Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-06-14
Married or Single 7

MatF1e0 or Single!
From the N. Y. Graphic.
The question has assumed considerable I'M
portance-" Shall married women, NO matter
how well qualified as teachers for the young, be
turned out Of the public schools to give place to
unmarried teachers
Or shall the woman fortunate enough to find
| husband be debarred the exercise Of calling
where she is doing good because the husband is
able to make for her the burden Of life easiera
Or must the public schools give unmarried
women employment in preference to married
women?
Why should the penalty Of marriage for the
woman be exclusion from work for which nature
may have peculiarly fitted her7
Why should the benefit of her services be lost
to the community because she is wife and a
mother?
Is teaching merely mechanical function, not
requiring special talent or ability?
The agitation Of this question has involved
for the married man the charge of lack of man.
hood" ifhe accepts support from the woman Sup
pose nature better qualities the woman in some
calling to earn money than the man? Suppose
that, In sympathy, companionship, cOngeniality
and similarity of taste these two find in each
other their ideal Of ~companonship? Suppose
that the mans sympathy is necessity and
rest to the woman? Is he to be charged with
slack Of manhood" for accepting the position he
nils! Suppose such woman Is In charge of an
educational institution and possessed Of bust
ness and executive capacity, and after years of
waiting finds the man possessed of neither vet
which bring qualities which aid her in her work
and she marries him, shall he be tainted with
''lack Of manhood" because he has found the
place the calling and the partner where he may
best develop and exercise his peculiar talent?
What is the motive for following teaching
as profession on the part Of the women who
argue that the married teachers should be dis
charged? Is that motive q pure love of their
calling? Is their art paramount to everything
else? Is it Of such importance In their eyes
that for it they are willing to fOrsake houses
and lands and father and mother, and If neces-
sary even prospective husband, who will sup
port them on condition that they forsake the
work to which nature has called them2
And if such young women should plainly see
that the married woman they would supplant is
fitted for her profession, that she has that in
nate capacity for imparting knowledge and sug-
costing ideas which no mere training can give;
If they see that she is united to man who sym
pathizes with her In her pursuit, that they are
partners and are able to afford each other help
In their calling, will this young woman demand
the withdrawal of the married woman from the
place, where she is doing good, because she
needs the pay appertaining to that placer
If "lack of manhood" is charged on the man
for accepting support from the qualified woman
may not cOuntercharge of lack Of ''woman-
hood" have some weight when there is taken
into consideration the woman who accepts eX-
pensive support from the man simply because he
is her husband-Who marries him for his money
who regards him merely as the treasury on
which to draw for shoes, dresses and jewelry?
Are there such women?
The eXigences and situations peculiar to the
feminine organization are also urged against the
retention of married women as teachers. But all
this enters into the economy of human exist
ence. If maternity was phenomenal, illegal and
under all circumstances improper, there might
be force in their objection. Good taste will die
tate what is proper in this matter. But if the
married woman is to be entirely banshed from
the school room and the whole bias and influ-
ence Of education left to the unmarried, then
there will be eliminated an important element
and influence in the public school.
The teacher who is a mother and who knows
the responsibilities of motherhood is possibly
better fitted to convey certain influences for
good upon the young than can any unmarried
woman. Danish the mother element from the
public school and there is banished means and
influence L.Jst important for such children.
Arithmetic, grammar and geography do not con-
stitute all of education. Something of duty, of
morality. of delicacy, of higher refinement, of
true sense Of purity needs also to be incul-
Gated. and for this the wOmanly mother and
teacher is especially fitted.
However. the best teacher ia one who has
given up all else for the work of teaching. She
will be neither married woman nor q woman
who wishes to be married. But such teachers
are not to be found in the ordinary public school,