The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1895-05-02
THE VANITY OF MEN.
Young Woman of Observation Says They
Exceed the Women in That Quality.

Its all very well for You men to 90
talking about woman's vanity" said a
young woman of observation, "but it
has been my experience to find that men
are Just as vain as women Indeed |
don't know if | should he guilty of I.
very great DETECTION from the perpen-
dicuIar of veracity if were to say that
men are more vain than women, and
that they have been raising all this hue
and cry about 'woman's besetting sim
so that they may escape from too mark
ed attention themselves. That's very
old thef's trick, you know.
Women do spend Il great deal of
time fixing themselves, | ADMIT. |
know | do, and | sometimes feel
ashamed of myself for it. But when I
find that this is the age of the deitication
of the body, under the fiimsy preach
ing of mems sana in corpOre sano, and
that men require their women folks to
be weil-grOomcd from the toeuails to
the tips Of the hair why, of course |
give in. But if all of this IS vanity
and I'm sure that a good deal of it is
veXation of spirit-then you fellows are
right in the same boat with the rest of
us-there now.
For what pray, is there in the grand
art of titivating which we do that you
don't do. You fellows are manicured
and pedicured and cuticured, and |
don't know what else. You bathe every
day, and quite right, too, and take a
Turkish bath whenever you feel like it.
You give up time either to shave your
self or to be shaved, and YOU rush away
to the barber Immediately you see a
struggling hair on your neck. You
have your mustaches curled, and Jack
tells me that he knows of one fellow
who sleeps with his done up in pads;
you fiddle over your hair and cultivate
long locks, little curls, the slick or the
poetic, according TO your temperament
or profession. You keep the run of
new neckwear and read up everything
that is said about collars and cuffs. You
raise the greatest fuss if your shirts
don't set exactly right, and talk like a
lot of female owls about the proper cut
for vest. You spend hours picking
out clothes and carry samples of the
goods around to show your friends.
You get tit of heartsickness if your
trousers are not properly creased once
a week, and the exact shape of the toes
| of your shoes is serious matter.
But, you say, all this is simply fol-
/ lowing and keeping in with the fashions
/ and rules of health. Exactly, and that
/ is what we girls do. But it's ali vanity,
/ Just so many exhibitions of vanity. And
! if YOU want to come down to a narrow.
/ er definition and say that you mean
/ pride of person and personal appear
/ ance, | shall again say that that's eX-
| actly what | mean and what it al
/ means. Its part and parcel of the same
feeling that leads men to make believe
J they're looking ut things in the store
windows when they're really stealing Z
glimpse into the mirror at the back tC
/ see how they look. Pray what do people
/ put mirrors in the hatstands which are
intended to ho,d mems things for if it wa:
( not that they knew the fellows would
want to see if they had rumpled theil
dear hair in taking off their hats? Why
you men are always looking at Your
selves and preening yourselves like ;
lot of great birds.
Just let me give YOU case in point
Last night | went to dinner with fel
low that | really had been thinking
quite decently about. | was doing my
best to be pleasant, and thought wa.
succeeding admirably, for he was ont
perpetual smile. Surely, ! thought,
must be vastly entertaining, when all a
once l found out the dreadful truth
He was holding one of the polished
plated knives in his hand so, and wa
grinning at the reflection of himself il
it all the time. Id like TO know tn
woman that could beat that as an e1
hibition of yanity.-N. Y. Sun.