San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-07-20
GIRLS OF THE PERIOD.
FROM THESE ARE TO COME THE
WOMAN OF THE FUTURE.

The Fast Set. the Masculine One. and the
Fashionable and Learned Classes-Us.
derneath the Little Eccentricities Art
Goodness and Brightness.
Just now it Is fashionable to declare that
the girl of the period is typical of the woman
Of the future What is the typical girl of the
perioda And what is the periodl 1t Is a
period of rapid advancement in every way;
there is but little time to sit down and think,
or to fold the hands and rest, if one would
keep up with the world There is so much to
see, to do and to hear that repose is not to be
thought Of No one rusts out; one wears out.
FOUR KINDS OF THEM.
This, then, is fast period, and we have a
"fast girl" that it has produced. But is she
the prototype of the woman Of the future&
Not alone, for there are many varieties of
this American girl of the period. For the
period is not only fast, but it is also complex,
and this complexity produces more than one
type of girl We have the fast girl, and
her opposite, the domestic girl; there are,
also, the learned girl, the masculine girl and
the fashionable girl
The domestic girl is brought up carefully
at home, where all her thoughts are conferred
She sympathizes with her brothers and sis
tiers in their little troubles and takes care of
them when they are i'll She helps in the
housekeeping, superintends the servants,
takes charge of the household mending, and
is perfectly happy in so doing. Her manner
is quiet and affectonate, her smile ready and
her disposition cheerful Her amusements
are in her home, and for outside excitements
she has her church, her Sunday school and
Dorcas society But even these do not inter
fere with her home duties. She is always
ready in every emergency to do what is near
est, and it is to her that the family looks in
time of trouble The domestic girl is sweet
and kind. She is not brilliant, nor beautiful,
perhaps but you love her just as much as if
she were
The learned girl is also a product of the
period, and, since the period has produced
her, we ought to be fond of her We are
fond of her in a. way, but sometimes she
knows just little too much. She wants to
go to college, and after she gets there she
makes the best of her opportunities and
graduates with donors She is clever, hard
working and ambitious. She is inclined to
look down upon girls who know less than she
does, and she rarely INDUCES in anything so
frivolous as Irritation. She has views, and
she longs to express them. Frequently these
views are swallowed up in matrimony; but
occasionally they; are expressed from the
lecture platform, or printed in magazine
devoted to showing woman's superiority over
man.
The masculine girl is sorry that she was
not born asboy But as it is too late to waste
much time over that unalterable fact, she
goes to work to be as maunish as possible.
She wears the most masculine looking hat
that is in keeping with the fashion, and tits
it just a little on one side. She has her coats
and jackets cut like mans, and frequently
walks with her hands in her pockets. If she
carries an umbrella she uses it as if it were a
cane, and wishes it we're. Sha$fects to dis
like girls and their ainusemenS; she assumes
masculine attitudes, uses slang and whistles
But at heart she is genuine girl, sincere and
amiable, and enjoys what other girls enjoy.
Her assumed masculine airs are amusing, and
we like her for them
THE FASHIONABLE GIRL
The fashionable girl has perhaps been more
seriously considered as the typical girl of the
period, and more severely criticised than the
types mentioned above, and yet she is no
worse than they are She occupies the niche
for which she was born, as they do, and fills
it as creditably. She has been accused Of
heartlessness, artifciality and selfishness, be-
cause these things are inculcated from her
very youth. Then, surely, it is not her fault
She goes from luncheon to a tea, from that
to dinner, and afterward to the opera and
a ball The greater part of her life is given
to dress and society She has little time to
cultivate her mind, for one entertainment
follows another in such rapid succession that
her life is one of 'constant excitement
Very often the heart becomes a little hard
ened and the mind dulled to much that is best
and beautiful in life; but that this is not
always so we have ample proof among the
many happy homes Of the fashionable girls
both before and after marriage.
These are all girls of the period, and their
types may be found in every city and town
in the United States They represent differ
ent phases Of the American character, and
are each admirable and interesting Who
can say that one of these types is more repre-
sentative of the American girl of the period
than anotherl If we are going to criticise
them and say that the fashionable girl is in.
clined to be heartless, do we not sometimes
find the domestic girl little dull and com.
monplace, despite her many virtuesf Does
not the fast girl occasionally shock our sense
of refinement Is not the learned girl little
pedantic and didactici And do we always
like girl who tries to be manlyi But, aftel
all, is this not criticising them too severely
We do not want our girls to be all alike.
1t is the variety that is SO charming. We
must like tham for what they are, not fol
what they are not The grace and tact Of
the fashionable girl are, in their way, as ad
r,iro hIa as the mora Startling oualities of hel