The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-08-01
FOR THE FAIR SEX.
TNTEREsTIN GOSSIP FOR MAID AND
MATRON.
What Women Pay for Publicity
Training an Aztec Gir1-COurtesy
I'm the Home CircIe-CustOms of
Polish WOmen-HousehOld Hints.

Woman pays q higher price than
man for publicity in any form. Men
can afford to be more Indifferent to
the worlds tongue, and, besides, no
n dreams of tormenting them with
the impertinent questioning to which
a woman in similar circumstances is
subjected" One of the most formid-
able foes a public has to COM
bat, and one against which her shield
of natural reserve is often an ineffect-
ual weapon, is the ill-bred, though pos
sibly well meant. curiosity of the
world at large into her private life.
People call it taking an interest" To
take an interest in public women and
their characteristics is natural enough,
but to wish to pry into the inner re-
cesses of their private lives, to dig
into their past, to ruthlessly draw
aside the curtain they would wish
kept closed, is surely a cruel act. and
is far too common in a world which
teens with kindness.
Directly a new feminine name m
to the fore in any public b~ranch-say
in literature-the questions at once
arise: Who is she? What is she? Can
you tell me anything about her? The
n who can tell anything about her
is listened to eagerly-so eagerly that
the temptation to draw on the imagin-
alton and lend a little local color is IT.
resistable. whispering tongues a
poison truth" and in this good
names and regulations are gossiped
n W., dow yJhu chn,,II n Won,
an, because she has, by her own a.
dustry and talent, made a name for
herself, be worried with useless and
idle questions by people who only
meet her for q few hours in society.
and will probably never meet her
again? People do not mean to be I'M
kind, but they let their curiosity get
the better of them. If they cannot
CLEAN the information they want in
byways they go to the fO~untainhead
itself, and probe in a roundabout way
until the public is plagued to
death by their questions. She may
not choose to tell much, and probably
makes up her mind beforehand to tell
nothing at all; but to refuse to reply
to certain questions, and leaves the
impression that there is something in
the background. Therefore, the hap
less victim ESPECIALLY if there is Ome
thing in the background writhes be-
meath the torture, and, if she is a
nervous, sensitive woman, suffers I'M
told agonies. A literary woman gives
the world, in her books, as much of
herself as she cares to give. She
throws down no challenge, invites no
comment but literary criticism, and
| why she should be vivisected to sat
isfy the curiosity of the world at large
is an open question. Why should the
peculiarities of public women, their
love affairs, their places of abode. their
| dress, their domestic arrangements, in
short, every detail of their private
affairs, be trumpeted forth to the
world? Kingsley says: "The past's
our own-nO fiend can take that from
u.s." Our present and u future are
ours. too, and ours alone. One woman,
| holding public position, lately thought
| right to change her religion. This act,
which one would have thought a pure
ly personal affair, evoked so much crit
icism, and involved her in so many
disagreeable interviews, that, although
not actually led to the stake, she has
practically suffered a martyrdom.
1t has been often said that all wom-
en- love notoriety. This is not so. Too
often is it thrust upon them by the
necessity to earn, and when such is
the ease surely it is not an unreasona-
BILE request when the public woman
asks to be allowed to cherish her one
ewe-lamb-the sacredness of her pri.
vate life.-Middleton in London Queen