The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-09-05
CAUSE OF DIVORCES
SOCIAL CHANGES CAUSED by
WOMAN's EMANCIPATION.
Different View Taken Of q Husbands
Indiscretions--Wife No Longer
Bound by Social Ethics to Suffer
in Silence.


prlsed the other day to hear a woman
who belongs to one of the most con-
| servative American families say with
| conviction.
| THE prevalence of divorce in this
country is the outcome Of the eman-
cipation of women"
| The remark savored of clubdom
and platform oratory, and yet the
| listeners knew that the speaker had
| never in her life attended woman 8
| club meeting or listened to women
speechmakers.
In our grandmother's time" said
| the speaker, what fashionable wo-
man, or let US say what woman In
good society dreamed Of going to
the theatre or opera or any other
place of amusement at night without
man to escort her?
Thirty years or so ago when a
woman's husband refused to take her
out of an evening she mostly stayed
at home. At that date. as my family
legends prove, married men wers
quite as prone as they are now to
affect stag parties and to spend their
evenings away from their own Are
sides. So far as I can discover the
New York man has not changed his
social habits at all. 1t is the woman
who has changed hers, and all be-
cause of emancipation.
Now don't ask me to define the
word. think my little daughter
of has the meaning down fine.
The other day she struck out with
her fists at her boy cousin of the
same age in self-defence and when
her governess told her that ladies
never use their fists the baby an
swered quick as flash:
"'1f gentlemen use their fists then
ladies can use them too
Emancipation means, l suppose,
but in general 1t means more nearly
tit for tat sort of game than men
and women used to play and decid-
edly more independence for the lat
ter.
You think fewer divorces thirty
=
that women lacked courage to fly
In the faces of pubic opinion?" said
the hostess.
Precisely. In those days people
tried, whether wisely on not, to keep
the family skeleton locked up.
For woman of fashion to ap-
pear in court or to have any of her
marital experiences aired in public
was considered such shockingly had
form that most women would and did
decide to suffer on in silence rather
than run the risk of forfeiting the
good opinion of Mrs. Grundy. For
example a progenitor of mine. one
Of the most popular men of his day,
kept up two establishments for many
years before his death. His wife
was perfectly aware of the fact, as
were his intimate friends.
III ever a woman was entitled to
a divorce that mans wife was, and
probably she often wished she could
come out and show up that precious
husband of hers in his true colors.
No, OF course, she did nothing of the
sort. Divorce was not in fashion
then. Women hadn't begun to hold
meetings and talk equal rights
ASK any woman who moved In
New York society twenty-five or
thirty years ago and she will tell
you that the men who deserved
rounding up In a divorce court were
Just as plentiful then as now"
THAT may be true of the mon.
but the women surely"
Emancipation again. According
to the social ethics Of those days
there was a tremendous gap between
the codes Of morals laid down for
man and for woman. Men who were
welcomed In drawing rooms then.
men who were famed for the number
of their amours. would not be toll
Grated In the same houses to-day.
No matter how a married man carri-
cd on outside OF his home. his wife
understood that she must be polite.
ly oblivious and keep quiet. She
generally did keep quiet.
mo matter how intensely she long
ed to break the marriage bonds. she
was bound hand and foot by conven-
tions which did not countenance d.
vorce. In short. man was 1T a quar-
ter of century ago and woman had
to deport herself accordingly or lose
social prestige.
Emancipation has brought de-
cided change. Nowadays. to some
extent men and women must take
the same medicine for marital un.
faithfulness and incompatibility. The
penalty Is no longer one sided
IF a man consistently neglects
his wife he is reasonably sure that
before long he will have to get a
new wife to neglect. and vice versa.
Woman has given up suffering In
silence.
Perhaps the old way was the bet
ter. Some people, am aware. think
II was better. l don't care to argue
that. NY point is simply this. n Ia