were silly enough to say to him: “Now you have a business; you are a butcher and your job is to attend to your business Twenty-four hours out of 24 vou must be within the four walls of the building where it is conducted”? He would immediately say: “I cannot be there all the time; I must have some recreation,” and they, being very sensible people, would agree with him, although they might perhaps wonder whether sauce served to the goose could not bo profitably served to the gander. In so many ways the women of New Zealand had shown very remarkable executive ability. Now.' when there was such urgent need for suitable women on public bodies and in Parliament, surely tliev could see to it that suitable, well-balanced women were nominated. She knew that women said, “What is the use of women coming forward ? Women won’t support women.” She thought that was not altogether true, but she did think that women expected from women a higher standard of ability than they did from a man; that they were more critical of each other than they were of men, and that there was a certain amount of ‘nervousness as to whether a woman would make good. Therefore, they hesitated to run the risk of failure. For many years women doctors had to fight this difficulty, but they had won through, and so would it be wi til I women who had courage enough and ability enough to hrave an election campaign with its attendant cm.cism, facing such criticism with kindly patience. “Mav I, in closing,” said Miss Kirk, '“stress the fact that the work of the National Council of Women is national and international, and that a branch should not undertake local work which should he done by one or more of its affiliations.”