The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-07-17

NOman's Birtllright.
Hy EEBLCCA HARDING DAVIS.
copyright, 1906, by Joseph p.
BoWIcs.)
(Ars. Rcbccca Harding Davis has
IalE been known as a talented writer
If fiction. Among her many works
may De mentioned - Law Unto Her
..'f.' John Address" Frances
#sIIo"uE,' and "Dr. Warrick'a
IaJGEter5." He home j. in HhIIu-
,,.Th.a. She is the mothc. Of Ricn-
agt Harding Davis, the authoT.)
surely We arc all familiar by this
fsa, with the claims to admiration
of the ne" woman; the beauty ami
mercy and keen mother wit which.
lis Americans believe. set her apart
+F"'n the women OF other nations and
make" h"r unique az was once t1e
Hgut"c-- Diana among the gods.
%ao never tires of counting over her
trrout successes, from the marvellous
rn@tumea that she wears Il her
achievements in biology, in cook cry
on i'm founding new religions. Tie
"oIucu of the last generation Walked
jl IL narrow path; in her life. rs ~
"a thInCsc song, there We're bu. titrcc
u"tc&-loTe, marriage and mother
But this queen Of the present hour
had a thousand parts to play. You
Hoy"r know where to find her. She
may be driving a fo~ur-in-hand in
Broadway or looking for the north
pole in the arctic seas or nursing
some poor bcggar in the slunls. or.
most likely of all, she may be set
Ting herself comfortably for life, as
duchess or princess in some old Eng
Iish or Italian family.
we al look on with pride, and
wonder c~omplacently what she will do
next.
The chief difference between her
and her grandmothcr-and it is a
very curious diffcrcncc-in tina the
older Woma regarded herself sim
ply rs part of the human ace. The
man was its head, its spokesman.
She thought Of herself as his child,
his Wife or his mother.
The Woman of today is not only
his equal, but his antagonist. II
talks not of humanity, but W~Omanity.
Every village has its club of women
urge each into new profess
sionS, work or studies, which have
been considered the business
of men only.
Every newspaper has q WOman's de-
paTtmcnt, in which the successes of
the sex in Wrestling trades and handi-
crafts from their brothers and hus-
bands are daily noted.
| saw today the announcement that
Il woman was now filling a place as
hrak cman on a western railway. This
fact is told with a hysterical sob Of
triumph, as though when this ener-
@ctic young person laid her hand on
the brake she had dealt q fatal blow
the foe of her sex and had made
for herself a long stride upward in
the scale of being.
In our national exhibitions, too.
thDIn i- u wa we. u Jp-n 4 &c Il ~ vi M n,,f |
where statutes, pictures. soaps. con
f~octioncries, etc. made By our sex are
apart to prove that women
as skiIIful with their fingers as
men.
I confess | do not understand this
attitude in the modern Wo-
nan. nor her vanity. Is h not hui
like the man? Has she not the
amc fingers, eyes and ongue she
IS not 81 monkey nor a freak that
ler cIcverness should be trumpeted
paradcd as abnormal in the pub
ic eye. I
\ mar when he invents a new plow
~ paint a picture does not shout out:
4 man-a man has done this! Not
Woman See how superior the male
# the race is to the femalei'
But we American women of late
ears never weary of boasting of the
ttiIlSS OF our sex, ana tSpttldtlN III
he ground that thew are 50 much like
he dOingS of mcni
1t is true that at the close of the
IviI Wa our women were forced to
compete with men for work ana
wages in every part of the field of Ia
)or. They had to make a place for
then as W~age-earners or
.tarVe. 1t was no wonder that they
we're aggressive and sharp during that
ime.
But why Squabble and fight now?
The whole field is open to them. All
'f,the fences are down. There is not
believe. a single honest Occupa-
ion by which q living can be earned
which is not open to a capable, decent
woman to try for it. Men give hef
fair field and much favor. Whether
Ii chooses to drive a garbage cart or
Naite a historic novel. they inVaria-
plv are kinder to her ~endeaVorS ana !
her more loudly than if she I
Ecre q a
Why, then, this incessant, defiant
assertion of W0man'S achievements
possibilities?
This constant noisy boasting seems
o be kin to the loud cackiing in the
72rnyard of a hen over each neW-lald
gig as if an egg never had been laid
Another mistake. it seems to me. Is
made by my energetic young SiNlel
she thinks tina her chief errand
ntO life is the work which she does
to keep herself alive. She sings such
energetic paeans over her success as
"a doctor or china painter or safes
Wornan-shc is naturally in hor neeo
If money so thankful to have work 10
10 and so glad chat she can Go II
hat she begins to think that When
he was sent into the world, to work
was to be her highest ambition.
It is not true. There is not a hbef
in her body nor an impulse in her
ma Jre which does not show that the
roai primary business in life is to be
a home-maIIer. the Comrade Of q man
md tho mother of his children.
God in His wisdom may have denied
the highest and best work, but
Whatever else she may do she knows
IN hor heart that it is the highest ana
best.
\ "Southnrn woman the other day
'ated her sisters Of the out sharply
because they, tOOk it for ante that
no woman is q Wa&e-earner except