The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-29
"NERE MAN.
Sarah Grand Gives Her Opinion of
the Sex.

| 1 decline to be accused OF calling nan
| any names. do not decline out of eoaSid-
Grafton for mere man altogether, but in
self-defence. To use such an expression
! deprives me Of any dignity which l might
myself derive from the dignity OF my sub
| ject.
My own private opinion, which l confde
TO you, knowing 1t will go no further. is
that h. assumes that tone. as a rule to
overawe sovereign woman. Mere man is
paradoxical creature. 1t is not always
possible to distinguish between his soter,
earnest and his leg pulling exercises. enc
has to be on ones guard, ard woe BE- TO he
woman who in these days displays that ab-
sence of the sense of hunor which is such
prominent Characteristic of our conf "a
pers.
Sovereign woman is the UiJlander OF civ
ilization-and man Is her Boer. 1t seems
to me that woman is very much In the po-
sition OF Queen Esther; she has her crown
and her kingdom, and her royal robes, but
she is liable to have her head snapped off
at any moment. On the other hand there
are hundreds OF men who have their lie .ds
snapped of every day. "liere man" Las
his faults. no doubt, but woman can also
be a rasping sort OF creature, especially If
cites as she grows older.
Personally, and speaking as woman
whose guiding principle through life has
been to never do anything for herself that
she can get nice man to do for her,
principle which l have found entirely sue
cessful, and which l strongly recommend
to every other woman; personally, l have
always found man an excellent comrade.
He has stood by me Loyalty and held
I,f.-
strength when mine was falling and
helped me calamity over many an awk-
ward bit OF the way, and that, too at times
when sovereign woman whom had so re-
spected and admired and championed, had
nothing for me but bonnetpins.
In the great republic of letters to which
l have the honor to belong-in the distin-
guished position Of the letter ''Z''-my ex-
perience Is that woman suffers no indlg-
nifty at the hands OF man on account OF her
sex. That is the sort of experience which
creates a prejudice. II gives one a sort
OF an idea that there are men in the world
who would stand by woman on occasion;
and l must confess that l began life with
a very strong prejudice Of that kind.
For a woman to have a good father is
to have been born an heiress. II you had
asked me as child who ran to help me
when l fell, l should have answered My
udUIy. Nne1 a begins lie WIN
a prejudice of this kind she never gets
over it. The prejudice of man for his
mother is feeble in comparison with the
prejudice Of a woman for her father when
she has had a man for her father.
1t has been said that the best way to
manage men is to feed the brute, but
woman never made that discovery for
herself believe it was a man in his
mere man" mood who first conhded the
some body else's young wife. Feed and
fiatter him. Why not? Is there Anything
more delightful in this world than to be
f1atteTed and fed? Let US do as We would
be done by.
When it comes to facing life day after
cay, as so many men have to face 1.-THE
working men, in all classes OF society,
upon whom the home depends, men whose
days are only too often weary effort, and
whose nights are an ache OF anxiety, lest
the strength should give out, whish means
bread-when one thinks of the lives which
these men live. and the way in which they
live them. the brave, accomplishing way
in which they fight TO the death for those
dear TO them-when one considers mere
man from this point OF view one IS moved
to enthusiasm, and one is fain 10 confess
that sovereign woman on a pedestal is a
poor sort of creature compared with this
kind Of mere man. in that so often she
not only falls to help and cheer him in his
heroic efforts, but to appreciate that he Is
making any effort at all.
1 positively refuse to subscribe to the as
sertion How poor thing is mani" 1t
takes more genius to be a man than man
hood to be a genius. AS to the differences
between men and women, l believe that
when finally their accounts have been
properly balanced it will be found that 1t
has been case Of six of one and half
dozen OF the other, both in the matter o,
sovereignty and OF mereness.