THE MODERN GIRL.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXIII, Issue 2938, 8 May 1912, Page 2

THE MODERN GIRL.

A good deal of wholesome commonsense—however offensive it may be to suffragettes and other "advanced women" —flavours an article by the Hon. Mrs Wilson in the " Nineteenth Century and After" upon "The Passing of the Chaperon," and all which that change means. Her main contention is that the modern girl is being given her freedom too early, and that the consequent alteration of the relations between men and maidens is largely responsible for the fact that marriage is, so to speak, out of fashion. The twentieth centtfry girl has an insatiable appetite for amusement, and, generally speaking, she is too much wrapped up in herself to be capable of tailing in love. Mrs Wilson suggests that if the girls of to-day knew that their most powerful weapon is a gentle reserve, that their strength lies in their weakness, they would perhaps correct their' ways, adding-—" They will have to learn to please men —as a squaw I say it —for that, indeed, is the whole duty of women." The marked change in the relations between men and unmarried women Mrs Wilson attributes to the liberty given to girls nowadays. "The little slender barrier which fenced them

round in old days has somehow or other disappeared. It was a thing of straw, I admit —the mere observance of a few conventionalities —but 1 breaking it down has had wide-reaching effects." A man can now enjoy the tete-a-tete society of a girl. He can flirt with her, dance with her, and so on, without feeling that he is pledging himself to anything further. There is no longer any talk, of compromising her. The new methods have produced a type of bachelor girl previously unknown. This girl, according to Mrs Wilson, has created an impasse for herself. <l She does not know'that, though.she has altered, men are ever the same, that the idea of' purdah ' is as strong in the West as in the East. The bride that is desirable is the previdusly guarded jewel which has not sparkled for others. There must be mystery where there is to be romance. We cannot blame men who feel thus ; they are going back to the old primeval instincts, of which the unwritten law ot social life is merely the shadow."