BEFORE THE MIRROR

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 13, 6 April 1927, Page 4

BEFORE THE MIRROR

WHICH IS MOST VAIN? THE “MODEST, SHRINKING VIOLETS” Which is most vain—man or woman? This question was asked by a London newspaper, and the following replies were received from people well known to the public: ZEN A DARE. —“I think men are vainer than women, my reason being that from personal observation l have discovered that they do not take the same trouble to improve themselves as women almost always do. They consider that beauty unadorned is quite sufficient. “Women, on the other hand, never leave a stone unturned in their endeavour to improve and help the gifts Nature has bestowed upon them. Why this reasonable and biddable action should be called ‘vanity’ and not ‘modesty’ I do not know. “A man will stroll about the house with his hair on end and in need of a shave. But I do not think many—if any—women would stroll about the house with grease on their faces and their hair in curlers! “This seems ample proof that men are vainer than women.” RUBY M. AYRES.—“Are women vainer than men? I should say they are Nearly all women are vain—a great many of them most intolerably so, in some direction or other. Nowadays 1 think a woman with brains is often more vain than a woman with beauty. She seems to believe, by some strange power of reasoning, that she is responsible, for her unusual brainpower; whereas she is willing to agree that her beauty is not any fault of her own. “I think a really vain man is the exception, although sometimes one conies across a male whom one would like to exterminate. “On the other hand, one meets with vain women almost every day of the week. I know of one who cannot keep more than a yard or two away from a mirror, and who is so conscious of her undoubted beauty that at times her conceit makes her almost inarticulate. If only such women woLild realise bow irresistible their charm would he if unaffectedness and entire naturalness were allied to their beauty!

Yes, I think that women are certainly far vainer than men.”

JOSEPH COYNE.—“I think that women are vainer than men, and also that they ought to be. “Viewing the matter from a purely physical standpoint, they have such a lot more to be vain about than a mere man, and going a step further, surely it is right that women should be vainer than men?

“Why, if they began to take no sort of interest in their appearance; if they didn’t care what sort of dresses they wore, or how their hair was waved, or if their noses wanted a spot or two of powder—oh, dear me, what a terribly dull place this world would become. “Men were put here to work, and women were put here to look nice, to soothe our ruffled tempers, and make our hard path a little easier to tread. “To my mind, it is a woman's duty to look as attractive as she can on every occasion. And to do that successfully she must take pride in her appearance—which means, that she must be vain in the right sort of way.

“It’s a jolly good sort of vainness; the sort to which no man. would ever dare to aspire. How can he, when Nature has decreed that he must shave his face at least once daily before he can present himself to the eyes of mankind, to say nothing of womankind?” HAROLD LLOYD.—“What an extraordinary notion! Why, most certainly not. In comparison with the average man, women are modest, shrinking violets. “Are women vainer than men? How dare you! Fancy trying to take away the honour and glory that belongs to the stronger, noisier sex. I want to say this, and to say it as emphatically as I can—women are not vainer than men. Why, men are the vainest creatures in creation. “Just look at the fuss a man makes about one miserable new tie. To him that new tie is of far more importance than a new dress, cloak, hat, shoes, scarf, and gloves to any woman. “Her outfit costs lots of money, but she doesn’t make any sort of song-and-dance about it. His tie costs about half a crown, and he makes sufficient fuss about it to stop the water tumbling over Niagara Falls. “Most decidedly, men are vainer than women; and I’ll give you one instance that proves my argument beyond any shadow of doubt. “Once upon a time men robed themselves more gorgeously than any woman. “They flaunted their satin coats, their silken hose, tlieir starched ruffles. They boasted apparel more elaborate than anything worn by women. “And then they started thinking—their thought was to the effect that they looked so jolly stunning that it seemed sheer waste of time and money for their clothing to be so elaborate. So they shed their silks and picturesque clothes, until they became the drab beings we behold to-day.

“Gone are the glories of olden times, bLit men are glorious still. At least, they venture to think they are. They are daring enough to believe that they can dress anyhow and still retain their attractiveness for opposite sex.

And if that isn’t vanity, I’d like to know what is?” LADY DOROTHY MILLS.— There i-3 an Arab proverb that runs: ‘The beauty of man lies in his intelligence: the intelligence of woman lies in her beauty.’ “A woman who allows her vanity to overpower her intelligence deserves to lose all claims to beauty. “I think that men are vainer than women on every point except appearance. Where looks are concerned women are vainer than men, and it is not unsuitable for them to be so. “But in other ways men are so much vainer than women. They are vain about their intelligence, their business ability, their various accomplishments. They prove this vanity bv their extreme susceptibility to flattery. With a man, flattery may be laid on with a trowel, thick and fast, and he still absorbs it cheerfully. “Women, on the other hand, see through compliments and flattery much more quickly than men do —though this does not mean they dislike it. anity, within reasonable limits, is not really a failing. It is almost a virtue, for it helps us to make the best of ourselve» at all times.”