Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-04-14
W0man's Right to Live.

Let us, for the moment, waive
discussion Of the justice and expedi-
ency Of giving the ballot to our wives
and sisters, while we consider col
lateral question that is quite rs vital.
Shall it be made respectable for Wo-
man to earn her bread? The question
OF voting is sure to receive an abund-
ance Of noisy attention, for IL Is novel
and OF the most piguant interest; the
question Of Bread il old, and il much
more likely 10 be overlooked.
From adjoining cradles, our boys
are mainly educated for IL life Of in.
dependence, and our girls mainly for
a life 81 dependence. The boy is
told that he must rely upon his own
right arm; the girl is given to under
stand that she must expect to lean on
somebody eIse's. So the boy Is
taught self.reliance, seif-defense, self
support; while the girl Is carefully
taught that it is unwOmanly to be
useful outside Of her mothers kitch-
en-, and that 1t Is a badge Of degreda-
,iun for ner 10 train herself TO earn
her own living.
We regard the incubation Of such
sentiments by society as cruel and
vicious in the last degree. For the
result is that the boy grows to man
hood, an important factor in the
wOrid, y unit Of power; and the girl
learns to knead bread and make good
butter (perhaps), and, If her father
can afford 1t, he sends her to board
ing school where she goes through
the first declensiOn Of the Latin
noun, learns to sing "Captain Jinks,"
and to construct leaning castles In
crayon. Then her father buys her a
chignOn Of the best and most ponder
Gus pattern, and she sits at the win
dow, as her mother did, and waits
for beau.
Now, If tho fight man comes, she
is fortunate; she may go through the
world AS well as the boy, held In that
independent dependence which mu-
tual love begets. But suppose that
he does not come; or, suppose that he
comes and goes away again; or sup
pose that he leaves her widow; and
suppose that her father is poor, or,
losing his property, becomes poor.
What then? She has been sedulOusly
taught by all her male and female
friends that dependence on man Is
the only proper condition Of woman,
that 1t Is her first duty to find some
matured male to whom she may
attach herself somehow, somewhere,
and as soon as possible. She has not
learned a trade, Because all her ac-
quaintances regarded 1t as being un-
feminine to know how to make
money.
Now she is called to face misfor-
tune, and Is unprepared. Her hands
are empty and unskilled: She has
no relative on whom she wishes to
impose herself. What shall she do?
Ii she be personally attractive and
with only an average Of moral resist.
ance, how far Is 1t to the pavement,
from where she stands?
Society, every time It speaks,
eulogizes the beauty Of womanly
dependence; and this same wOmanly
dependence Is the mother of prOsti.
tuition everywhere. The wise world
gazes in open-eyed wonder at "the
social evil" and sends up dcvout
prayers that It may be banished from
the land, and then goes home and
carefully instructs its Harriets, AIMS.
and Elias, that It Is unfcminine to
be useful, and a dreadful misfortune
to be compelled to take part in the
worlds work.
A young woman or a widow,
thrown suddenly upon her own re-
sources, finds little desirable work
that she can do to advantage. She
can enlist IA a servant in the great
Hibernia- Mopgolian army; or she
can 80 into a factory on meagre
wages for months. or she can, II abe
he competent. teach q school; or she
can make shirts ut ten cents apiece.