PROFESSIONAL BEAUTYDOM:

Otago Witness, Issue 1584, 1 April 1882, Page 26

PROFESSIONAL BEAUTYDOM:

Its Decline and Practical Termination in the Fashionable World. '

The polite world is morally neither better nor worse than it was twelve months since, and than it will be a twelvemonth hence. But during that period it has displayed on several occasions a sense of' the proprieties and respectabilities of life which some people had believed was hopelessly .dormant, and that others had feared' was absolutely distinct. For the most part society, whenever it has considered it desirable to inflict the stigma of moral reprobation, has shown equal moderation and good sense. The ethical enthusiast may not haye much reason to congratulate himself on this. We are settling down in a cynically compliant manner into a Btate of universal tolerance. As the world grows older it appears to become more Pagan. We. have accepted the doctrine that so long as people conduct themselves decorously, it is not our affair what they do. We may have our suspicions ; there may bo innuendoes and insinuations : but so long as nothing flagrant is proved against individuals, they are absolved from guilt. Society has made up its mind that it will stand anything Bhort of an open scandal. Things were getting so bad that it was i felt necessary to draw the line somewhere. _ There was no wish despotically to restrict individual liberty. All that was wanted was to neutralise the discrodifcablo consequences of its unfettered indulgence. It is impossible, so society argued, to mako men and women bettor than thoir nature qualifies them to bo ; but if we cannot improve tho reality, wo may, at least, mend appearances. Cej'tairi episodes, which it is unnecessary to particulariso, had become so frequent that, agreeable and attractive as they were in themselves, they threatened to visit us with a go»d deal of inconvenience and discomfort. Society then put its foot down. Tho only parallel which can be found for this is the mutilation of tho Hermte in ancient Athens. The ' eye of Greece ' was an exceedingly intellectual, but a not very virtuous city. It was not, either, a very religious one, and when its philosophers talked about ' the gods ' thoy meant just as much, or just aa little, as the contemporary Parisian when he invokes the Deity. Alcibittdes was allowed to do exactly what he Uked

up to a cerFain pomC'/BiTf;- on : oneimeraOTable occasion he went too far. He outraged Athenian opinion by knocking off the heads of a number of stone idols. He was forced to flee the town. English^ society has exhibited the same capacity of pious resentment, and in a number of ways during the past year it has given those who sin against its laws to understand that it is not at present in a to suffer' anything of the nature of a social tmeute. This does not argue any great spiritual progress on its part ; but it may, be accepted as demonstrating that it has still a certain theoretical sympathy with virtue, , ''..,„/

