The weekly Louisianian., 1874-06-13

,s~UB0RDiN4RzON or WoNEN
b Il II
Al Ar11.woxn's R1aHEa.Y1ax or TEE
,x,fi.g VA R !q!1FqA .z,Gi*a
:, T: ! woman, hh y not Il ss oaompeted With
men in the active, work Of lie was
probably because, notshsnins had ths1
she had not the desireto doso,1
and because; having the capacity Of.
which man has not. she has
found her pleasurei II prlef ID a! them.
It is: not simply that man, being
strengthen body than slaeiA, hnghad
her in subsection, and declared her
from careers 81. aotion which he was
resolved to keep for himself; her ma
funotions must.a2ways have rem
dered, and must. continue to render,
most Of her activity domestic. There
have been times enough in the history
of the world, when the freedom which
she has had, and the position which
she has held in the estimation of men,
would have enabled her to assert her
claia&s Is other functions, had she 80
~iiled it The most: earnest advocate
af her rights to be something else than
what she has hitherto been, would
hardly argne that she has always been
in, the position Of q slave kept in forci-
BILE subsection by the superior physical
force of men. Assuredly, if she has
been a slave, she has been a slave con-
tent with her bondage. But it may,
perhaps, be said that In that lies the
very pith Of the matter-that she is
not free, and does not care to be free;
that she is q slave, and does not know.
or feel it. It may be alleged that she
has lived fer SO many ages in the posi-
ton of dependence, to which she was
originally reduced by the superior
muscular strength of man; has been so
thoroughly imbued with inherited
/ habits Of submission, and overawed by
the influence of customs never ques-
Itioped. that she has not the desire for
emancipation; that thus a moral bond
.ee has been established, more
effectual than an actual physical
bondage. -
It would be rash to assert that there
is not some measure Of truth in these
arguments. Let any M who thinks
otherwise reflect upon the degraded
condition Of women in Turkey, where
habit Is so ingrained in their nature,
and custom so powerful over the mind,
that they have neither thought nor
desire to attain to a higher state, and
"naught feel their foul disgrace" a
striking illustration how women may
be demoralized and yet not know mol
feel it, and an Instructive lesson
for those who are an1ioue to form q
sound judgment upon the merits of the
movement for promoting their higher
education and the removal of the legal
, disabilities under which they labor.
It is hardly possible to exaggerato the
effects of the laws and usages of a
country upon the habits Of thought Of
those who, generation after generation
have been born and bred, and have
lived under them. But may we moi
fairly assert that it would be no less 6
mistake in an opposite direction te
allow no weight to such an argument
Setting physiological considerations
aside, it is not possible to supposed ha
the whole explanation Of woman's pc
sition and character is that man, hav
ing in the beginning found her pleas
ing in his eyes and necessary to hi
enjoyment, took forcihle possession o
her, and has ever since kept her i,
bondage, without any other justiica
ton than the right of the strongest
Superiority of muscular strength, with
out superiority of any other kind
would not have done that any MOI
than superiority Of muscular strengt1
has availed to give the lion or tn
elephant the possession Of the earth
If it were not that woman's organiza
. ton and functions found their fttinI
home in a position different from, i
not subordinate to, that Of men, sh
would not so long have kept that pos
= ton. If she is to be judged by til
same standard as men, and to max
their aims her aims, we ore certainl
bound to say that she labors under a
interiority Of constitution, by a disper
3 H. ->-s--