The Savannah morning news., 1903-03-08
THE WOMAN OF FIFTY.

wilson woodrow IN the March COS
mopolitan, for which the modern won-
an never signs, and that is that defin-
lite line which marked the boundary
between youth and old age. The wom-
an who to-day is celebrated for dis
tinctive charm and beauty, ripe views,
disciplined intellect, cultivated and
manifold gifts, would, two score years
ago. have been relegated to the heavy
ranks of the dowagers and grand
mothers-forced by the stern conven-
tions of prevailing opinion to confront
the bitter knowledge that, just as she
had gained a mastery of the rules, she
was expected to retire from theggame.
Consequently, when the elder novel
lists drew heroine she was beautiful
seventeen, and her antithesis and foil
was the snubbed spinster governess,
invariably described as nine andtwen-
ty, with lines of age and grief craven
deep on her face. The feminine nov
elists, never dreaming of deviating
from the accepted masculine standard,
all followed suit until Charlotte Bronte
depicted Jane Eyre, and the novelread-
ing world trembled as with volcanic
shock and awaited chaos.
In those happy days forty was re-
spectacle age, if viewed from the ma
tronly standpoint; but at fifty one pre-
pared for death. The woman who had
reached that age must smooth back
her locks, perhaps unthreaded by gray,
under snowy cap, crush her heart 8
aspirations under the Juggernaut car
of convention, adopt garments suitable
TO her age-rich, perhaps, but dark and
100 he h
mind the fact that she was an old
woman, until in utmost truth she was.
A question which might elicit con-
sidera BILE interesting discussion is: Why
are the typical modern women at TWEEN
ty and even thirty years younger in
manners dress and appearance than
were their grandmothers at the same
age? One might reply very pertinent
ly that, in the first place, they have
decided not to grow Old and, believe
me, it is largely a question of Will.
Having made this decision, they seek
the means which shall enable. them
TO retain their youthful appearance.
They understand that beauty and ill
health are not cOngenial companions;
consequently, the women of to-day live
much in the open air, loving the sun
and the breeze far more than the easy
chair and the open fire.
We can hardly realize what an out
door life and outdoor sports have done
for our women until we gaze on a col
lection of gowns worn. by their feTni-
nine nrogenitOrS. One may well be-
lieve that oft-told tale of tying the
Staylaces to the bedpOst in order to pull
the stays in sufficiently, and even thus,
those scant-skirted, STRAIGHTFORWARD
gowns look as if designed for maidens
whose slender frames had been crushed
in the embrace of the Iron Virgin be-
GOLF hnfs
back exercise, basket ball and the
wheel have changed all that
To-day the typical woman of fifty
is possessed of ripe beauty, charm and
intellect. Her face does not exhibit
the unwritten page of lovely sixteen;
and it is inscribed with the sensitive,
beautiful lines of character, thought, !
experience and sympathy, but no dis
figuring wrinkles It is generally con-
coded by wrinkle specialists that this
bane of womankind arises principally
from the indulgence of moods, of tenn
per- discomfort and worry. In nut
shell, wrinkles come from a lack of
Self-control.
To-day the woman of fifty who is not
a tolerated nonenity stands for some
thing in her particular world. Her
opinions are no longer tentative or in
the formative period. She has had
years wherein to observe events, to
study persons and conditions, and to
weigh and test the value of her be-
liefs She is careful, however, not to
let them solidify. She holds them flex-
ible, ready to be extended or contract
ed, but they are definite. They say"
is a phrase which has no particular
weight for her. Her Il say is assur-
ed and perfectly satisfactory to her
self, although never imposed on others.
The charming woman of middle life
Sc nd n
passing judgment. In fact, she has
greater horror of intolerance than the
devil of holy water. Why should the
rose cavil at the catnip? The world
is vide, and it would be extremely mo-
notonous if this earth were one vast
garden. Neither is the delightful wom-
an sensitive. That is a form of egot-
ism which may be excused in sweet
eighteen, but it is impossible at fifty.
She has learned with. patience and
humility lifes most difficult lesson
self-control She has also been cou-
rageous enough to cultivate the art
of forgetting, and she seasons all the
dishes al the banquet of existence with
her sense of humor. Without it, the
feast would be as fiat as vegetarian
dinner.
The man who said that woman was
not worth looking at after thirty, nor
worth talking to before, would have
no standing Tor sincerity IN regard 10
his first clause, although he was right,
in the main, on his second. Many young
women desire to make social history
for themselves by being considered
brilliant conversationalists, but the
woman of ripper years is able to exert
a far more subtle attraction. She un-
derstands that the true art of CONVEX
sation is the ability to draw out the
best in a man or woman. The light
of her sympathy is so clear and perfect
that all the dull facets of their wit re-
fleet it.
But the last and browning charm of
the ideal woman of fifty is repose. She
does not fuss or hustle. She has sown
for many years; now it is time for her
to begin to reap some of her harvests,
to gather up her fruits and tears"
And she is content, because, as Mr..
Howells expresses it in one of his most
charming stories, she "has glimpsed in
certain luminous moments, an infinite
passion, encompassing our whole being
like a sea, where every trouble of our
sins and sorrows must cease at last,
like a circle in the water"