Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1874-03-07
For the Standard.
WOMAN's WORK.

Aio.. LUIS tue SpueIe OF neflcpltlmotc
duties lie within certain limits? Is l.
confined to one or. many occupations?
Is it bounded by phi, steal endurance
or mental strength? Or, is it Just now
condemned to walk within prescribed
boundaries walls harder to remove
than stone or triple steel'-the deem
founded prejudices of years and the
inherited and sometimes unconscious
tyranny of one class of human beings
over another, not more enobling, or less
selfish and disSraceful to the nation
than the African slavery of the past.
A strong woman is she, who in the face
OF the active and passive opposition of
the present day-thc latter not the least
Observation-Disclosures to leave the beaten
track of her ancestors and honestly and
fearlessly" work out her own salvation"
i'll her own way.
Well, thank God! there are slcff
women and the number is daily increas-
ing, brave souls, who willingly pioneer
the way out of mental and moral stag
nation for their more timid sisters, a.
enc Of old led the children of Israel to
the " land of promise" The old fash
toned and oft repeated idea of woman's
work, was, that it was exclusively of
domestic character TO be good wife,
good mother, good cook, washer
and housekeeper generally, and noLting
else, was considered the sine qua non of
Il woman's existence, and that c,rvy no
man without regard to inclination or
education, should be "only this and
al
mothers, house-keepers, (and there arc
none nobler( and some are not Some
women, too, with the mother-love deep
in their hearts, with the love for hus-
band, home and household duties n part
of their very beings, still have hopes
and plans beyond these limits; have
God given talents which stihcd and con-
dcnncd to inaclion, cramp the womans
soul, narrow her mind and render her
year by year, less n companion more of
II servant, to the man who il, her hus-
band.
Was the love OF mtrsic and the power
to render it like Parcpa Rosa, Mailman,
Nelson and Jenny Lind, given to these
women, o,ly to lull to sleep their babes
upon their breasts: Was the love Of
poetry and the powcrto blend beautiful
thoughts into glowing rhymes, tender
verses or stately poems given to sweet
Mrs. Browning, lovely Mrs. Norton,
the "Siftcd and unfortunate l.. T.. L.,
or dear Alice and Phoebe Cary of our
own country! only TO weave nurse,
~ rhymes for their own children?
Was the glorious talent of Hosmer or
a Bonheur for the divine arts of sculp-
turc and painting; the ability to por-
tray the passions, to make the glad weep
and the sad joyful, like tnshnian, u
Rachel or n Ristori; the brilliant elo-
quenc, the convincing argument. the
" silvery tongued oratory' of n Dicken-'
son, n Stanton Il Logan or II Mott; tho
calm Judgment, TIE business shrewcl.-
hess and system ct Burfctt- torts,
given these womsm by the Great Mas
ter
''ro sit 1T hOmc nv the fire and spin,
To wash, 10 bake, to brew?
Never. Such talents belong to tho
world, and no human being, no custom
of society, has the right to circumscribo
such lives within the narrow circle of
household duties. by all means, let
them bo wives and mothers. but do not
say to them " thus Far ana no farther
shalt thon co."
There is another class of women i'm
our country who, if it were crime not
to fulfill the duties of the so-callcI
" wonrsfs's sphere would from the
necessitie, Of the case, commit that
crime. mean those we,ncn who never
marry. The number is very large in
the Eastern States and think increas-'
ing. What shall they do? They can.
not be wives, they cannot be mothers,
they cannot he housc-keepers. What
then is before them? Those who are ed
ucatcd miWt teach, if the ranks of
teachers were not already over-crowded.
\ few may become clerks Tr stores. \,
favored few too, may be persisted to
learn teleSraphinS and the like, but the
great majority must become slaves to-
the needle in some of it's forms and for
and body in the struggle for bread.
And why? Because it is the only re-
SOFT, the only occupation which can be-
taken up without precious training. Be-
cause girls, unlike boys, are not taught
the means of livelihood, not taught
some trade or profession which shall
be theirs for life, are not taught in tho
beginning that in work, work for brain
and hand, lies all that is enobling, all
that is strengthening to mind and heart,
and by which any talent may be fos-
tered, any dream realized. With this
means of independence in her own
hands, what may not be done? She
may stand side by side with her brother
in the world and may choose in her own
time, and with no pressing need TOT urge
or hasten her, her life partner from
among them.
Let, then, this be our work, in so far
az we are able: To encourage mothers to
give their girls the same chance in lilo
I'll: IL 4La L1..c Lax.a anl Ia oil yQlu1