WOMAN'S LOVE OF THE EXOTIC.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 77

WOMAN'S LOVE OF THE EXOTIC.

(By Lawbekce Bttbt.)

About two months ago the whole country waa shocked by the discovery of a crdme which had 'been perpetrated ifi New York. The murdered body of a 'young girl wa3 found ! in -a trunk, i&' a room Ovxtupicd by a Chinese wsater. " -The girl was a c;rar.d-daughter of "a general 'who

had won distinction in the Civil War. She was a girl oi refinement and gocd education. Both she and her mother had for a long tarn's acted as mission workers t aincng the denizens of Chinatown. j Tbs mystery <A fo&v death has not yet ■, be-sn wholly eoi-red ; yet tiro facts be- j came imnie-ddateJy known. The first was the fact of her love for the Mongolian in ; Athose rooms she had been mui-dered ; ' and thi3 othsi was the fact that she had transferred hei affections to another Chinaman ; so that the current theory of hec murder mad© it a crime due to jea- ' loasy. . ( .Taken by itself, acd as a single incident,' one would hardly attach a great deal of t significance to this shocking affair. Dreadful though it was, it might possibly have . been set down as a sporadic tragedy, en- j tirely abnormal in its nature, and there- j iove without any spsoial meanung. But , the course of f he investigation to which [ it led brought out further disclosures i which were much more startlittg, and pos- [ sibly much mes sLgnafiean-t. I Wlfen the police, in their efforts to track j the m-nrdorer, ransacked the dwellings of xher Ob-iaamen, they discovered quantities of k»ve-letter3 written to these men by' white girls who were not at all of the cla?s that springs from the gutter, and j has natural association with the lcoceliving Orientals of Mott 'street- and Pell < street and that neighbourhood. Th« ! wiaters of these missives, like the mur- " d-ered girl, had bo»nes very different from ; the dens of Chinatown. They evidently \ w>ere yonng women of some education end of decent toadnin-g. Yet they had thrust ! themEelves into the ha*>in>ts of there low ] ereatHres, and tihe letters found by the . police sbowirj that they had become in- j faiuated with thera. | This was a very shocking revelation, an-d ; it • gives one- Icod for serious thought, j Kow could young girls, whose upbringie.g had been s» different, descend so easily to such a level ? — A .Dangerous Association. — j Xcw, in tba first place,, the particular j explanati-cn thai/ has been given is not imrea-scaable ; yet it does not wholly satisfy t-he mmd 1 , because it deals with jj:rfy one "pairllLeular .phase of a veay curious subject. Mo3t of these girls, \ in the bzgmrimg, were probably religious ! in their cs»st of thought ; and they went | down to Chinatown, at first, with t.he J sdncerest aad mosi iraiccerjj motives. They i hoped that they would convert to Chris- ' tian-ity i-bs lawndrjiECTi and shopkeepecs j and opium smqkei-s who make up tlia mass j of our Chir.ese population. Their interest in their proteges was a missionary interest. I At first, no doubt, they must have ex- i psrosnesd soaie littie feeling of repulsion • at "having to do with creaitures whose i s^k: 1 skins seem like those of lower ani- ! reals or reptiles, with their hic'h cheek- j bot.es, tltejr slits of eyes, and all their ; sly and stealthy ways. Ba>t this natural , repugnance was in time qiste overcome ■ by a" species of r«iigicus zeal. Each ] "worker" took some Mongolian under her | c'^arge ; fee these Chijvsse infiist upon having separate teachers. i In time fanuLiarity brought about a n«w feeling, an>d made the interest a personal interest quits as mmhr as a religjcus one. The very fact that white men despise Chinese, and often ill-treat them, stirred what may b« called a maternal instinct in the wonien who made themselves rssponsiblo for tha welfare of tiheir charges. Just as a mother loves most tenderly her moi-t misshapen and ill-favoured- -hild, fo these girls felt their hearts moved by the thought that their "conveats"' Ikkl ail the worid against them. Th«n. a<!i><n, the. perfonaiity oi the Orientals, with their insidious A - ays and. fawning manners, rr.a-d'3 the app-sal z'.