“LITTLE WOMEN.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17010, 7 April 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)

“LITTLE WOMEN.”

(BY ELIZABETH Al/STINT Judgin g bv exponent t- ( should say that girls are much taller than the*

used to be. And with this apparent change in size has come a change in our ideals. The Victorian heroine was usually “ just as high as the hero's heart’.” But to day, m spite of Mary Piokford. the “little girl” has gone out of fashion. There is no doubt about it. If you are small, unless you are really, undeniably pretty, you are inconspicuous and apt to be overlooked. 11l a business interview , other things being equal, the tall woman, the woman with a ‘‘presence”—and you have to possess a goodly number ot inches before you can aspire to a •* presence "is nearly always chosen in preference to her smaller rival. It’s true that thfere are consolations. The girl who is going to be a tall woman often has a great deal to put up with in her awkward youth. She feels all legs and arms and generally presents the appearance of a colt. Her

brothers .compare her with “ a yard of pump .water her mother reiterates persistent!v “sit straight.” and L eloquent u her protests against the speed with which she outgrows all her garments. But once she has really grown up she finds it has been worth it aT. The height which once seemed so gawkv is now impressive. She possesses the advantage of being able to see over people's heads and she is not iabie to lie swept away in a crowd. And--people treat her seriously and accord her the deference due to one realty grown up Whereas, who can seriously consider the little thing of five feet nothing as a responsible lull-growu woman? Howj over hard they may try. men cannot j get away from the “ Don’t bother your ; little head over such things” attitude $ ■ lh, v cannot help treating the grown- : up little woman as though .she were a child plating at being grown-up. For the small woman if is very annoying. And the more intelligent she is. the* more bitterly she resents being treated like a babv or. worse still, like ! a de'! !