THE OTHER WOMAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18297, 13 January 1923, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE OTHER WOMAN.

There are few' fallacies to which the average man clings more tenaciously than that women are influenced in their big decisions mainly by masculine opinion, says a contemporary. ' Only gradually ho discovers'that, although he is'not forgotten, Jus verdict seldom affords the supreme test. It is " what the other woman will think" that matters most. He' is inclined to believe that her frocks were designed *»to please the men she meets, and that may be true—in part. Much more cogent is the consideration that other, women are wearing—or coveting—that particular fashion. The " emancipated " styles of recent years have won masculine approval. Mere man liked the free and rather boyish short skirts and straight fronts of the girl who seemed to have abandoned ultra-femininity. If his opinion had been final the fashion would not have changed. But the now skirts are longer! At no stage is " the other woman " usually out of the picture—even on the first day of the engagement. In the later period,"when the home is being planned, it. is still the same. For him it is to bo their home, and so long as they are satisfied he cannot see why choice should be embarrassed by any other thought. But for her the problem iB more anxious. In the mental background are the callers and relatives, who will tacitly criticise or admire, and it is everything to her that the new home shall pass that scrutiny with bucccsb. In all their future joint decisions that factor counts, and in consequence the man who expects her to. be "guided" by one opinion—even though it be his— remain puzzled at the difficulty with which she acquiesces. However desirous she may be to follow his lead and to gratify his expressed tastes— matters of dress, the furnishings of the home, and such mattersshe is subconsciously aware of another verdict which she cannot ignore—the other woman's opinion. " Women are as women judge them," and no man can fully understand the perplexities of their decisions if he forgets that vital fact. ■