The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-09-11
A WOhANTALkS OF WOAE /.
Eliza Archard Conner Says Tic
Emotions Control Them.
A Clever Speech Delivered a, II
Medico-Le gal Congress in New
York. She Tells Women TO
Curb Their Emotional
Tendencies.

Eress at the United States court rooms.
n the postotfice building. New York,
was the speech delivered by clever
clay woman, Mrs Eliza Archard Con
ner. The audience had been treated to
learned papers on mental maladies, the
liabilities Of railroads for nccidents and
kindred topics. The atmosphere was
distinctly scientific when Mrs. Conner
was called upon to speak.
Mrs. Conner address was practically
a plea TO both learned professions 10 use
all their influence to overcome the hys
terioal and morbid emotionnlism of
women. She said;
what have to say today is wholly
from the standpoint of plain, inlet
tered outsider. have no experimental
knowledge of whether man has larger
Slabella than woman and woman
larger thyroid gland and more prognn-
thous jaw than man. Such facts. to my
mind, come under the head of highly
upimportant if true. ! don't know and
] don't care whether man manifcsts
tendency to metamorphic katabolism
and woman tendency to mc,alnorphio
anabolism. only know there is mani
feet plenty of diabolsm III both.
In the course of my humble, wholly
unscientific observations it has occurred
60 me that man Is troubles arise chiefly
from overindulgence in his appetitos,
woInan's troubles chiefly FROM overin-
diligence in her emotions, and one is as
bad as the other Man, take it. can
look out for himself it is woman am
interested III.
Whatever woman Is or is not. she in
exactly what the prejudices of 900, 900
years have made her no more and no
less. With no outlet for her brains i'll
the ages past how was it 80 lie expect
ed she was to have any brains? 1t was
to DO looked for rather that she should
be 500 years behind man intcllectunlly.
Many women arc behind man intellec-
tually. / admit it, you see. But now let
rs bring her up even, for tho blessing
and identifying of the race
with the conditions Of / 200 con
turtles of merely animal existence upon
her, what wonder that woman has come
60 regard herself and to be regarded by
man chiefly as--tbc reproducer of fools.
yield TO mono i'll hearty admiration of
the attachments of tho medical prufos-
sion, but physicians have done more
than their share Of perpetuating this
back number notion Of woman's end
and aim. In the minds of many of
them woman's mission is that Of swell
ing doctors fees. protest with all my
soul against this deadly old superstition
that woman s mission is motherhood and
that only. All women are not fit TO he
mothers any more than ell men are fit
to be fathers
Viewed in the light OF law and
medicine woman is bundle of emo
tons Her mistakes and faults are
largely traceable to this gushy, terrible
emotional temperament. One Of her
great needs today is TO Learn how TO con
troll 1t. To this end | invoke the mid OF
science, law and medicine Women trust
rheir physicians more than they do their
own husbands, much more, indeed, than
they dc some husbands Physicians
therefore can do more than most people
to aid in the evolution of that noble.
lovely womanhood the world is calling
for today-yea, languishing and dying
for.
Medical men know that u large pro-
portion of women physical ailments
are merely the reflex action of diseased
emotions. Lawyers arc aware of that
strange, morbid tendency of our sex
which manifests itself in the petting of
murderers and criminals. What do they
do it for! Because of their overgrowu,
abnormal emotional temperament, that
demands to be constantly fed by morbid
excitement. In Brooklyn little while
ago woman had young man arrested
for stealing So, 800 worth of jewels from
her. He wept in court and did it grace
fully, wbereupon the gushy, sentimental
woman threw her arms around his neck
and exclaimed: There, there, dear,
cheer up! Don't cry. You'll come out
all right, am sure
But there is more melancholy and
dangerous phase Of this overdeyeloped
emotional nature, In those awful crises
when keeping our heads saves our lives
and losing our heads loses our lives,
TSoman's lack Of self control shows up
most tragically. Two weeks ago at
Ocean City, Md, seven persons, one
man and six women, We're drowned in
SIX feet Of water simply because the
women became needlessly frightened
and enc after another threw up their
hands and went into Mysteries
Insane hospitals are crowded with
women who are crazy over love or re-
IL