-ill st'ron.jer. Add to lhit ths lact that religious emotion is veiy closely r&jated to one that is physical, anc we find a combination which explains why so many of these young women v.-ent asti'ay, and why in their converts they ultimately found lover s.^ It lia-s been said, notably by two Xew York clei-gym-sn — tbe Eev. Dr Samue! H. Virgin and the Rev. R. S. MacArthur — that thsfo results . do not ccciw except wibsn white wonien go down into Chinatowi. It is claimed tuiat the women who teach the Chinese in Sunday schools connected witr churches -never drift into sentimCTjital rei-atcons with them. This Avould ba interesting, if it were quite true ; but the facte show that, even Ln the uptown ohu.rcbes, a greet deal more may pass between tsacher and pupil than these two clergy iri:n aire awaare of. There have baen marriages between whit* women and Use yellow men ; and wh?re there are marriages of whkh everybody knows, you ■>nay be sure t-bat Thsre are also reiatiens which stop short oi marriage, yet which rou'-e feelings of disgust in those who bolieve tlt?.t there exist certain barriers of race erected >by Naturs against an> thing that approaches fcocdal amalgamation. The question, then, forces itself upon the mind whether women have not somewhere lurking in them a strong love of the exotic, - willingness to overstep race lines, and whether they do not even feel a pecskiar «^d in-explicable pleasure in doing so. Leaving aside, for the moment, tbe subject of sex, let us take up this question in some other spheres. — The Passion for Adornment. — Tfesoe was a time when men and womer alike adorned their persons vi practacallj the same way — with vestments of gorgeoui colonring and laces and jewels and golc arid' silver— «nd" when the men, no les< than tb© -women, derived delight from s sort of bedijsemnent which among malei in the Western world would now be style* bairbaßc. Tbe ?enturies have witnessec a steady simplification in tbe tastes o men, substituting plainness for the gor geousness of other tiroes. Tfbis marks man's upward progress ii

} — ■ tbe s-oaJe cf civilisation. Ths African j pc'.^ntate may still weajr a DDSe-ring ; the . Hin;dii rajah, may cover himself with pearls ' and precious siones ; but not even the ! mightiest monarch of the West, save on the rarest state occasions, is conspicuous in his attire. A king will go about in knickerbockers acd a <i>erby hat like the mosrt ccenmcnplace representatives of tbe ! people whom he governs. With \romen. [ however, thcee hz& practically been no ' change The extent of their personal : cdornmea; is measured only by their ! rr.ea.ns ; gjkl when they ccapot aft'orcl ! jewels and gold- work tihat zre geuuino, . they will ofiten " deck them=«'!v€S out wi'.-h ■ cheap imitations in brass and coloured j ghss. j When they have wealth, they circle , t.'ieiir n«cks with peai-ls and emeralds ; .' their hair is all aglow with ddamonds and j rubies. Their fingers are clogged with j showj rir%s. For them tljo &ilk-3cams • ■weave their tkJdcaie fabrics, ar.J Tor them j tt n33n 33 lace-makers destroy their eyesight. . The far-tih&st seas are dcedged to supply [ this feminine craving -fee show and colour and magnificence. Xofc a few women ir. , high station have appeared in ballroom k ( with live lizaods writJiing in their hair , at the end of a slender gold chain. Otbcr J women, like Judiitl G-auticr a.r.d Sarah i Banahiaixit, with maay who are le.