The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-13
She IS THE MANS WOMAN
A Long List Of the Traits That Must
Enter Into Her
Makeup.
Taken Altogether She Must Be a
Pretty Nice Sort Of
Person.
And Her Lack of Masculine Character
istics Is Perhaps Her Very Best
Recommendation.

Tho mans woman ia born, not mnde, like
tho poet or the painter. A woman may be q
modern Athena in wisdom. a Griselda OF
patience, a Penelope of virtue and industry,
a Helen in beauty, bnt il she lacks the
peculiar equnble and delicate balance which
delights and the intangible thing called
fascination which charms the mans nature,
she cannot please the most susceptible, PIN
featherly, vsaly undergraduate or cadet in
the ranks, says the New York Sun.
The mans woman must be what the man
calls q womanly woman-that is. mn essen
italy feminine woman. She is or seems
yielding, lovable. a little bit helpless, not
at all aggressive or argumentative, and not
too intense or intellectual. The average
man objects to being entertained by analy-
tical nightmares or overwhelmed by ency-
slopedical solidity in petticoats, evcn if the
nstticoats arc frilled in approved fashion.
The mans woman must DO the perfect
complement to his own nature, Astounding
in that which he lacks, fulfilling and per-
fecting that which in him is incomplete,
but she must not bslittle him with her su-
psriority. Her weakness and dependence
call into delightful expression the protect
i've element. which is one of the strong
Characterization OF his regard. Her dainti-
ness delights his aesthetic sense, for it coun-
terbalances his rugged strength and mascu-
Unity. Her beauty appeals to his chivalry,
her innocence to his honor, her admiration
to his vanity, her sweet submission to his
superiority and m~asterfulness.
Women as a rule are not just in their
~-sA;~{~cn~ ~ %hn v,C,sa xpopoo,, Tln~ oolJ
her heartlsss. vain, artificial, weak and de-
signing. Granted that many are all these,
yet are prime favorites at court be-
cause Of a special gift of beauty or of the
fatal fascination which some people call
magnetism, and which no savant, however
philosophical. really can analyze or OK
plain.
woman deserves not this censure. She
doesn't understand women, and they do
not comprehend her. She is not at her
best with them, and, be it said to her ore
dit, it is not altogether her fault. In many
cases jealousy on the one hand and sensi-
t%ivsness with regard to the unjust criti-
ciams and decisions of that jealousy on the
other widen the breach.
Now, this ideal mans woman is, first of
NIL. q clever woman. She knows and likes
the man as he really is, and not as she has
read of him in books or dreamed of him in
fantasies. There is q perfect understand
ing between her nature and his, and in this
relation, as q Wise married woman once
said, the woman must do all the studying.
She must not only understand the mans
nature, but her own, and the effect OF her
nature upon his ana his upon hers. Then, at
just her gifts to hisso oleyerly that he thinks
he is making all the concessions and doing
all~-the psychological adaptation: Some-
timeB this knowledge is intuitive and its
manifestations are known under the mystic
name of tact. 1t is rs marked i'll the girl
in the woman of 80, who presides over her
salon with grace and dignity.
The mans woman is interested intelli-
gently and sincerely in the things dear to
the heart of man. If she doesn't know
very much about them, how delightful to
She wants to hear ali about the plot of his
new book, the pedigree and record Of the
horse he has bet on, the brand Of wine he
likes best, the new business scheme that,
ten to one, he hasn't told his own wife, the
books he reads. the men he meets at his
club, and all, and he ENJOYS telling her all
about it, because her interest is sincere.
The mans woman is a good talker, dane
ing lightly from one subject to another
with easy grace, not dwelling too long on
detail or introducing personalities, and
never vehement or insistont. A man is
0DuNlAy " VlAOu "a ulO bClIOubACbSs bA0
wear and fret, of actual life when he seeks
social recreation or woman's companion
ship to care to listen to grandiloquent dis
course or to exercise his tired intellectual
powers in splitting analytical hairs. This
ls where the American woman has such i'm
mense advantage over her more thoroughly
educated and better read English sister.
This is what wins for her the ducal coronet
and the name that came over with tho con-
qneror. Her sure intuition tells her the pre-
eise second whom with her lightning quick
transition she must change the subject from
books to horses and yet hinge the two upon
home common word or suggestion that the
conversation may not seem forced or
orokon. But the mans woman is invaria-
bly, a better listener than talksr. She
somehow makes the mar tell his best sto-
RES in his very best form. She finds the
subject he talks we'll upon, and whether ii
Is coal mines or concerts she convinces him
hat her life's auccess depends Upon know
nR all about that snbiect-in fact, that she
las been searching for years for the precise
Information no is ready to stand now and
deliver. In the intoxication of her svmpa-
hetic appreciation he astonishes himself
With his own brilliant remarks and leaves
ler presence delighted with her because he
Ia delighted with himself.
The mans woman must Of necessity be a
stronger woman than the man knows. A
weak woman would weary him with her
complaining. her flushing, her ~fretting over
rifles. FiRuratively speaking, the mans
Woman may allow him the delicious privi-
sge of having her shed a few tears on his
ihoulder, but she never cries until her nose
9 red. She does not go off in spells and
headaches and nerves and tears, and have
O be lugged out just whom the act is on or
he race ia finishing, or when he is tired of
riction and annoyance. She is variable in
Ter moods. and each change from p~ensive-
Tess to piquancy fires his admiration to
resh frenzy. but she doesn't prolong the
mood until he is weary, or intensity it un-
ii he Is annoyed.
Tho mans woman is not usually inter-
sted in the serious reform or advancement
# woman's sphere. She is pretty sure TO
ave a sphere found for her within the
ircle of a wedding ring, and il apt to find
'lenty OF sweet demand within that sphere
or her time and talents. The need Of the
aorld has not touched her roughly and does
lot appeal to her strongly. Things are
nade easy for her and delightful, and she
Ioesn't exactly understand why other
fomen don't follow her example and keep
till about it. Ii her nature lacks the
,epths and heights that grander souls
now, she is quite as comfortable for the
verage man to sit opposite three times a
Ry in the 365 days which make up a COM
1on year.
The mans woman is not easily won.
Visest of all is her wisdom in ooncealing
nv effort sho may take to please him. She
axes more than she gives, and, holding
erself we'll in hand. smiles down upon
i'm from heights of her own setting. Sho
ever chsapens herself, never f~iutters