The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-01-02
EQUALITY OF TIE SEXES.

fSr <A9SSsA11A11I " Miss MaI1da
m EQUALITY OF TIE SEXES.
nd "And the Lord God said, 1t is not %
il that the man should be alone; y
make him helpmeet fer him" H,
i'd. We have the acknowledged lot of '
~. man, as announced at her creation. 8
tai is not good that the man should
alone" God, his Maker, knew that
IN. needed companion, and to meet IL
- want He fashioned woman 81 W
!, make him helpmeet for him" NJ
~ ~ also needed a human helper, and as bt
rss answering this need, God, with unerri
4. wisdom, gave him woman. And G.
- Himself brought her unto the ma
~ and Adam said, This is now bone of n
% bone and flesh of my flesh, thus reco
: nizing her as his equal.
~ Woman, then, was designed by b
- Omniscient. Creator to be the compa
70 o ion, the helper, the equal of man. W
~ man, as mans companion and helpe
should be his equal, or she cannot pro-
erly fulfill the end for which she wi
Z created. If man is " lord of creation,
.e woman must reign with him. She mu,
+ keep pace with him. If man is edl
| Gated, woman must also be educated
Il She need not be educated as man, i
/" order to be altogether what man is, bu
she must be educated rs an0aaH, in orde
that she can also be- to some extent
what man is not. The sexes have mucl
! IN common, but each has peculiar du
ties which each should be fitted to per
form.
Few in this enlightened age will deny
5 the
NECESSITY OF EDUCATION.
Observation teaches that Just as water
seeks its level, so do men and women
sink or rise to that place for which they
are best fitted. The ignoramus remains a
plodding ploWman, with little influence
whether for good or e il, beyond his own
narrow neighborhood The man of
thought and culture moves Senates with
his wisdom, dictates laws, and like Ham
ilton or Jefferson, shapes the policy of
nations. The ignorant woman remains
common drudge, wearing away a
colorless, monotonous life, scarcely illu-
minated by one bright or noble thought" :"
| Woman must be educated, but pre-
cisely h0c to educate the coming woman
il still an open question.
-Four different experiments are now in
process. These are: University Exami-
nations, the Lecture System, Colleges
for Women, and Mixed Colleges.
For great University to condescend
to examine female candidates and grant
| certificates is a step forward; but it
does not furnish the means, the disci-
| pline and training, of education. 1t
holds out its high honors before the tan,
talized sex, saying, These you can have
If you can get them"
! The Lecture schemes, so popular in
| England, are make-shifts, and only ag-
gravate the faults of superficiality, want
of method and want of preparation.
In the United States we have the
COMMON SCHOOL,
Which is Il mixed school. The pupils
are brothers, sisters, cousins and neigh
bors to one another; the kindly infu
ences of the family continue beneficially
| during school hours; the stronger and
older pupils protect and advise those
who are weaker. Under this simple and
| wholesome regimen the boys are OBJ
served to become somewhat less rude
and boisterous than when taught sepa-
rately, while the girls display more
courage aud candor than is usual under
other circumstances.
This presents to us co-education of the
sexes i'll its most favorable light, and in
such neighborhood schools, where the
wholesome family influence prevails,
and up to a certain age for girls, co-edu-
cation may be beneficial. Indeed, here in
the South, where we have two races, it is
| necessary to practice co-educatien of the
sexes in most country neighporhoods, in
order to have a sufficient number Of
white pupils for public school. as a
consequence Of this, We find that those
parents who can afford to do so, send
their daughters when they arrive at
about the age of twelve or fourteen, to |
complete their education in schools for !
girls exclusively
That it is best to separate the sexes at |
that age should be apparent to all. From !
the age of about twelve, to sixteen or |
eighteen, is an important transition pc |
riod, in which our females pass from
girlhood to womanhood. In our
FEMALE SCHOOLS
Generally, the health of pupils is
looked after with care. None will deny |
that every scheme of education should |
comprehend careful attention to the !
laws of health In Vassar College there |
is resident graduated female physician |
who may be consulted in regard to the |
health of pupils. The mental culture
in these schools is that best adapted to !
develop those powers which girls will |
90 e.,
study and recreation are observed, and |
the pupils are judieiOusly restrained in |
their intercourse with the outside world |
Seclusion has always been conducive |
to study and mental development. In |
the life of John Marshall his biog1a- |
pher says, "In addition to the native |
yigor Of his faculties much was owing |
to the circumstances amid which he |
grew up. In thinly populated region |
of country he had necessarily but little |
society-his mind was thrown upon it. |
self and his lonely meditations created |
and confirmed habits of thought and |
reflection" In the four or six years
that our girls spend in boarding schools /
they are kept from the allurements of |
society, and no distracting influences
are permitted 10 draw their minds from |
regular and systematic study. They |
have their holidays and summer vaca-
tions of two months or more, which |
serve to relax the mind, and give them |
sufficient knowledge of social life to pre-
vent their being Impractical, or awkward |
and too timid-while in the discipline of |
home their knowledge of domestic duties |
is developed. Then, where girls are
brought together from different sections
of country they get ideas from each
other, and their knowledge of human
nature is thereby increased. They are
also stimulated, but not unduly, to ex-
| eel each other in all that is laudable.
and where there are wholesome regula-
tions in regard to dress, spirit Of rival
~ in that respect is restrained. The
morals of pupils are carefully cultiva-
ted In all our female colleges the claims
| of Christianity are recognized, and its
principles inculcated as the basis of all
/ true morality. The teachers are men
and women of acknowledged fitness and
/ piety, and serve for examples as well as
| preceptors in their daily intercourse
with the pupils. After four or six years
in these institutions, our girls carefully
/ trained in mind, manners, and morals,
and with physical nature well developed,
return to their homes, well fitted to be-
tcome companions and helpers and the
equal Of any man they may choose to
we'd. TOr if they may not choose to
wed, they viii not be compelled to marry
some man-iust any man-to be taken
care of, or to escape being burden to
| their friends.
IF it is argued that girls are too clois-
tered, too shut in by this system, that
they know little Of men and are there
fore more easily duped in after years,
i it may be answered that they are only
shut in from eriI associations, from hurt
ftit influences, and from all those things
that would most distract the mind
and faint the morals and manners at
this most impressible age; and as to
knowledge of men, that is one case in
which it is safer to trust woman's
intnitions. If there be any
DEFECT
lin this system It is that while the brain