San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-09-23
STRONG MINDED WOMEN
cHgY ARE APPRECIATED BY THE
SENSIBLE AND CULTURED.
It Is Only Empty Headed snobs Who
Criticise Intellectual women-Life Gives
to Woman the Same Possibilities CT Rich
FulfIlment That 1t Affords Men.

be used as term or reproacn 10 woman
has always eluded my comprehension.
suppose, however, it is because the majority
of persons consider strong minded and man
nish Synonymous. The implication is as alb
surd as it is unjust, as any one must reccg-
nize who for moment will view the subject
from the proper standpoint.
My idea of a strong minded woman is any
thing but uncomplimentary. She Is woman
endowed by the gods with an unusual amount
of common sense, to begin with; her mind Is
well poised; she is keen witted, and, best Of
all, is invariably talented. 1t is this latter
characteristic which lifts her above the COM
mon herd, and naturally marks her as the
target for their small shot.
WHEN SHE IS INDEPENDENT.
A strong minded woman has the convic-
tions of her own opinions; she is independent
of the small souled criticisms of the narrow
minded people about her; she will not be ham
pered by them. If you will observe you viii
find it is invariably the woman who writes
who is spoken of as strong minded creature,
as though it were not blessing to have mind
at ALL particularly forcible one. But, says
the world, it is not the fact of a woman's
writing that we object to, but the knowledge
that she gets money for it, thus placing her
the world does not know that there are wom-
ell today who have entered the field of jour
nalism who are far above want or the neces-
sity of earning their livelihood, but who enter
into the work, body and soul, from pure love
of it. The money it brings is not their object;
it is the natural result and the best evidence
of their ability. But, says the skeptical
world, what possible pleasure could woman
R,,H in pritin0 oil ,InlaSS Sba had II NJ
dol Let me answer on the part of the liter
airy enthusiasts, known as strong minded
women, that there is no pleasure in life equal
to it. OF course, to the woman whose field is
in the land of fiction and the imagination,
the delight is Of the highest order. Her world
is peopled with the children of her brain, as
real and dear to her as the merry, boisterous
| group which gathers in the flesh about a
| mothers breast
Most women have been brought up TO be-
ieye that life should be spent in luxurious
idlenesS that for woman to exercise her
dainty fingers except in fashioning some USE
less bit of tawdry fancy work or in running
the scales of musical instrument was some
! thing shocking. And women have been con-
tent for a long time to accept the decree of
so inane fate; but, happily, at last new
the world at first looks askance at them there
are those among us who feel that life was
given to woman with the same possibilities
Of rich fulfllmcnt that it was to men. The
Tomen who despise the hoIlowness and insin-
cerity of the 50 called society world, who,
though possessing the birthright which gives
them the entree into the best, and having
talents and accomplishments which would
En Them IN VOTitaS IFS f1yprS aud its
Shallowness, and dare to brave its sneers by
devoting their days to improving their
minds, the:s nights to preserving their health
and their morals
SNOBBISH ILL BREEDING.
Do we ever find the cultured, the broad
minded, refined members of society condemn
ing woman because of her mental ABILITY
All, no. Are they rather not the parvenuS,
the UPSTAIRS, who dare not look a generation
back i'll their family tree, and who have now
only the gold which gives the straitened
forehead of the foolE' Verify, yes. They
know not the superiority of mind over mat
ter, because they have never dealt in the fine
article. | write with feeling because of a con-
temptible piece of snobbish i'll breeding wit
messed a few days ago at fashionable sum-
NOR resort, when woman of newly acquired
social position turned her back upon young
special correspondent, who for her own
amusement, was writing bright, interesting
letters for several of the leading journals of
the country, and who, by the way, had pre-
viously declined TO be introduced to the
woman who sought 70 mortify her. | saw
the whole thing, and having a warm interest
in the correspondent, being myself lover Of
newspaper work, l stepped up to her and
sought TO make her forget her embarraSs-
ment.
80, Selene," she said, did you imagine 7
felt iusutedi No, no, mon annie, a lady
would not insult another, and one less mod
ding toward the offender) could not, you
know" and she laughed merrily But"
said she, ''out of regard for those women
who are driven by stern necessity to WELD
the pen as a weapon Of defense against chill
penury, will YOU not write an article defend
ing them and showing that a woman may
write for the papers and still be unworthy
the epithet of strong minded in its objection.
able sense OF mannishW Eyes" said |, and
[ will show them that the fact of a woman
exercising her brain does not make her heart
less womanly or less sensitive, and neither
does the possession of fortune buy any oua
the right to be unladylike"
Those who have never felt 1.-THE inspiration
Of the ink bottle" cannot comprehend that
woman would, for instance, rather write
pleasant things of the people around her than
whisper unkind sighting remarks about
them to the other women present. They can
not understand how it is that she can enjoy
passing so much of the day alone with her
own thoughts, when she might be listening
to their gossiping chatter; and so they turn
and abuse her as strong minded! Butt they