-s well | known, exihibit what se-sms an unnatua^a! • fondincis for tiny snakes.- It would be ■ a wast 3 of time- to enumerate all the forms which this curious fancy sssumes. j this passion for atrange- gems, for mceses I ci" jr.de acd g^icdiuato:! corals — 'or ever}-- ! tbing, ld fact, which West and East together can supply. j Here, in itself, is a striking dk+inctou I ■■ b?twe«n man and Avcrr>2.n — a di&tinc-ton on { wrdch we do not often dw<:ill just because we Eire so accustsmed to it ; but the iact remauis that cent.uries of train-] »g, "the cmrjic-ipation of the sex," the enrrance of women into the same fie^Ws of activity as thos.3 wiie& at one time belonged to men t a-lon-3 — 'all these have not v» rought in ', i women the sl^htest transformation when J ! it comes to tbe passion for the exotic. — XEarriages with Foreigner*. — This p:u<;Fion for the exotic shades off j f"<>iu th-3 sH§ht-°Rt whim or preference to | | a tort of mad degeneracy, if one n>ay u.-^j ! j -c strong a te: - m. Let us taks. for in- ' i stance, ?inti«le a thing as the ixnr.paia- \ j iii'u attitude oi men and women io^ard ; [ fore;grj?rs — <rti?<m<ing by this tc:\n white . i foreigners aqd pf-fionn who are in eveiy . 1 way entirely uni>bjeoticiia-b!3. ■ I A rrmn, ahr.ost instincd\dy, dissl.rust* <> j j fti'iugnor : cr, at any rate, be lias a I fooling that he must know the f-oreigno: j i"\fi mentally apprai&e him befcie regnr-i-j ing him as a person to be cukivatod. On j ; tbe o^-.3r hand, 1 <vith Morn-en, the very ; j •foc-t of j, p.CT-:c« being i-Cii&ign ss-ams to ' j lie a, pssspDit to their know. When one ', ! t ! fiir!ks of it, why is it that so mauy ! I Americaa hekes^as marry foreign men, \vi ale so few Amerxtan men marry foreign j women ? - • - j Of course, a partial answer may be i given when you say thiM the wonien often ! marry for a title. And this is true ; ye-t j it does not cover more than a qtu-ater of i j this oases. "On the ether hand, there are j } thousands of foreign wonien of high birth j j i v.-d social rank wl>o would be glad to ' !' many American rpillionaii^es in return for , ; a haEidacci:* ssLtlanicnf. Yet they almof* ! never do so, and the '-eason is that they do not get the chance. i No ma'tit^T how ri-ah an American may ] , be, he generally pi-ef«rs to wed aji:ong ! ] his own people. He ciops not wish to I ! buy a titled wit© or connections with j nobiLHy. In whatever other respect he ' iray bs open to < £nsui>e, in this he de- i j -eives tha highest jyraisi*. He marnc&J wh;re he loves; ar.d almost always he 1-yvos one who is familiar with his own ;. -auctions and with th.2 ideals of hLs country. Goin g more <Jcs| !y into this que.-tio:i oT , m-un-ia^e a.n<l *ex-relrtionship, lot us look .it a few nn.ve fa'--to which have to do ! with those who are of entiiely different | v?,zt^. In Ei:,,'lan-d. for example, there 1 have been niiTerons marriage-* between j white girls ard Hinxlus. or even negroes. lVmc-3 Vkror Dukop Singh maTried the ''daughter of an E:i,jrli'*l» earl; while there ( ' «ire many tuli-bloodcd negroes — educated • and trained, of course, ir. Knj!an<l — w ho , i hays fcand wives th.ie. The women ; ; who have married such exotic .«pecirr?np a>-e not t all ostracised by their whit* '. -.inters. . ; E-evrre© tha «xs.«. and the ca>e will be > ' -l-.tively different. No wliico n;an, if I ha ba above the very lowes-i levoi. would , ' fver dream of manyin^ a Hindu worn;.