The St. Mary banner., 1908-01-25
SHOULD "STFFRAGETTES BE
PLAIN?

| SHOULD "SIFFRAGETTES BE
| PLAIN?
| "Feminism is one of those ques-
tions We have always with us says
the Paris correspondent of The Pail
| Mall Gazette 1T is of peculiar in
terest to the Partisan. possibly be-
cause he rejoices in a sort of intellec-
tual anarchy. in an opposition to the
existing The example of Finland.
with its eighteen women deputies. is
| fascinating to the feminist. But an
envoy of Partisan journal has made
the frightful discovery that the "o-
men in the parliament of HelslngforS
are all plain. The triumph OF fem
mime ugliness' he calls it. The Fin
nish 'deputee' is man in skirts.
| VOLTA tout 1t is a mean advantage
to take of any movement to paint
the features of its protagonists. Fancy
II we judged modern legislation by
the good looks Tor the reverse) OF
its initiators. The result would be
appalling. No bill could stand against
it. The most powerful and able OF
parliamentarians are rarely godlike I'D
their physical envelope. but such mat
ters have small influence in politics.
l imagine this would be the answer
of the lady NJ. P.'s of Finland: We
are here to represent the people, not
to represent the boudoir.
THE outspokeness of the Partisan
| journalist suggests the question
whether a woman endowed With the
highest ideals and burning for the
| social salvation of her country, as
these Finnish women undoubtedly
are. should necessarily be above all
| the little arts and ornaments of the
sex 1t appears that lace and fur
bellows of all sorts are strictly Ia
boo; every one of the women men,
bers dresses soberly in black. There
is no ornament upon her corsage. no
earring pendent from her delicate
lobes. no ring sparkling upon her
fingers. And her hair is just as Sc
| verely treated as her dress. FriZzing
and fringes are sternly repressed. In
external matters the woman deputy
is a forbidding person, though we
must believe that her soul is pure
and white and her brain entirely
given over to the loftiest thoughts
for humanity The writer of this
/ lugubrious description of the Finnish
experiment in the highest feminism
/ is a man and a Frenchman: conse-
quently. he deplores this new race Of
sexless women. He asks piteously
whether special virtue and intellect
uality in what was once called the
weaker sex must necessarily go with
plainness Cannot a woman retain
she sits in parliament and talks land
and labor and 'fiscalitis'? The loss
, of physical attractiveness is fearful
| price to pay for emancipation. l un.
derstand that the article has had
most disquieting influence on French
leaders would confiscate the number
and cajole the writer into eternal
silence on the thorny subject of the
looking glass in parliament.
Il am quite convinced that When
4, the day comes for Nine. Dupont to
enter the French Chamber as an elect
of universal suffrage she will abdi-
cate none of those pleasant and allur-
! ing arts which she now employs to
induce NJ. Dupont to grant the bill
! for blOuSes and new season hats. The
French woman is SO distinctly femi-
| M ho%
til it out of her. She will carry her
charms and her bangles and her mil
linery with her repairing outfit in
small reticule) right on to the floor
Of the House. 1t is my privilege to
know certain of the leading feminists.
Not one wilfully deprives herself of
those accessories to beauty which are
part of the equipment of the modern
woman; some, even. rather challenge
comparison in looks with their less
advanced sisters who are still ex-
clusively concerned with such old
fashioned occupations as the care of
the home and the affairs of the hus.
band.
"Feminism will take many day TO
get over this expose of the parliament
at Helsingfors Meanwhile the whole
sex is interested in the declarations
Of certain doctor of the Academy
of Medicine that it is possible, with
massage and proper diet, to defy old
age. Fie, fie. O femfnists! this is
female vanity indeed"
A FATAL MISTAKE
many noopIn coopo IN think