St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-26
IS WOMAN RUTHLESS
A Critic, Presumably a Rude
Man, Declares She Is
Somewhat.
A Woman in Distress, He Says,
Always Asks a Man for
Assistance.
She Never, Under Any Cir
cumStanceS, Asks for q
Woman'S Aid.
She Is Placed in an Unnatural
Sphere and Narrowly Ed
ucated.
San Francisco Chronicle.

A writer in one of the American mag
aZines who attracted much notice a few
months ago by a very clever article
on ''The MannerlesS Sex" has followed
up his success by anotheh article OH
1.-THE Ruthless Sex" it being unneceS-
sary to say that in each case he referred
to women. The questions he has raised
are interesting ones, and, more than
that, they are instructive; for, if he be
right in his contention that women as q
class are mannerleSS and ruthless, it is
evident that some change is necessary,
either in the education of our girls or in
the conduct of men toward wOm,n.
So far as the first point is concerned,
it must be conceded that the writer eS-
tablished a very strong case. He ap-
pealed to the observation and expert
ence of every one one to say whether.
as q rule, are not lacking in
those little exercises of pOlitenesS, of
SuaviJy, of kindness and accommodate
ton which make up what we call ''man-
ners." and he found no candid person.
whether man or women. to say him
nay.
AS to his second point, however, that
womep are cruel, Or ruthless, as he
chooses to call it. at the first blush every
chivalric instinct of the masculine ma
ture rises in arms to bid the slanderer
defiance. We feel like denying the
allegation and defying the alligator
without even giving him a chance to
state his case. What! we eXclaim, our
peerless Ethelinda or our tender Sara
phina or u coy and blushing Dulci-
bella cruel? Perish the thought! The
dear creature who hangs with moist
eyes Over the sick bed of her pet kitten,
or grieves herself ill over her canary's
indigestion, ruthless? Never can we
consent TO such a horrible aSpersiOn
since the birth of the world as the EN-
Dodiment of all that is gentle and ten
der and compassionate. The writer is a
wretch whom 'twere base f1attery to call
a man.
But let us see, just for curiosity, what
this wretch can find to say in support of
his position. He says, quoting John
Ruskin, that Indifference is the sin of
which woman is most guilty, an indif-
ference which arises from that narrow
habit of mind which IS exclusively Oc-
cupied with the present moment, which
refuses or is unwilling to grasp any
OtilSl IIQiA IL PutOlf POl . ooOCS6
of it. Her SympathieS are quickly
reused to what is Immediately before
her eyes, to what no mental effort is re-
quired to perceive. as, for instance. a
horse Savagely beaten by its driver, but
it goes no further.
1t is to be feared that there is a modi-
cum of truth in this view of the case.
Woman, as a class, are not easily moved
by tales of woe, which appeal with ire
Sistible force to most men. If she can
see the suffering, there is none SO quick
to move heaven and earth to relieve it,
but when misery and restitution are
presented to her in al abstract form, in
stead of a concrete. she is, as Ruskin
says, often, if not usually, Indifferent.
Nor is woman any more kind to that
misery which is not physical, but men,
tai and spiritual; which takes mold and
tugs at the nerves and heart-strings un-
Ill the very soul ShriekS in Its an
guiSh. Let man or woman, and eSpe-
cialiy woman, stumble and fall into the
mire of social degradation, and what
becomes of that kindness and gentle
ness which are SO often deemed wo-
mars special prerogative? Where Is
that charity which thinketh no evil, but
believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things? Alas! too often is
woman the Levite who passes by on the
other side, and not the good Samaritan.
1t is true that there have been many
conspicuous examples of charitable ana
kind-hearted women. and these the
world delights to honor; but are they
not exceptions to the general rule? Is
it not true that a man or Oma in
trouble or disgrace more naturally turns
to man for relief and sympathy than to
woman? Is il not true that the more
irreprOachable a woman is in her con-
duct the more unapproachable she is by
the weak, the miserable, and the sinful?
And is it not also true that he refine
ment of cruelty is to manifest indiffer-
ence where sympathy would be the
most precious boon. and where compass
sion would outweigh any material relief
that could be offered?
If the sex be ruthless it is the fault of
education and environment. Education
is to blame in not expanding and en-
iarging the female mind; environment
is to blame in putting woman on a ped
eStal and treating her as Il goddess in
stead of a woman. She is placed, by
mans own folly, IN al unnatural
sphere, and it is not to be wondered at
that her condescensiOn, which we SO
meekly accept. should have mingled
with 1t somewhat of haughtiness and of
disregard for the claims ard rights of
others.