-! , ', or a negresss ; or. if he c;d. he won 1-1 \ ' immediately loss caste and be dropped , ' by his associates. " i — Questions of Colour. — ' There is a great deal of interesting * i literature in Enalish which boar- imoi' I this subject. More than one of Kipling's stones tells us oi" the scorn which wnite i ii.en feel foT tl-.c-ir fe'lows who. even in the - i remote it regions, hnve forgotten the tra<?nf • tiens of the ruling race an<l ha\e yoked c ', themselves with black or brown or yellow 1 ! wonien. There is alto that irtuic^-.intr * I book by Mr F. (J. Phillips, entitled. "A - Question of Colour."' which ha.- a direct ? relation to this point, as do some of the very powerful tales collected by Mr A. J Dawson in his fascinatimg volume. "The African Ndghts." It may bs objected n that these are only works of fiction ; but ! 'rood fictdon always builds on fact ; and | !" Thus it is that these stories mirror con- , ditions that exist and are qudte real. Mir Dawson., tc "bo fiuce, teMs us that * a woman who is married^ to a negro come* j ' to feel a horror of him ; and be describes J • this hofror in very striking language: — if | You car see it if t4ve husband comei uito the room suddenly and walks up t< her chair. It is a k)n«, indrawin^ n shudder, beginning at the aokles, m

running upward until ft unfolds the hands and they quiver in the lap Then ! the shoulders take il from the wrists | -n-ith a little convulsive twist. ar.d crush ! H down finally ;n-to; n-to bha fluttering bosom. | Xot pretty. It is too unpleasant to wiite or think about — much. Those who ars intercatoci in this subject would do vrsil to read a b-.x>k written by t!:o late Pr.ii! Laurence Dunbar, himself a negro. The volume is now out of piiut, and can bs c<btai33d only with difficulty. Its author called it '"The Sport of the Cods," and in if he gives us a very carious glimjve into e-rtaiii phases of r.sgix> lite in the great cuies of ouv own country. It is indeed *a unique book, 'llnoe no other has been written with such intimate kr.ow ledge of the subject, nor does any oth.t>r tr&at of a world whereof almost all wh.it e nr»er are ignorant. Mr P unbar shows us how prosperous negroes live in Xort-bern cities ; how they Lave rru.de for themselves settlements and communities of their own ; how they have their own citb^> a-nd theatres and places of amusement. \That strikes one mc-st in this surange nan"ative is the fact, which it sets forth quite simply, that the prosperous r.-egro — whether he be merchant, aecor, nwjsician, or what-not — irates often wdrh a white woman who is not an outcast, bat who in some ;«.ses possesses bsauty, refinement, acd personal charm, and who unfeignedly loves her dusky pa-rtner. — Desdismona and OtSiello. — This recalls gome passages hi Shakespeare's "Othello" which are perhaps too ftvoiigly phrased to be quoted hecre It must bs remembered that Sl^akespeare regarded Othello not as a Moor, as we understand the word, but as a ne-gro, with "thick lips" and "sooty bosom." It was of him that Desdemona dec'ared to the Duke : Tbat I love the Moor to live with him. My downright violence and storm *of fortunes May trumpet to the wt>r!d ; my heart's subdued Even to the very quality of my lord. In these wordis, .vrittan some three :entur,ies ago, tlhe greatest of English [>oabs gave utterance to what we rcay tentatively ro^a: d as truth, though the :rplanation of it ira-y require much compkx psychologic i. l discussion: But the ■ruih in question i.-- that almost all women mve, lurking in t!;.eir iwtiu-es, a love of ■he ercoic wliich is foreign to most men. It is put of their tiEiisitivene-ss to colour effects, to novelty, to strangeness, to th« •nknowij, aixl U ail those subtle senea!or.'3 which are evoked by lights and shades and perfumes and dainty difierxnces. Perhaps one may cail this feminine ■haract'?ri?tic a pu'version of t<he sense >f 'beauty ivhicih fin-r.-s an exquisite sensalon in what is different and alluring by eason of the difference. — 3iunsey"s j\iag«ine.