The Republican journal., 1892-01-14
Perils of Young Womanhood.
Written for the Republican Journal.

Rell, said recently, III l had to be born
again and might choose my sex and birth
place would cry at the top Of my voice,
%, make me an American woman. =
Verify there is no country on the face of
the earth where women have 50 many
privileges as in our own favored land And
the position of going women, in the clos
ing years of this nineteenth century, is al
most ideal Their mothers had to strug-
gle and overcome prejudices in order to
secure the liberal education, with all its
resultant advantages, which is the birth
right of the daughters.
In planning for her future the girl of to-
day has literally ''all the world before her
where to choose She may elect to enter
professional life; to devote herself to sci
ence, art OF literature: to compete with
men in the marts Of trade; to roam the
wide world over as an independent travel
er; she may till the ground: drive street
to oppose her will. But in this very free
dom of choice grave perils inhere.
Take first the case of the wage earners,
assuming that there is real necessity for
self-support The girls who work for
pin money or for fun do not proper
ly belong to the class under consideration.
With the new economic conditions of the
age the girls who once found domestic
service the only opening for self-support
are now pushing their way into shops,
factories and offices of every description.
The streets of our large cities swarm with
them every night and morning: they stand
behind counters and sell goods: they set
type in printing establishments; they serve
as telegraph operators; they run sewing
machines and typewriters; they are ste
nographers and journalists; in short. they
are found in nearly all positions, from the
lowest to the highest, which are open to
their brothers. The question of sex is
relegated to the background and the ques-
ton of individual capacity comes to the
fore when she applies for a situation. Her
wages are lower, except in rare instances,
but in all other respects the young woman
finds herself on the same footing as tie
young man in the world of labor. They
have the same hours of service and are
subject to TIE same discipline.
One result Of this new social order is an
unconscious lowering of ideals on her part
She imbiles the commercial spirit of tile
age and values everything by money test
In her close association with men She
learns to look at the world from their
standpoint To certain extent this is an
advantage for it teaches her to be less
emotional and more practical: less de-
pendent and more -self-reiant: less tmid
and more forcefu. But with the acqnisi-
, ton Of these desirable traits she is apt to
form disagreeable hahits-to be obtrusive.
aggressive. loud. sharp and masculine.
she finds herself there is much license of
speech. Insensibly She falls into a free
and easy way of talking with men on sub
jects which no woman Of delicate percei,-
tons would discuss with mere ac.luaint-
ances Of the opposite sex. Looseness Of
speech is an index Of looseness of thought
and carelcSsnesS in conduct easily follows,
repudiate the charge that working girls.
as arule. lead imrl lal lives. They are too
shrewd even ii weak in principle. not TO
see that good health and an unsullied repu-
tation are their capital and must not be
sqtlanGeiel il ti-ey would succeed in tlieil
profession or calling. OF course there are
1.l,r e alr among society Girls and i'm eyeIy
Walk of .ite
ct tie fact remains tElat tie young
working girl. by virtue OF her position, is
cNpot,rd to more perils in this direction
tlan Ter sister in the seclrsi,,n OF home.
Her constant association With nItn is liza
bic to rub off the grace ana refinement
which are the peculiar charm ri girlho,6.
Against these perils, however, abund-
-
inc Girls Clubs of which Grace Dodge of
New York is the recognized leader are
more instrumental than any other agency
in keeping before these youthful wage
earners high ideal OF womanhooa The
conlradeship of young ladies like Miss
Dodge, blessed with fortune, social posi-
ton and Christian character, with the
struggling bread winners of their own sex
is a powerful factor in the solution Of So
cial evils Besides this help from with
out the working giEl needs to be fortified
within by the power of an indwelling ruri-
ty. Let her beware of low or cynical
views Of marriage In her own experience
she may never realize ''the best that a
woman comes to KNOW but she can keep
her heart warm toward childhood and
household joys. When She becomes cold
OF Indifferent to these influences heB ma
tlire loses its sweetness.
Another class exposed to peril On ac-
count of the larger personal freedom
which girls Of today enjoy is the college
graduate who is above the need of self
support. She is in danger of yielding to
a subtle and refined form of selijshncss.