WOMAN AS "THE LESSER MAN"

NZ Truth, Issue 1035, 26 September 1925, Page 4

WOMAN AS "THE LESSER MAN"

A Prophecy Come True

TENNYSON MUST HAVE KNOWN SOMETHING

When Tennyson wrote "Woman is the lesser man," nothing was farther from his mind than the man -like woman of to-day. Yet his notable line — m the senso m which he did not write it — has proved prophetic. What a strange country a modern man feels himself to be m when he wanders through the tributes paid to women by the Victorian and Georgian poets, and their predecessors. Ivyttelton's advice to the long-haired woman of his day seems to be weirdly out of place when applied to the short-haired survival, who prances down Dambton Quay m half a yard of skirtlet: Seek to be good, but aim not to be great; A woman's noblest station is retreat. Then Shakespeare rises up out of the dead Elizabethan past to declare: She looks as clear as. morning roses newly washed with dew. But nowadays what woman, bent on maintaining "that school-girl complexion," washes with dew? The only old-time, writer who seems to have had an inkling of the modern woman is Bulwer Lytton, who wrote: The best way to keep them from playing the fool is to encourage them m playing the fool. But that v philosophy will hardly carry much comfort to "J.M.," who writes from Hastings m evident fear that the evil communications of the modern woman are corrupting her manners. The correspondent heads his (or her) contribution "Sex Suicide," evidently meaning the slaying of the old sexed female by the new unsexed female that "smokes, spots, shingles, short(skirts, and long-strides." Woman's slavish imitation of man's mode of life — or, rather, of the worst part of it — has -forfeited 'man's respect. "Contrasted with the old world longlived marriage and social etiquette, it requires no more, than superficial consideration to indicate a fast growing lack of respect between the opposite sexes, and it is time for women to realise that man does not appreciate their efforts to emulate his prerogatives m. smoking, short hair and long stepping-. While man's habits and fashions have remained practically the same, those of our present younger generation of women are already a vivid contrast to less than a decade ago. Does a woman stop to realise that by ad.opting the new feminine 'fashions-s he creates an individual somewhat different from the one her' husband married? These new 'fashions' are the result of the impulsive decision of an individual -or class of individuals with a sole ambition of starting a craze. A few hare-brained originators maintain the new idea and must m self-defence declare it a success, so that the disease goes forth to enter the soul of every woman m the land as a 'fashion' to be followed. Whether or not it is followed depends? on the degree of fear of the consequences. "Apparently the latest from Hollywood, the home of these crank Yank ideas, is bare legs and sandals. For the time being this is not tsaJng taken seriously by outsiders, and likely is

being sneered at to-day by women who to-morrow .will gladly follovr if •fashion' is declared. ' "The ambition to originate a 'fashion,' and the reckless disregai-d of the consequences, is indicative of a low morale, indeed. In any case, apart from the origin, .the result is plainly a lower morale m the adherents of these 'fashions.' Note the evidence of the divorce courts.

"When a woman has acquired such 'fashions' as masculine habits she arrives at a stage of undervaluing man and treating him accordingly, to the extent of asserting an independent spirit. Man is accepting the inevitable change of order, and assumes that woman requires more than mere companionship, while the, woman endeavors to show herself as the equal of her male companion. The same lack of respect results where wives and fiancees join the general circle of male friends and indulge the 'spot' and the cigarette. "Another aspect is that the man , finds it now unnecessary to forego his 'spot' and male friends for the companionship' of his lady friends, and m her indulgence the lady finds herself debarred from the exclusive company of the man. It certainly seems safe to assume that the new 'fashions' , are resulting m. less proposals and lead many to the divorce courts. The statement made by a lady m 'Truth' of last week to the effect that shingling is resulting m less proposals, is quite a reasonable assumption."