Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-02-05
For the vEaHsNr FARMER.
"Woman's Place" Again.


think 1.-THE editor will be glad tolhave me.
or because think the public desire it, for
nm sure they must all DO tired Of this same
old dish ro-hashed so many times, and pre-
Ter little change in their mental diet, and
Tor that very reason, | passed over the
structures Of Farmers daughter" In silence,
out Advance" desires to 20 over the ground
again Tor perhaps wants the last toord ms
women are said to be very tenacious OF that).
Well, am II woman too. and very .fe male
,0on,dn rs Fanny Fern used to have it, and
| don't feel quite satisfied with the way she
infers so many things that | never meant nor
said instead of bringing any sound logic to
support her position.
The main point at issue between us was
| this. She claims that out Of door labor is
degrading for II woman. | say that fail to
see wherein II degrades woman any more
than labor indoors. She failed to give any
| good reasons for her position in the first mr.
ticlc, and does not even attempt TO do it in
the last.
| She infers that because God created man
first, he was TO be woman's protector. i'll
were TO infer anything from that fact, il
would DO that the Lord found the man could
not take care of himself and so created the
woman to take care OF him. The idea Of
creating man to protect woman before there
was any woman to protect 1t would BE
like making an umbrella to keep of the rain
before there had ever been rain storm! 1
believe tho Lord had higher motive in Gre
ating man, though have not the least OBJ
lection TO his protecting woman when she
needs it.
But supposing her inference is correct,
tail to see what bearing it has upon the
quetion ut issue, the degradation Of woman
by outdoor labor.
Again, she says there are rs many minds
as writers" las to where woman's field Of
labor is located, land each must be their
own judge of what they can and can not do"
agree with my sister precisely here, and If
she will refer to my first article on this sub
jcct she will find | expressed myself in near
| ly the same words.
She says also "that it is right for man and
wife to help each other" wherein wo agree
| again. This is the very idea have been nd
vocating all this time, mutual helpfuness, -
but how is woman to help her husband, if
she cannot milk II COW, or dig the potatoes
for dinner without degrading herself3
ut is just rs right for u man to stand ready
with his sleeves rolled up to help his wife,
AS it is for her to stand ready to help him.
Precisely; begin to think we agree IN our
opinions better than had supposed, but rs
pass on to tho next paragraph, find she
| gives q wrong inference to my words, when
she says that pure air is the only thing claim
| necessary for woman's health. 1 claim that
u great deal more is necessary for her physi-
cal salvation, though pure air is Of prime inn
portanco. There must be radical change
in womans dress, in her dietetic and sanitary
habits, before she can become healthy rs
God made her to be.
cannot modify my assertion in regard
to woman's endurance, for had she not moro
endurance than man, with her almost total
disregard ofthe laws of her being. the race
would have become extinct ere this. The
wonder is not that women are feeble and
inefficient. but that they exist ut all.
have no desire to increase woman's bur-
dens, and have said before that If woman
had work enough to do in tho house she
ought not, us rule, TO work out 81 doors
unless her husband render equivalent help
in the house; !" in the latter case, she will be
gamer by the scheme. l will relate n
| little of my own experience, even though
lose dignity in the eyes of my sister.
One spring during the late war, when help
was very hard to procure, my husband was
4. 4. 4. Al Nl.. HI. II
big boy he had hired.
There came great flow Of sap in the
sugar orchard. and he was greatly hurried,
and | volunteered to go and boil the sap till
he should get "caught up" The sap kept
running, and kept boiling for two weeks
with little intermission. At the end Of that
time came out as brown rs IN Indian. and
more than fifty per cent better in health
than when began. or indeed had been for
| two years. will add. that | did not wear
| long skirts to trammel every movement. in
my out-of- door labor. If had pei haps the
result would have been different. oiten
look back with pleasure upon that time, and
wish every spring might repeat the expert
ment. but can seldom do so.
As for building churches and bridges, and
the like, don't think woman's talent lies
IN that direction rs u general thing, but II
any one thinks sho has talent for II, she is
welcome to try it. Certainly some of the
work would be quite as easy and pleasant as
| house work. providing one only knew how,
| or had talent to know.
There are some kinds of work best fitted
for men; let men do them us n rule. There
| are other kinds that seem -eminently
fitted for woman, let women do them, yet
all rules have exceptions. There are still
other kinds that are suited 10 either sex, let
either or both do them, as they see fit.
don't suppose nature intended me for a car
pentcr. yet can use both saw aud hammer,
and find il very convenient sometimes. too.
| don't think my husband has any peculiar
talent for washing dishes or cookery, yet he
has made himself very useful in these
branches OF house work sometimes when 1
have been sick, and no hired girl at hand,
and don't think it degraded him any more
than il did me to boil sap. We both feel
| just rs dignificd as though he never handled
anything but pitch fork or barn shovel, or
had never had my face tanned by.March
wind in the sugar place, or lifted anything
but broomstick.
Yet do not wish to be understood by my
sister that | think my husband ought to
wash dishes or cook every day, because II
has occasionally been convenience TO have
him do so, nor that can boil sap every day,
in every sugar season, because | could
do il sometimes, but mutual helpfttl1leSS, as
occasion seems to require, is the idea, and
trust have made 1t so clear this time that
there can be no misunderstanding, and
think have answered tho 1.-TWO questions
she desires me to, MS plainly ms | CAM If moi
plainly enough shall give up the attempt.
LAURA BRIGHAM BoYCE.
FdyStOn, jan. 4.