Although the social fusion; which is one of the most marked phenomena df our times, has gone on as usual during the past year^-tliere has also been observable a tendpnoy on the part of the different sections-of society.to organise themselvos, and to take up' a definite and intelligible position." - In 'a' sense we are still as much mixed as ever ; ,but a perception has commenced 'to dawn iip'on the, fine world .that there are insuporablo" obstacles in the way of pure democratic equality. -Theroiß no event 1 on' which' society k< more to be' felicitated than the decline, and, indeed, the'practical termination J 'of that scheme 'of prof e'ssiptial b'eau^ydom, under which we have so . long lived. It may at once be said, and it should,be said in.the fullest and most unreserved manner,' that for this it is not the professional beauties ' themselves who have been 'responsible^ They' have' 'been, in their way, sceptred monarchs ; but th^diadem of recognition was unsolicited, and,. they have ,been voted to their .places 'by an "acclamation which it was not in their power to- resist. Towards the close of the past Londdrt season the very phrase 'professional' beauty Ml f6,11f 6,11- into desuetude. The natural goal of. .masculine notoriety is the lepture, platform';' the, natural goal of feminine distinction, which comes from personal loveliness, is the stage. ■ ■ Professional beauties have, perhaps, become inspired with the conviction that if they go up 'like the rocket, there is the danger of their 'coming down like a stick. The accomplished lady who has just adopted the vtle of actress as her profession has no reason- to complain of. any experience of this kind. Her course has been one of meridian and undiminishing brilliancy. She has suffered no temporary eclipse, and she has abandoned a position which was ' thrust'" upon her unrequested in the plenitude of 'her. social fame. Her triumph has beem sustained throughout, and there is much to-be tihankful for in the fact that is has lasted 'long enough, and that it' has- provoked enough''!dj? ''emulation to convince ladies how critical and'sffioult the part is to jdayj'aud to convince SQcJefyhow undesirable, iff is that there should be a number of candidates to such a distinction; 1 ■ The professional beauty, though a very mb.dera 1 institution by name, is really almost as much'an'janachro- [ -nism as the (jvwn.de davie herself, j inhere are so many princesses of society, nojvadayVt&aj; it is almost impossible that there -should be ahy single rqcognised' que'qni' In- the 'same way England is more prolific of beautiful and pretty women than any other country in tHe'Vorld. The, exceptional prestige with which the. representative of professional beautydpm was invested was resented as in, itself aninjustice to many other equally qualified candidates, and as a violation "of what is 'prq-eminently the | spirit of the time. The feeling grMitaUy spread itself that 'the condi'tion J on which, the' diploma of prof essional.beautydqnv was /obtained and i was held must be • extremely . precarious. Matrons and 'maids were wise enough^to see that no inference absolutely 'satisfactory to their own- pretensions could bb, drawn from the case of , the lady to whonl' reference has, already been madel Her experiences,' it was recognised, w.ere due: to a combination of.circumstances that was altogether •unique : for a ■similar success it was necessary that iinis combination, should be reproduced: 'It was generally acknowledged ttf be'imnpSßibV'that this ,shpujd be done. , Herein Eng|ish"lad)e,s .showed their good sense, and did so in a. manner that ■ , had been, in the highest! •degre'e salutiryHo the interests of society, at Jarge. « | '' ; '";' Professional Tbeauties were^a'pitUy^ Becoming disturbing influences in •thfcj' Jjgsj; .'conducted London circles. ' To be the rose, or to boast the presence of/the, rose,' ir\ a. brilliant <obmpany was one thing ; the 'display" of <& multitude of buds,- vicing intheir ambitions with'lih'S 'mature and i porfect blossom^ was another/ ' '^he spirit of a burning, 'and, in nearly, ,'eyery' instance, most unbecom^ng u Qoquetry,,was'jiipt;illedLinto a i number of breasts. Society was by »the discussion of rival Claims 'till it grew4ick of hoaring about them. t There was nqt'a' youthful, or a mid'dle-agedj or elderly' beau w)io' aid not 1 think it incumbent upon himself .tp'start some lady who had been sufficiently unfortunate to attract his favourable opinion in the professional beauty line. This, it was felt, was going a little too far. There was' 'no reason why individual v cavaliers might not have' their preferences,' but' there was every reason why they should not ask society to endorse their choice. If Paris had heen only one of a multitude of connoisseurs in feminine beauty, the t apple which he gave to Venus would not have 'been so bitterly, grudged by thg,,. brace of neglected goddesses/T he sy tern of professional beautydom was, intact, found to be incompatible with* the ' harmonious 1 working of the social machine. Drawing-rooms were split up into different camps. The gentlemen who pleaded the claims t6 pre-eminence of the par ticular lady they had' honoured with their championship were growing as much nuisances as, according tp the refrain of Bon Gaultier's ballad, the man who lost his heart a short time ago. Moreover, the , absurdity,, /pf the whole thing was patent. The professional beauty was only one star in a galaxy, and not necessarily the brightest. Her own vanity might be gratified at the selection, but not more than was the vanity of the cavalier who selected her. The boredom which this condition of things resulted in provoked a wholesome reaction. Mothers and fathers, husbands and lovers, began seriously to reflect on what would be the general consequences of the system if it was indefinitely developed. The names of a score of professional beauties were so habitually on people's lips, their photographs were so aggressively conspicuous 1 in shop windows, that society wearied of hearing 'of them. It also began to bo a little apprehensive as to the consequences. It received some' highly practical admonitions in the revelations* of the law-courts, and it came to the conclusion that on the whole, both in the way of enjoyment and of credit, it had more to lose than to gain by perpetuating the regime. This conviction reached its climax during tiio London season of the year that is now drawing to a close, and for this fact, if for no other, we may woll be gratehil to 18S1.— The World.