The Dickinson press., 1889-09-28
STRONG MINDED WOMEN.
THEY ARE APPRECIATED BY THE
SENSIBLE AND CULTURED.

1t Is Only Empty Headed snobs Who
Criticise Intellectual women-Lifo Gives
to Woman the Same Possibilities of Rich
FulHllment That 1t Affords Men.
Just why the epithet strong minded should
be used rs Il term of reproach to II wom"n
has always eludcd 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 rvccg-
nize who for n moment will view the st!hj,rt
from the proper standpoint.
My idea of n strong minded woman is any
thing but uncomplimcntary. 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 MS 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 he ham
peretl by them. If you will observe you will
find it is invariably the woman who writes
Who Is spoken of as & strong minded creature,
as though it We're not a blessing to lave mind
at all, particularly II forciblc one. But, says
the world, it is not the fact of IL woman's
writing that we object to, but the knowledge
that she gets money for it, thus placing her
self in the role of bread winners. Evidently
the world does not know that there are won-
Ell today who have entered the field of jour
nalis,u Who ar" FAR above want or the ncccs-
sity OF earning Their livelihood, but who enter
into the work, body and soul, frc,a pure lovo
OF it. The money it brings is not their object;
it is the natural result and the hes; evidence
Of their ability. But, says til" s%kcptical
world, what possible pleasure could IL woman
find in writing all day, unless She had it to
do: Let mo answer on tho part Of the liter
airy enthusiasts, known rs strong minded
women. that there is no pleasure in life equal
to ii. OF course, to tho woman whose field is
i'll the land of fiction and the Imagination,
the delight is Of the highest order. Her world
is peoplcd with the children of her brain, as
real and dear to her as the merry, hoisterous
group which gathers in the flesh about a
mrtier's breast.
Most women lave been brought up to be-
liovc that life should be spent i'll luxurious
inleicas; that for II woman TO exercise her
dainty fingers except in fasllloning some usc-
less lit of tlwtlry fancy work or in running
the scales of y musical instrument was somo-
thing shocking. And women have been coll
tent for II long time to accept the decree OF
so inane a fate; hut, happily, ut last n new
reglme has dawned upon lis, and although
the world at first looks Gskuncc at them there
ore those among us who feel that life was
given to woman with the same possibilities
Of rich fultillment that it was to men. Tho
women who deupise the liollowncss and insin-
cerity of the so called society world, who,
though possessing the birthiiS lt which gives
them the entree into the best, and having
talents and accomplishments which would
make them faroriles, scorn its fnvors and its
sllullowness, and dare to brave its slcers by
devoting their days to improving their
minds, their nights to preserving tilcirlealth
and their morals.
SSoDBlslI ILL BREEDING.
DO we ever find the cultured, the broad
minded, refined melnbersof society condemn
ing a woman because of her mental ability
All, no. Are they rather not the parvcnus,
the upstairs, who dare not look II generation
back in their family tree, and who have now
only "the gold which gives tn" straitcned
forehead of the fool!' Verify, yes. They
know not the superiority of mind over mat
tti, DeCduse lllc.t nave never uc;lll Ill lllc lltle
article. | write with feeling because OF n CON-
tenlptibie piece Of snobbish ill breeding wit
messed II few days ago at a fashionable sum-
mer resort. when n woman of newly acquired
social position turned her back ulon Il young
special correspondent, who, for her own
amusement, was writing bright, interesting
letters for several of the leading journals of
the country, and who, 10y TIL. way, had pre-
viously declined to be introduced to the
woman who sought to mortify her. [ saw
the whole thing, and having Il warm interest
in the correspondent, being myself alovcr of
newspaper work, | stepped up to her and
sought to make her forget her embarrass-
mcDt.
80, Seenc,n she said, did you imagine l
felt lnsultedi No, no, mon annie, II lady
would not insult another, and one less mod
ding toward the oircnder could not, you
know" and she laughed merrily. But"
said she, tout of regard for those women
who are driven by stern necessity to WELD
the pen us a weapon of defense against chill
perjury, will you not write an article defcnd-
ing them md showing that IL woman may
write for the papers and still he unworthy
the epithet of strong minded i'll its objection
able sense of manlishf" YES said | land
i will show them that the fact of Il woman
exercising her brain does not make her heart
less womanly or less sensitive, and neither
does the possession of IL fortune buy any one
the right to be u%nladylikc."
Those who have never felt 'tle Inspiration
of the ink bottle" cannot comprehend that n
woman would, for instance, rather write
pleasant things of the peoplcaround her than
whisper unkind, sighting remarks about
them to the other women present. They cam
mt ,IDJorcfnn.1 how IL j. @l,t 4, -. -,
passing so much of the day alone with her
w thoughts, when she might DO listening
to their gossiping chatter; and ST. they turn
and abuse her US strong minded! But ii they
only knew it she would rather h. afflicted
with u strong mind than Il weak on.. or, like
some of her %neishbors, with none ut all to
speak of. They mean TO he uncomplimentary,
but she resents the implication of the
mannish idea, and i'll reality feels BATTERED ut
what they intend for a slur. But the man.
nish felnale-whar is she like. Surely a
vastly different creature from the brave, tai
ented, strong minded girl who wins the re-.
Spect and admiration of tho cultured and
truly refined wherever She goes. We do not
find her often at the %literati's desk. We are
more likely to see her at the races hobnob.
bling with the men, who i'll turn hobnob with
the bookmakers.
Decidedly, the strong minded woman isnot
tue same type of tue nlannish woman. The
former is brave, the latter bold; the first is
high toned i'll morals and manners, the latter
is essentially degraded III both particulars;
therefore, it is only natural that the latter
should be made much of by the masses of d
certain class of society, while the small
minority appreciate the true woman, fol
Canon Farrar said truly, only the remnant
is good.'-"Selene' in Baltimore American.
\ Sour Affair.
Mudge-Did you hear about Simithcrs
mothcr-in-lawl
Budge-No; didn't know he was married.
Mudse-He isn't. But they've attached hi
yinerar foctprv -nrot..t, NJ,r,,,,