The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-08-18
WOMAN AS MANS IDEAL
oxLr nUxAx, THoUGn sHRISED As
IN IDOL IN MANI HEARTS.
No Longer . Gift 20 BE shewered Upon
Mankind. but q Prize to no Sought
and wooed Before Won.


always in the ideal which IS put upon
pedestal by the sculptor who moids ~
fancy into reality, ehdO"ihs ~ WIN NV
being, and Influence.
me IDEAL woman is various-is precious
She may be admired as WORK oI ar ~
nature once out of the ilNes OF men, eA
lstence Is robbed OF one OF the sweetes
Incentives 10 accomplishment. Inc IDEA
is readily materialized into an ldol, o
,yhIcb possession Is not an idoiatry, since
Imagination puts the ideal woman ml'
every life, with an ACKNOWLEDGE uept W
IRA n,de 10 Grandam Eve for giving hei
Thirteen is belied in the attribution OF
fl-mck, for woman is the best gft tC
man, and the ages that have rolled dowI
10 present and are rolling toward
futiIre' strengthen the obligation Ia
Crandsire Adams appointed heipmate
That thirteenth rib which Adam parted
win was more important than the re-
naming twenty-three. AZ Adam was sur sur
pfised az finding Eve, Eve probably was
Surpriscd at beng discovered. II WAS q
taking OF each other for better or worse
without comparisons, the right OF PosSo9
sion absolute. the properly free l. ,'D.,,,ort
cnmbrance and without Improvement
And Grandam Eve, with the happy Cot-
.,ciousness OF being the only woman III
the wOrld-what independence! no Jcdl-
ousy. 40 criticism, no fear but tnat . .ne
beauty which was reflected from the
mirror OF the stream, and which she
knew not the fun value OF wheh she s"w
the reflection, should WIN over AuaLh ~
an allegiance. ,.,,.r.,
Tbe domination OF women is Gradam
Ewes legacy to the generations that iol-
sow her. -. no..
uakcdness until she had tempted Adah
and the gates were 20 be closed upon hel,
and we are told that she became hsr own
,nantua- maker, from involuntary mo1esty'
I'm. Eve of the Paradise that woman IAN
make OF the world We i've IN iOiloWS the
fashion that other granddaughter pre-
scribe. and submits unDiushlns'y, shUuIu
Al demand the display OF charms incl
dental to the decOllete gown, ana she
scouts the idea Of being discovered as the
ready made partner OF the man. She -
prize In her own estimation, rather thah
n pfft. she delights in the uncertainties
of courtship. the rounding of irritation
.periods. the sensation OF being proposed
for with the privilege OF rejecting the
pr0pOser, and the enjoyment OF DelnB
captured; a ruler of men in That she ue-
crees pursuit-even as the huntsman fol-
lows the game-and the path over which
She leads him is through all the labyrinths
VI affection.
She knows her beauty, not from reflec-
lion in the stream, but from the picture
In the cheval glass sets value on her
self and Will admit no argument for as
count upon the quotation. She may make
a reduction for account of love, but that
10 a heart is the kiss she gives.
II Is be that curiosity. as besetting
fault Of women. began in the Garden oil
Iden, let us thank that curiosity for what
IL gave u.s. Adam needed helpmate
and Adams grandsOns need helpmates
not ideals altogether but women, TO love,
and cherish, and submit To, despite the
Of Noitaire that woman was ere
ated to tame man.
The woman of the present. who will not
ledge that there is king of men
somewhere. TO whom she looks for help |
and love, and to whom, while ruling him
by affection. she VIII bow, IS grandchiid |
that Eve would be ashamed OF.
Where you will, how you WILL the story |
OF woman is the story of development. |
Primarily, she may not be the assertive |
power She Is content to follow rather |
than 10 lead till time be hitting and oppor-
tunity ripe, and then the legacy OF curl
Osity tempts her 20 beckon the man 10 |
follow her-sOmetimes for good some
tunes for ill-but he follows, nevertheless:
Satirsts delight IN calling women hard
names. Under the mask of verse they fly
their arrows, forgetful that the whole
world is woman's by birthright from
Grandam Eve, and the abstract OF title
has no flaw.
Give Ewes grandaughters their place in
the world. and they will show that wo-
mans life is real and earnest. clothed IN
garment of alternating sensibinty and
suffering. Her work is earnest and un-
tring-earnest and unceasing IN the good
in an effort for sudden or greater power
She looks upon the world before her as
a footst0ol.
Away back into the ages nearly hidden |
in the clouds Of forgotten history good |
women did good work granddaughter of |
Eve who were insensbly atOning Tor |
faults charged 10 GTandanl. And wicked |
women spread their realms OF power from |
mountain 10 sea, ruling the rulers, whose |
conquests gave them strength among men,
and made them prey To woman's mis-
chief. setting their sandaled feet upon |
pathway leading through the dust OF
ruined empres-these granddaughterS OF |
Eve tempted man with betraying kisses |
TO barter the lives Of unoffendng thou
sands for the daniance that gave wine |
from golden cups and hid the deaths head |
II shame In a mask of jewels.
But there Is no Queen of Egypt 70 drag |
the Roman cOnquerors from their thrones
music dulled the sense of honor and the
soft breath from the bosom of the Nile |
famed TO the sleep Of death and disas-
ter The granddanghters. Of Eve nov
travel up the Nile without the barge with |
larsmen chained TO the benches and with
lut the silken sail with its fringe of beat
IN gold. The maid with the English man
ners and the French accent has supplant-
"a the scantily clothed beauties who
served wine 10 Antony, and the modern
lime tourist directs his field-glass toward
he pyramids and lives I'm imagination for
A few hours In the lfcentious luxury of
he Egyptian monarchs amid the ruins OF
heir temples. now subjects for the artist
Or the camera.
The hand of Cleopatra. with its weight
" the golden sceptre beneath which the
ringing captive crepi for sentence lives
In the story OF the ancient Egypt The
playing with empires as with baubles IL
recorded In the history Of conquest and
conditions that made volup-
Iuous, intriguing women the supreme
power are impossible OF existence now.
But woman rules the world. and her
sceptre Is the fan. behind which she wells
emotion when convenient and from the |
lown-tipped border Of the fan a glance
n recognition or a look OF fond encour-
agement is as effective as the soft music
hat kept time with the splash OF the
)ars from Cleopatra's barge.
The Ideal Woman may be the fairy of |
he smoke-wreath from the bachelors
pipe He may crystalline the Irritation OF |
! season at the mountains or the breezes
rom over the sea, or when the yacht
sails swiftly over the waters where other
bachelors are sailing; she may exist after
he seasons events shall be summed up |
ind the blazing camel throws its shadow
'ver the room decorated with mementOes, |
zach with its own history.
But the actual woman has her own |
nementoes. and she. too. may draw
Dictures of faces I'm the Goals when her
season IL likewise ended
once emerged from the schoolgirl and !
'aramel period the actual woman spreads |
Ter wings like the butterfly, gently at
irst Till their strength is tested. and !
men away with the wind, evading for
tHae, nevertheless. counting capture
~ ITactsced hands. She may be the
laughter OF the present Ia be contrasted |
Sith her sister OF the past, in the good
ia days when high-heeled shoes made
lret'y ankles trim, and OF which these
I ue cherished memories, or the satin
hpFeTs, siiken stays and hose and gown
hat grandmother wore years and Years
.gp- relics which now do duty al fancy