The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1900-04-28

7 iiiltl Z II tlAN Ait>lAAAN ~ ~ N'NA
! tic gallantrv toward women.
also pointed out in that book the
erroneousncss Of the oft cited
maxim that the best measure OF
nations civilization is its treat
ment of women. InaSmuch as the
civilized Greeks were, in then
treatment of women. barbarlans,
and the civilized Hindoos incar-
nate fiends, it is more correct to
say that gallant treatment of wo-
men is the last and highest pro-
duct of civilization.
1t represents the victory of re-
refined teminity over coarse mas
cuIinity. \ modern gentleman
is courteous to woman because he
recognizes and admires their su-
periority to men in social and
moral refinement. Our rude an
cestors had no esteem of any but
the masculine virtues, including
gallantry in the old sense Of the
word. For modern gallantry-
courtesy toward women-the way
was paved by the tendency of true
Christianity to give due honor to
those virtues which are the
special attributes Of feminity
and maternity - gentleness, pa
tience, humility, sympathy, com
passion. The worship of the
mother Of Christ taught men to
respect and adore other women,
too, while medieval chivalry with
all its absurdities and inconsistent
cies, nevertheless did good service
by accustoming coarse men to
have regard for at least some
women. 1t required the co-ope-
ration of all the factors of civili-
zation during several more CEN
turies to give woman her present
honored position, and this i'm
provement has reached its climax
in America. No European has
ever summed up his impressions
of America more aptly than Max
y Rell did when be wrote that if
he were to be born again he would
choose to be an American woman.
Yet it is American women who
have raised the cry that gallantry
to which they owe so much-is
a sham or an insult.
Not all the women who are ca
ger to abolish the distinctions of
sex ale. however, sufficiently logi-
cal to include the advantages they
derive from gallantry among the
things to be given up. Many,
perhaps, most of them, assume
lnnocently that after they have
gobbled up all that men have
hitherto claimed as their own, and
by lowering prices with their COM
petition, have doubled the diff
Guilty of supporting family. the
men will continue to bestoW upon
them their conslderate, self sacri-
ficing courtesy simply because they
are women. They do not realize
that they are dancing on a volca-
no. The men will no doubt remain
gallantly considerate Of women
tor some time to come, no matter
what they may do; but III this
very circumstance lies a grave
danger-the danger that gaIlantry
may induce the men to grant them
"privileges'' which in the long
run would tend to destroy that
very galIantry.
1t Is not likely, indeed, that
men will ever revert to the habits
Of Australians, Africans and In
dlans in the treatment of woman ;
but it is evident that if woman
persist in having exactly the same
employments and thoughts as the
men, they will become like the
men, and thus destroy those pc
culiarly feminine qualities winch
make men bestow on them their
gallant admiration. In my Opt
Mon they would thus lose infini-
tely more than they will ever gain
by succeeding with their present
aspirations. An aggressive, mill
tant, masculine woman is as Of
fenoIye, and an abnormal a person
as an e1feminate man, and |
believe that the time is coming
when viii both be regarded with
the same encouragement. | have
often wondered why there should
b. SO many more masculine WU-
men than effeminate men. Per
haps the disproportion is only ap-
parent, being due to the fact than
e1Iolulnate men are less apt to pa
rade their pecuIiaritio5 in the
public prints and in the clothes
they wear. They are also more
apt to meet with ridicuie, whereas
their female c0unterpart3 are pro
tecCed by that gailantry which
they consider So insulting.
One thing is certain. Women
cannot share mans empIoyments
and enjoy his gallant attentions
at the same time.
There is less galiantry IN the
shops than in the parIor, less still
IN the factory, and none at all in
the fields where women do the
mines and the fields where women
do the same work as the men. |
have often thought that an inter
estlng and decisive experiment
might be made to test the real
feelings of women III this matter.
Let it be enacted by the clubs Of
women who want to be just like
men that every one of them shall
wear small ornamental badge,
to Indicate that, in return for the
privilege now granted them of IN
yading practically all of man ;