The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-13
HoMAN's RIGHT TO BE HoME1Y
MINE. Arvcde Barine Risks the Following AZ
Vice 60 the strenE-N1Inued.

Mime. hrvede Barine Risks the Foliowipg Ad-
vice 20 the strenE-Sainded
AN American new woman boldly claims
the right Of her sex to LONELINESS" says Nine.
Barine in the Figaro. AT a meeting in New
Yorl; the other day she said In substance: Has
a woman the right TO be homelyi Men will
not admit 1t. According to them. beauty Ia our
first duty. And what a heap Of stupid things
they have said upon this subject, and what q lot
Of absurdities they have also made us say. But
1 believe firmly in woman's right to be homelv.'
1T is hardly necessary TO say that sho.does not
moan the di~sigurements which nature inflicts
upon many. The lady only referD to acquired
LONELINESS, such as u~nbecominG costumes,
carelesspess, contempt of vanity. and Of all the
perversitios in the art Of pleasing.
Since the world began women have tried to
please men. They are obliged to do so. be-
cause upon that their entire life depends. Rous-
seau gives the reason for this in q page in
'L'Emile,' against which an English woman.
the celebrated Mary wollenstonecraft, the first
new woman, vigorously protested. The men.
the men, always the men, she cried. and her
followers Of the present day repeat the same
thing. Nothing can bring out moro clearly the
dependence Of one sex upon another than this
constant preoccupation to please tho master,
the bread winner. Only the privileged ones ask
him for happiness. The greater number arc
contented. withthe necessities of life for them
The right to homeliness would be the com;
plete enfranchisemen Of woman. 1t would
P pSs an .s end ,s to 4 shs fc WI,b stat stsse' I Placing ! c TG%Sn
rules, but q real equality one hundred times
office. Tho day when woman viii be able frank.
ly to say to man. 'Yon do not admire me. but I
don't =, care are v she will share with him the en-
II know very we'll that. the J<ministes aspire
to this conquest as tho logical completion Of
man the means Of an Independent existence, and
to give her a wider field OF activity:
root Of their victory. ImIy add that the thing
has no need Of being pretty. It is more con:
creature, like the toiler in q nest of ants. 1t
would be hazardous to say that women would
Kovalevska. the great mathematician. died Of
regret. She had the misfortune to fall in love
with a man who saw nothing in her.bn.a neutral
1ndent and died. after having requested a friend
lesson to tho young women who might DO
tempted to initiate her example and rebel
as ahes u the admit iaT q ,ha nas she was an execution. Let
us suppose that nature was wrong In fashion.
ing woman to be.a wife and a mother, and that
lawyer or the captain Of a ship. Then the
right to hcmeliness, I am afraid, would be an
ideal. or. in other words, an illusion. Let us
not speak Of the equality of sex. Let us rather
admit 1t; But the right to homelines. once ad.
grand SCALE would 'ibSrii bring about the end Of lie.
Ultimate love. The Now York lady did not
look upon this side of the question. which, new.
ertheless. has it's Importance. 1t would be i'm
possible to compel every woman to be a new
woman. There must always remain a consid-
cradle number who are bound 20 stick to tho
theory Of Rousseau, to the law of nature. In
fact, they will be all the more numerous be-
cause the opposition OF the other class must
necessarily Be weaker. 1 leave to be i'm
agined what would be their advantage over the
enfranchised but uniformed virgins who might
drill companies under the blazing sun Of Louis.
lana, Considering the little Of virtue that Is
found among men. | an afraid that they
would all seek the society Of the unfranchised.
There are moments in life when the most
spiritualistic lean toward materialism. In
these delicate and dangerous moments the
right to homeliness would necessarily lead to
t min6 9adGk waplS Do EI n mons u w tbini IF i me S befnege
starting out upon the dangerous road proposed"