The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-07-26
WOMAN'S ADVANCEMENT.

| The Barriers to competition In the Arts
And Education Rapidly Disappearing.
! Women are successfully invading all
the professions, Notwithstanding the
warning voices which men are CON-
stantly raising about the detrimental
effect of this invasion on the future OF
the race. There is reason to suppose,
says the Philadelphia Press, that selfish
motives may have something to do with
these alarm signals. Perhaps the fear
of competition has an unconscious effect
on the minds of the alarmists. For in
stance, a woman has just taken the
prize for the best design for soldiers
monument to be erected by the State OF
Iowa. AS soon as the commission made
the award it was charged with favor
itism. No evidence has been furnished
to support this charge. which is prob
ably inspired by the belief that wo-
man could not possibly design monu-
ment as well as man. lfMrs. Harriet
Ketchum, the successful competitor, has
any children we may expect to see them
carefully watched by some of the I'M
successful competitors for signs of de-
generacy. And if one of them should
ever be unfortunate it will be proof
positive of the evil effects of Mrs.
Ketchum's interference with the rights
of men in designing monuments.
There are no signs that the human
race has suffered any from the marked
advancement which women have made
in modern times And no sane person
will claim that the race is any better
physical or otherwise in those nations
where women are confined ex-
clusively to household affairs. There
seems to be no good reason why women
should not be successful in sculpture.
architecture and kindred pursuits
There is not wanted instances of such
success but it has not been general,
probably for the reason that there has
been no general effort in that direc-
ton.
1t is not many years since the doors
OF all the universities and of the leading
colleges were closed to women. The
proposition to admit them was ridiculed
by the eminent men who conducted
those institutions. The magazines
and newspapers were filled with learned
essays demonstrating to the satisfaction
of their authors that women were
physically too weak to undergo the
strain of college life. Many eminent
physicians shared in this belief. But
the women triumphed. One after
another of these institutions have
opened their doors to the sex until they
are admitted now to all the leading
colleges. Thousands of them have
graduated. but the ill effects are not
yet apparent and are not likely to be.
If as much care was shown in the
physical development of young women
as of the opposite sex there would be no
need to fear comparison in college life
or elsewhere. Parents who encourage
their sons to engage in all kinds of ath-
letic exercises think it inelegant and
unretined for their daughters even to
exercise in a gymnasium. Fortunate
ly, this mistaken belief is dying out.
and women's gymnasiums are multiply
ing all over the land. There are only
a few colleges, however, that yet offer
such facilities for physical develop
ment to the women students. but they
all regard it as necessary part of the
education of young man. When this
inequality is corrected and women are
trained physically as well as mentally
we may expect the sex to give their
male competitors more trouble than
fhnN