The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-06-04
THE MODERN GIRL.

THE MODERN GIRL.
1t has become the fashion of late,
writes Christine Herrick in the Phila-
delphia Press, to say great deal about
the extravaganza of girls and their I'M
fitness for self-denial. for economical
housekeeping as poor mems wives, or,
in fact, for anything more than gay
society life The girl of the period is
depicted as devoted to dress and amuse-
ment, unable to keep house or direct
servants, and with no aim in life beyond
that of making good marriage by
which she will be enabled to dress more
handsomely and live more luxuriously
than before.
There are doubtless girls whose habits
of life and, indeed, whose expressed
theories give color to this belief But it
is time plea should be advanced for
the much greater number whose lives
are complete contradiction to such
charges. The average girl is fit for
something far better than mere butter
fly existence. While she may not al
ways make intellectual pursuits her
chief employment. she is generally tol-
erably deficient in what q majority of
men rank above these-namely. house.
wifely accomplishments.
The helpless fashionable young lady,
who. if she did not quite carry out the
programme offered by the Mother Goose
melody:
Sit on a cushion and sew up seam.
And live on Strawberries, sugar and cream,
at least was supposed to pass most of
her waking hours that she did not de-
vote to the subjugation of her admirers
in dawdling over bit of useless fancy
work, has been consigned to the top
shelf along with ''Clarissa Harlowe" and
"Sir Charles Grandson" Sometimes a
non-progressive author reintroduces her
to the general public under the impress
sion that he is keeping up with the
times, but as a rule she remains in OBJ
security. Her successor. the dashing
young woman who danced the German
all night and slept all day, and who
fourished to perfection in Miss Warmers
books to throw the virtuOus heroine in
to stronger relief. still preserves shad-
owy existence, but her days, happily,
are numbered.
The average girl, carefully observed.
offers REPUTATION to the popular libels
that too often pass for truthful descrip-
tons. She has healthy enjoyment of
young society and of gayety-it would
be peculiar if she had nOt-but she can
also turn her attention to graver pur-
suits with equal interest. Many girls
are no mean students, and conduct
courses of reading" after leaving
school with perseverance that puts to
shame their brothers neglect of study
when the latter's college days are over.
Very seldom docs one find man who
gives even a small portion of his leisure
to reading that does not bear directly
upon his business or profession. There
is an amazingly small proportion of
really idle girls. If the result of their
labors sometimes seem to demonstrate
that the game has not been worth the
candle, it is not because they do not
give due time and energy to their en-
Payments, but that these employmcnts
themselves are unworthy. Nor is this
altogether the girls fault A man usu-
ally carves out his own niche in life. A
girl is often born in hers or placed there
by circumstances over which she has
or thinks she haS-no control.
Even against her disadvantages of
training and environment, the girl
achieves fair result. The number of
those who are slaves to the pleasures of
society, and to greed for excitement
and admiration, shrinks into insig-
nificance when compared to those who
lead diligent, active lives.
The girl of to-day is generally prof.
Gent in needlework. She can not only
alter her own dresses, but cut and make
those and her Undertaking as well.
She has knack at trimming her hats
and furnishing up her wardrobe, and
does her full share at helping the dress
maker, who comes to assume charge OF
the spring and fall sewing. She under
stands the various branches of mending
and takes that division of labor off her
mothers hands. as well as the care of
parlors and dining-room, the arranging
of flowers, the supervision of the man
ners and apparel of the younger child.
rem, and sometimes of their studies, too.
Let full justice be done to the '.girl of
the period" or, rather, let there be q
clear comprehension of what should be
really represented by that much-abused
phrase. 1t is not fair to take the weak
est specimens of the sex as types of a
class comprising earnest workers, with
strong conceptions of life. its response
bilities and burdens, and steady pur-
pose to bear them according to the best
of their ability,