Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-09-27


the future; to regard what has been
as the prelude to that which has to be.
When the sculptor, painter or poet
desires to present us with the loveliest
object OF contemplation, he gives his
ideal of fair woman. He presents
her In all her naked glory. How she
breathes from the marble, glows on
the canvas, and shines In the page!
Her pose, her contour, her symmetry,
her bowitching curves, her divine
beauty OF body and soul, fill us with
admiration and delight. For the true
lrtist discovers hidden charms and
gives ny eyes wherewlth to see. He
shows ua woman, not rs she Ia, but MS
she will be. For he Is nothing IT he
be not prophetic. He eliminates all
that Is vulgar and debaslng, and unites
the PROJECTIONS of many into one, And
whether we call her Venus or virgin
we forget the sorrows OF the one and
the frailtles Of the other MS we gaze
upon thci" lovclInrss
How VIC sigh for the lost treasures
of art for those earlier conceptions
which foreshndowcd so much. How
we eXccrate the bnrbarous hands that
neglected, mutlntcd and destroyed the
priceless object lessons Of humanity!
Statues, paintings and poems have per
ished Even Campaspe has not sur
vlved. Others, however, have supplied
their place, and although there Is much
that Is meretrlclous, there ls also
much that IL genuine. Shapcspcarc
alone has given us whole gallery of
lovely and l0vcablc women all crca.
tons OF his own brain. No such beings
hal ever existed until he formed them.
30 sweet, so sympathetic, and laughter
loving, 80 nlmblc and graceful In body
and In mind Intellectual gymnass,
brlght-cycd and rosy-lippcd were they,
but. above all, intensely womanly,
and In nothing like the coarse
mouthcd, beef-catIng damscls and ma
irons who crowded on dry days into
Black frars theatcr. Yet on the rrtina
OF his mental eye those humnnlyper-
feet maidens are distinctly pictured,
and his description Of them has been
for us a standard Of true womnnllness
by which our wives and daughters
have been raised UNNECESSARILY higher
When we turn from these ideals to
the realities that surround MS. from
what woman ought to be to what she
is. we are profoundly shocked. We
then realize to some degree how Cnor-
nous are the efforts required to raise
her to her true position. We inquire
why her elevation Is so slow, what are
the obstacles that hinder her develop
ment, and why she continues to be
the inferior and slave rather than the
equal of man, thus involving society
In calamity upon calamity? Fhr his
tory of woman Is the history Of the
continued and universal oppression of
one sex by the other. The cmnncIpa
tlon of woman is her restoration to
equal rights and privileges with man.
For there must have been Il time,
however remote, when the sexes were
equal, and when the male performed
many OF the functions which now de
volvc upon the female. But during
hcr frequent periods of CESSATION she
may have become physically untitled
to cope with the male, and this In n
time when sexual intercourse was
promiscuous, must have materially
assisted IN reducing her to slavery.
Thus, ms soon as the property was
recognized woman became the booty
and chattels of men. and Il rude form
Of marriage was instituted. AS in the
sony OF Deborah and Rarak. "llave
they not sped? Have they not divided
the spoil, to every man Il damscl or
two"
Next, the thcologans stepped forth
and gave religious sanction TO public
custom. Thus we read In Genesis.
"And the Lord God said: II Is not
good that tho man should be alone,
| will make him n hclpmcct for him"
This nrrurds with the Mohammcdun
idea that woman exists solely for, the
comfort and qualification Of man on
earth ms the houris do in heaven Aft
or the Fall we read: "lnto the WON.
an lie said | will greatly multiply
thy sorrow and thy conception. In
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children,
and thy desire shall be to thy hus.
band and he shall rule over thee"
Christianity, through st, paul's teach.
Ing. also gave It's sanction to the en-
listing ideas, Speaking OF public wor-
ship, he says: For n man Indeed
ought not to cover his head, for as
much ms he Is the Image and glory
OF God; but the woman Is the glory of
the man. For the man Is not of the
woman, but the woman Of the man,
neither was the man created for the
woman hut the woman for the man"
Who can calculate the injury done
to woman by this authoritative asser-
ton of the inferiority, and that, too,
among people like the gay inhah-
tans OF Coriuth, where she enjoyed
the highest freedom then known
This unhappy position of hers was uni
versal. In some parts II still exists rs
at first, in others II has been more o.
less modified; but nowhere. not even
n,it1 all .At,r hnu Stpl piNiliyo