Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1890-09-04
In WOMAN'S BEHALF.
THE QUESTION OF HAPPINESS.
Are Women Happier For Working?-One
of the Blessings That Attends tho
Woman with an Aim In Life.

Woman With an Aim in Life.
Are women happier for working, in
spite of the hardships they encounter?
] often ask myself this question when
talking to weary working woman, and
in some instances have put it to them
personally, and the answer invariably
is "Yes." The world thinks that the
only way for woman to escape from
the drudgery of work is to marry, and
that they are all glad enough to do so
when they have an opportunity. 1t is
sometimes way of escape that is open
to all women, sooner or later in the
course OF their lives; but we all know
that every married woman does not get
support from her husband. She Is
frequently obliged to support herself,
and often the entrance into the mar
riage state is only change from one
drudgery to another.
The brutality with which women fre-
quently ask each other why they do not
marry, is only one of the many brutali-
ties that they show to men,
question is invariably put by mar
ried woman, who, having obtained the
legal right to be supported by man,
and thus escaped all necessity of work,
wonders why all other women who work
do not follow her example. saw a
sensitive woman's face turn pale and
her eyes fill with tears the other
day when this question was put to her
by fippant, shallow acquaintance. 1t
was as impertinent as if the other wom-
an had asked her why she had ever
married her husband, perhaps she
would not have had the wit to answer as
did Parepa Rosa to similar question::
because he asked me-"
Truth to tell, the pale little woman
had often wondered why this woman
had married the man she did, and this
question revealed to her the reason
she married him for a support and got
| it.
However, woman who could ask
such question isnot the one to be made
happier by work, nor is she one to UNDER
stand how any woman can enjoy it, for
there is enjoyment in work in spite of
hardships.
But, in order to answer the question
at the top of this column, perhaps it will
be we'll to first ask and answer another
one:
What is happiness?
A fashionable woman, who has evory
thing that the highest social position,
devoted husband and wealth can give,
tells me that she Graves literary fame
to make her happiness complete. A
hard working literary woman, unmar-
ried, says that her idea of happiness is
home, with a loving husband and chill
dren; poor but fashionable girl wants
rich husband and a fine establishment;
rich girl desires to marry titled En-
glishman with large estates; city-bred
woman wants country home to make
her happy; an artist longs for fame, and
journalist desires sufficient means to
enable her to travel, in comfort, all over
the world.
What does this prove?
Simply that happiness is some thing
we have not got.
claim that an object in life is the
next best thing to happiness, and this
object the working woman has. Her
work is an object, and whether it is
done for bread or for fame, it makes life
worth living. If she works for bread
the necessity is spur, an incentive
without which she probably would never
h.ve attempted any work at all; it is
also an inducement to do good work
and the results are immediate, which il
most gratifying. II she works for fame
the result is distant very far distant
perhaps, and the path may be rough
But what is worth having is worth work.
ing for, and the greater the obstacles tt
be overcome, the dearer the reward
Work is some thing to do, some thing t.
think about, some thing to live for.
And in speaking now of working WON
en-, do not mean so much the womeI
who are brought up to do work of vari
Gus kinds, but those women who hav,
taken it up from necessity or from
choice. 1t is only the latter women VIII,
can appreciate the privilege of work
who can thoroughly enjoy the zest i
gives to life, and-where it is done as
means of support-who can understan,
and rejoice in the independence, it gives
That freedom, that independence, is in
toXicating to woman who has been en-
} tirely dependent all her life, and he
appetite grows with what it feeds on.
When woman who has been brough
up conventionally and dependently
; steps into the arena of work-no matte
, what the work is--she must throw asid
. certain conventionalities and dependen
, ideas that have been instilled into he
mind from her earliest youth. TIL
novelty of doing things that she ha
hitherto been forbidden to do at all, G
I, forbidden to do alone-and Harmless
, enough things they are, tools dt
light to hear that other women, les
conventional, can not understand
This skirmishing in forbidden fields, tn
novelty of having an object in life, an
the independence that her work give
her, are three things that remain JOY
J forever.
That these women are happier fC
working, and that they enjoy the
work, is proved by the fact that many {
$ them continue to work after marriag,
many put aside excellent offers of ma
d riage and offers from wealthy friends {
J, relatives of home and fortune.
s That they sometimes break down
d health is not to be wondered at, (,
q women who work for bread must pra
tice economy, and they do it by burnir
the candle at both ends A seemin
paradox, but true They economic
food; something that man never doe
But this is subject requiring chapt,
of its own, and do not intend to ent,
on it here; for it is not work that slay
but worry and improper care of Il
health.
Work is tonic, a restorer, life Or
server. 1t opens out untrodden field