The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-04-24
WOMEN OF THE FAR EAST
THEIR SEX IS THEIR HANDICAP IN
The CELESTIAL EMPIRE.
Disappointments at Birth. slaves in Mar
riage, But Rulers After They Become
Mothers One Rarely Sees a Face
That Betrays Unhappiness.

Mothers One Rarely Sees Face
That Betrays Unhappiness.
Woman IN China enjoys the distinc-
ton Of having escaped the admiration
Of foreigners. Her praises are IN
sung in the verses Of other lands. she
is not enshrined on the canvas OF those
whose ideals Of outward being the
world has adopted: she has flashed no
wit upon the page Of romance OF daz-
zled It with her beauty. Everybody
has agreed in letting her alone from
the ankles up, as though her only pos
sible claim to consideration lay in her
cramped and tortured feet which
everybody pities, and about which
nobody ever does anything except to
pass resolutions.
Even at home she is under initial
disadvantage She starts life handi-
capped by her sex No family ever
wants a girl baby When the women
60 10 the temples they always pray
for boys and buy boy images in the
hope that the gods win remember and
favor them. If a girl results. she is
tolerated. rather than enjoyed. While
hardly ont Of her babyhood her feet
must be swathed, II she belongs to
proper family. AS she grows her
liberty Is restrained. She known moth
ing OF life outside the walls Of her
home. except such glimpses as she
may catch from a window. or from
covered chair in which she may oc-
caslonany be carried to visit families
in which there are other unfortunates
like herself.
Thus she remains a prisoner until
ready for delivery TO a husband she
has never seen, henceforth becoming
the slave Of that husband and his par
ents. A brood Of her own springs up
about her quickly enough and by the
time that process ends she is a grand
mother. Life becomes easier for her
as the children mature. for the wives
Of her sons must be her handmaids,
and the children are bound to provide
for her comfort as the most sacred Of
their obligations. and 10 respect her
authority as long as she lives.
Modern credulity IS taxed to recon
ellie life so eircumscrihed with con-
ception Of happiness as free agents
understand it, The difficulty lies
the appreciation Of environment. A
Chinese woman knows no life but
this Her aspirations are restricted
to Il by traditions ana customs that
seem to her as immovahlc and as inn
pentrable as the walls that hedge in
and defend her city There is no one
to suggest other thoughts 10 her. The
minds against which her mind brushes
have limitations as narrow as her
own. She usually makes the best Of
her lot cheerfully and turns out fond
wife and devoted mother. OF her
wifely duty she Is rarely forgetful A
womanly instinct TO please prompts
her TO make herself attractive TO her
husband.
Heartbreakings may not always be
violent when the man strays abroad
and returns with other women for his
household. but they are often pathetic
Yet chstom permits and the vile must
bow. whatever her feelings Her main
comfort is that additional women can
not be wives. she is alone IN that re-
lation Secure in her place she has
an innate sense of its superiority and
Of the dignity that BELTS it. Hence #
happens that wives are tolerant Of the
others and often provide for them
when husbands die, and rear The chill
dren they have borne
This sketch Of life. as found among
those OF good estate. in character as
wen as means. IS analogous 70 sum
mary applying in Western homes
where conscience joins with custom in
regulating social and domestic con-
duet Cireumsoribed though the life
Of Chinese woman may be. and diff
fering so sharply IN detail from ac-
cepted standards elsewhere as to make
It seem almost intolerable It has
compensatiOns of some weight The
privation, drudgery. and shbordina-
tons to which a Chinese woman IS
subject col .sfhen she has youth and
strength and buoyant vlgor AS these
depart and she needs relief. social and
family customs provides IT, and with
advancing years her cares tighten. her
comforts increase. and her afternoon
is pillowed for her.
In spite Of limitations Chinese wom-
an is quite human. BY foregoing the
pleasures OF courtship and selection.
she does not, as a matter Of course.
shut her heart 10 romance. When at
her marriage the gates Of the world
open a little wider 70 her than before.
she puts her sharp little eyes to the
uses for which they were intended. If
they are looking Tor q Prince Charm
ing and they fail and linger on the
husband TO whom she Is introduced.
there is OCCASION for thanksgiving.
1t happens also that mild and yielding
disposition IN a newly welded pair Is
not invariably more pronounced in
the woman. when one OF that sex
Is assertive. the imagination is taxed
to believe that she is the subject party.
Man is. Of course. supreme. but he not
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