The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1900-04-28
is 0ALLANTRY AN INSULT TO
WOMEN?
By Henry T Finck, author Of "Prinitve Love
and Love Stories" etc.

| Gallantry. in the time-hOnOred
| sense of courage and in the bat
| tlefeld.is a word which the news
paper dispatches have once more
made prominent since the new
outburst of the war spirit in Ame-
rican and England. That this mi
, litary gallantry is an insult to
woman no one has ever maintain
ed. It is, in fact, the virtue which
women in general still admire most
of all things in a man, doubtless
+ because Of an instinct general du-
ring the thousands of years when
their safety and comfort depended
on this masculine trait. But there
is another kind Of gallantry, a
product of peace, Christianity and
other civiiizing influences, which
was unknown to our remote an
cestors and to other bargarians,
as we'll as to the ancient civilized
nations-the Greeks for instance,
: who were, in the words of the
scholarly Becker, "utter strangers
to that considerate, self-sacrific-
ing courtesy and those minute at
. tentions to women which we COM
monty call gaIlantry.' This eX-
clusiyely modern kind Of gailantry
has, strange to say, reused the ire
of a certain class Of women, some
of whom have gone SO far as to
call it an insult to their sex.
Devotion to a logical cOnsis-
tcncy is not unusually regarded as
one of the cardinal virtues Of
woman, in this case the argu-
ment is alogiaI as simple. These
women desire to be regarded a.
the equals of man. physical and
mental; to share with him all pro-
fessional, commercial and poIiti-
cal tasks; to do away with all di-
vision of labor based on division
of sex; in a word, to cease being
women except in so far as they
have to be wives and mothers to
prevent the race from dying out.
Having thus got rid of all posi-
bic distinctions of sex, they saw
that, to be consistent, must also
disapprove the motto: Place aux
danes.
1t is not likely that these women
would have the courage to be quite
so consistent had they realiz-
ed the full import of gallantry.
1t probably seemed to them a
mere matter of etiquette-helping
the ladies first at table, giving
them the inside of the sidewalk,
the window-seat in a car, and so
on. But gallantry means infinite
/ " more than that. TO under
stand just what it does mean, we
have to glance at the condition of
women among peoples and in
countries where it does not exist.
| Australian women are often oblig-
ed 30 sit mp all night and keep up
fires to ward off mosquitoes that
their lords and masters may be
able to sleep. The woman is an
absolute slave" writes the Rev.
! G. Taplin. ''She is treated with
the greatest cruelty and indignity,
has to do all the laborious work,
and to carry all the burdens q.
|. In times of scarcity of food,
she is last to be fed and the last to
be considered in any way. That
many of them die in consequence
cannot be a matter of wonder. ..
|. The men think nothing
thrashing their wives, knocking
them on the head, and intiicting
frightful gashes; but they never
beat the boys" "These poor
creatures, says Wilkinson, 'are
only treated with about the same
consideration as the dogs that ac-
company them; they are obliged
to give any food that may be de-
sired to the men and, sit and see
them eat it considering themselves
amply rewarded by having a piece
of gizzle, or any other leavings
pitched to them" While the men
| are buried with ceremony, the
cornsos of the women care often
tbrp,,,o - tho hoo. for food ;,
Tho sonon lock 0f oallanr,y on
ISIS omnno tbc native rares Of
Africa anI America, lbe MANY Of
+ll,( sra :, 1tbar rp,nects far sn-
,,o,.;n,. g, thn 5-,-|,tI;ans 9'hn
tTotta9t1t ,D1,4aI, ,,s~u fo hao the
tna ,,...i,oa1,y }roff9+ fo he aI-
;nwsd - raf,-,in Wit him because
tIa;,, AVN w.. t,eo+rI tLrm
..zynr.a +h.n +JIa, t,aafeI h,1tns >
T<oItan nv,re..s. 80 INDIGNATION
- th.. n.(..,',,,. - .IIn.,;na 7n~s r
they chnnsa - rn".raj f1a;,. own
,~~5ho.,. :, l,.4o. e 100. +La;,.