The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-07-18
WOMAN AND HER HOME.
WHAT WOMEN MUST DO TO CEASE
BEING THE WEAKER VESSEL.
The Difference in Homes-NegIccted
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Measurements-
English Social DiStinctions-Nurs-
ing-Ices and Iccmaking.

1t must never be reproach against
English women that they have sys-
tematically injured their organisms by
means OF stays and high-heeled boots.
The civilized woman OF a hundred years
hence will read with amazement that AT
the outset of woman's emancipation in
this nation the feminine pioneers Of the
movement still chung to the habit which
perhaps more than any other stood i'm the
way OF their advance. \ race of men
begirt with steel and whalebone would
be scorned Of all civilized countries. Is
there. then. imperious physical neces-
sity that women cannot escape? Are
they structurally deficient that they
must take to themselves false ribs Of
metal and bone? Is the uniformed waist
the type Of civilization? 1t may be pro-
tested that The woman who laces her
waist Injuries no one save herself.
This is an obvious fallacy. II is the
duty, the chief responsibility, Of every
individual to maintain the highest posi-
bic standard OF health. The i'll health or
debility Of one affects others. Invalid
ism. malaise, waste of muscle through
inaction-these are the banes of the ma
jority of women. and there is hardly a
family IN England that does not suffer
through every individual member
because of the weakness and
recurrent indispositions of its wom-
en-. l ask again, Is it an arbitrary
and inequitable law of nature that
the proportion of feeble and ailing human
beings shall be much larger in one sex
than in the other?
Another highly important consider
alton is that of women's diet Many
women eat five unsubtantial meals in
stead of taking three adequate meals
day. There is no economy, but, on the
contrary, waste in this way of recuperat-
ing the losses of the system. The human
stomach is not like that Of the fowl, and
it is impera tive that the organs of di-
gestion shall have due share of rest.
In this. as in all other matters OF health,
there should be no hard and fast rules.
Life on rational plan is not one of
penance and asceticism, but of fun en-
jOyment in the performance Of function
and the qualification of sense. In order
TO derive the satisfaction of the palate,
which is essential to sound digestion,
there must be healthy hunger. Too
many women eat without normal appe-
tite and are compelled to tempt hunger
by eating dainty but innutritiOus and in
digestible dishes
A common female trouble Is a feeble
circulation of the blood. Women, and es-
pecially those or inert physical habits.
appear to suffer unduly from the rigOrs
of our climate. The chief reason Of this
susceptibility to cold is the lack of proper
exercise during the winter months when,
for the greater number of women, all
outdoor recreation is suspended. When
the thermometer registers several de-
grees of frost. you may often see men
oil,
while within the houses women are shud-
dering with wraps about their shoulders
and their chairs drawn close to the blaze
of an immense fire. This dormoUse
Information Is not conductive to vigOr.
Why does the winter pull down" so
many women? Because at the very sea-
son when the maximum Of bodily exer-
ton is necessary to maintain warmth
they sedulOusly abstain from outdoor ex-
ercises and live in the fetid air of unven-
tilated rooms woman who wishes TO
live wholesomely will not wait for fine
day upon which TO saunter upon the
warm side of the street. She will go
out every day, regardless of wind, rain
and slush.
Concisely, my theses are these: %
Women are pnYsiologically capable of at
tanning the same standard of health and
ordinary power of resistance as men. 90
To meet the present demands upon their
strength in the struggle for existence
women must aim at the cultivation OF all
their powers. (0 Without this prepara-
ton the women of the future will not
secure true social equality The pres
ent superiority of staying power in men
gives them the advantage in the greater
number of professions and trades. (D
The reputed arrested development" of
women is the outcome of custom and not
a law Of nature. Thus men and women
start with an equality of chances, but
AZ for r,x-
a difference Of envirOnment.-Geoff
Mortimer in Humatarian