Woman's chronicle. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1888-1???, 1889-07-13
Grant Aliens Logic--No. /.
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, June Is, 1889.

Editor Womans journal:
In the May Forum Mr. Grant Allen asserts and
attempts to prove;
|. That the males of the human species are the
race
2. That all which is distinctly human in the race
are the males.
3. That the females are not half the race, as
generally supposed, but to use his own happy ex-
preston, 'sare merely told off to reproduce the
species"
Mr.. Allen claims to have made these startling
discoveries by the aid of biology | shall look at
his arguments from common-sense standpoint.
1t is to be regretted that he is not explicit as
to the size of the part which women composes. 1t
is not enough to know that she is less than half;
we must know how much less. Is womans part
one-third of the race? Is it fourth Is it as
small as one-tenth? Or ne-hundredth? Or will
Mr. Allen and biology reduce woman to the thou
sandth part of the human race? Mr.. Allen can
give the exact size of this part if he will it is to
be hoped that modesty, natural to a member of the
argest and the "humano part of the race, will
not stand in his way.
'sAll that is distinctly human" says Mr.. Allen,
Gin the race is man. TO build houses and railroads,
to till the soil, to manufacture, are distinctly hui
man functions; these functions fall on men, while
women are merely told Off (Every one must
admire this phrase; it is pet of Mr.. Aliens, and
is found about dozen times on each page)
The above paragraph contains the gist of Mr..
Aliens premises and deductions; they may be
pretty put into syllogistic shape, thus:
1t is human to build, etc.
Men build.
Men are human.
Or thus:
1t is human to build, etc.
Women do not build
Women are not human
This may be very convincing to biological minds,
but to the neurological mind a few slight diff
culties present themselves. For instance, if, in
stead of the biblical account of the creation, we
accept the theory of evolution, we must admit that
there have been long periods in the life of the race
during which men no more built houses and rail-
roads than women; how was the woman part of
the race then proportion? Were women less than
half the race then!
Or were they, even in that time, "merely told
off, 1--WE certainly admire this phrase) to carry the
children of the race until they were strong enough
to walk on their own feet? IT not, at what time in
the history of species did the telling off begin? If
Mr. Allen cannot throw biological light on these
points, who can?
Manufacturing says Mr.. Allen, is human func-
ton; women do not manufacture, therefore are
not human. But how about the time when women
were the only manufacturers in the world? Were
women then the human part of the race, and were
men the told off part? Is it possible Mr. Allen
does not know that women were the first manu-
facturers of our race? In the old, old days, when
men were all savages, and war was the business of
their lives, women pursued the peaceful arts
spinning, weaving, ting the soil whenever their
predatory spouses permitted them to remain
long enough in one place to SOW and reap. The
names the human female goes by to this day show
that they we're the first to manufacture CLOTH
Spinster means spinner Woman was the weaving
man.
Mr.. Allen forgot 10 mention function more