Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1902-09-06
OLD MAIDS NO LONGER
Ella Wheeler Wilcox Thinks va,
Less Inclined TO Jest About
This Srbiect.

This Subject.
\ correspondent who signs kerse,,
Nor Hand makes a protest against -
thoughtless jests perpetrated at the a-
pense of single women. she says:
rs it not about time the world ce,sas
prosecuting its so-called old maidsY
The day of burning inoffensiva a.,
women as witches is, happily, past. ,I-
horrors of the Inquisition are gone. nor.
to return; but the ever-ready iibe ana
ieer at the unmarried woman of ov.r -,
years are still with us.
Not quite so barbarous, but soro
times almost as eruel are the tbrr-s
aimed at her-sometimes in pure n1aTe~S
bat oftener in malicious or thoughtIcS,
jest.
''The worst of it is that they are aimol
at a class of women who are usuaJig -
the most refined and sensitive natures"
writers. teachers, professional and bus.
ness w0men-Women whom both naigra
and education have made, mot only Ia
think, but to feel, deeply.
More than often they are women
whose very mOdcsty has prevented them
from securing good husbands, for. Will
bolder and less retiring girls were ru,f-
ing headlOng into the mad scramble far
a husband, they bided quietly at HON,
to their hand, and preferring to wait far
the ideal to come seeking them.
Thousands and thousands of y0un,
unmarried women are toiling in school
room and store that younger brothers ana
sisters may have an education. that
parents who have been unfortunate ar
improvident may have home or greater
comforts in their declining years"
| think the world is already much less
inclined to jest about ''Old maids" than
of old The spinster of long ago was an
object for the cOmmiseration of gods and
men. No avenues were open to her for
occupation. She must Give around"
with relatives, and act as her own nurse
and watcher at the bedside of her slowly
dying youth and as chief mOurner at its
funeral She must keep in the domestic
ciTcle-yet be cOnciOus that she was not
of it.
She must hear counting and marriage
and birth discussed, and know none Of
these experiences were for her; and she
must smile through it all and bear unre-
sentfully the badinage of married friends
and relatives regarding her lonely state,
The Spanish Inquisition could not have
afforded a worse torture than the old
maids of half a century ago endured
Today in New England towns, few
such women are found. But even the
Connecticut anu Vermont and New
hampshire Single NOI1en are 1nQuU
their way out into the broad, busy world
of progress, where the divine gift for
every aching heart-occupation-
them.
The bachelor woman" is a term do
not ike-because | like nothing mascu-
line about a woman-saVe the man him
self!
Yet bachelor woman is the only term
at present which has been coined to ey-
fbp HfFFnpannh hotvx.paYa tbo
of the last century and the one of this,
The ''spinster' maid"-waS a
helpless, dependent creature when she
stepped outside the family circle The
bachelor woman is as INDEPENDENT as 6hy
man in the land.
The old maid was lonely and ate her
heart i'll silence.
The bachelor woman is so busy with
her occupation she forgets her Loneliness
the greater part of the time
The old maid was obliged to tag along
with married couples if she had any
pleasure in society.
The bachelor woman goes to the the
alter, the reception or on a journey, alone
and fearless, as man does.
The spinster had no money, only as it
was doled out by relatives
The bachelor woman earns a handsome
income, and often assists her married
relatives or her young nephews and
nieces.
Men were afraid 10 pay attention to
the old maid lest they should awaken
false hopes; they enjoy talking with the
bachelor woman, whom they know to be
quite Independent of them, and who is
interesting because sne has associated
with the world and understands human
ity and is frequently far better informed
regarding the events of the times than
they are.
No. indeed. the bachelor woman is not
to be laughed at or ridiculed today.
She is a power in the world. | do
not think she has attained woman's full
mission-because | believe nature meant
man and woman to mate. Until they
do, neither can reach perfect develop
ment mentally, morally or physically.
But she has evolved out of the narrow
and pitiful sphere of the ''old maid" and
| rejoice for her.-Ella Wheeler Wilcox.