Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-02-24
rHE QuESTI0N OF THE DAY.
A lady i'm vindIeatiOn of Her SEX
Truthful and Spirited letter.

nC odltiAuOAN OtNPNo'S~sfNr W.
tains letter from a lady on IL
question of women's extrayagancl
The interest excited in this questio
by recent articles in the Sdtarda
Reriew, and its servile iniitators i
New England, has been very muc
increased by the late letter of th
Pope. The lady writing to tn
Statesman, feels that her sex is be
ing wronged, and argues with mucl
truth and force that men are di
rectly responsible for the extrava
gance and dissipation complained
Of We quote from her letter:
Men who, if the truth wer,
known, would be found to be ne
better than they should be, write sa
tirical essays about us in the news
papers. Men who are too selfish
and too much welded to their owr
vices, to be willing to make any
sacrifices for the sake of living
quietly, and making home comfort
able, and some good women happy
a great deal too good for them
say that it is all our fault-that
they can't afford to marry because
we spend so much money on dress.
/ wonder now howmuch these same
men throw away in the ways that
they wouldn't like to have talked
about. A woman shows how much
she spends, for she generally puts
it upon her person, and very often
she has the credit of spending a
great deal more than she does.
French gilt and bright colors make
much more show than real jewels
and palmer things that cost a great
deal more. You would be aston
ished to know how little some real
ly handsome dresses cost. 1t all
depends upon a woman's taste and
knowing how to manage. Some
women will spend a mint of money
and always look dowdy; others
again, upon everso little, will dress
beautifully.
But men-those very men that
preach about our extravaganza and
say they are too poor to marry, how
much do they spend and howl
should like TO know? How many
cigars do they smoke a day, and
what do they cost apiece? And
their drinking and eating-women
don't go to restaurants and take
lunches every day, or little suppers
at night after leaving the theatre or
before going home.
And then there's cards and bill
lizards. How much does it all come
to at the end of a year? And as
for men who 60 to the club, and
keep one or two horses, and they
are the very men who talk most
about women being so extravagant
Ill wager anything you dare that
there isn't a young girl in society
who spends as much upon dress as
any one of fifty men / could name.
/ think enough has been written
and a great deal too much, about
the "Girls of the Period" Can't
somebody who knows show up the
Young Men of the Period ?" But
to come back to the Pope's letter,
for that's where | started and what
l want TO write about--there
is no doubt that a great deal Of
what His Holiness says is gospel
truth, and that's honest. Dressing
is awfully expensive, | don't pre-
tend to deny. But what would be-
come of all the poor people who
work in factories, and the sewing
girls, and all the fine shops-ifthere
were no pretty things to make,
and people were not to buy or wear
them ? | am sure it's a great deal
better to keep these poor people in
work, than to give poor people no
work, and have to feed them and
keep them in almshouses instead.
Ny brother, who is just home from
college, and is up in Political Econ
omy and all that sort of thing
SAYS that that is the way money is
kept in circulation among all class
es, and that the very extravaganza
and follies of the rich benefit the
poor. And then / don t deny that
the Pope is right in what he says
about the time that is taken up in
dressing, and shopping, and in visit
inc people you don't care one straw
for, nor they for you-which is the
stupidest thing in the world. l am
ashamed to think how much time it
does take. | nevcr come to town
without making the most virtuous
resolutions to read and study and
practise, and some how my good
resolutions all go where they say
they use them for paving-stones.
But now Lent's come, | mean to
do better. But you know when
one has been to all the trouble of
dressing, and you men don't know
what trouble it is-and one is con-
scious of looking ones best-it
seems stupid not to make the most
of it. and that's the reason some
| girls seem to be always on the
| street. .
But here's the point, and its
what | wanted to say when l began
to write-only it seemed as if
would never get TO it--where does
the money come from that is spent
| in dress2 [ know precious few
girls that are able out Of their own
pockets to dress themselves-l ex'
pect the young men wish that there
were more of them. Nearly every
woman, married or single, is clothed
by her husband or father. That,
where the money comes from. The
men furnish it. And why do they
do It? It's all nonsense to say tina
the women make them do it-un
less mans boosted superiority, anC
strength of judgment and will, i:
all nonsense too. It's because they
| like it-because men that are eve
so careless about their own persona
appearance, take pride and pleasure
in seeing their wives and daughter
cut a dash, and in the fine SHOW
they make on the street, at parties
at church, in public generally. 1t.
, because they fancy it enhances thel