Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-11-20
is HOME LIFE VANISHING?
Some Schoolgirls Insist Women Are
Foes of Domesticity.
VIEWS OF OHMANN-DUMEsNm
story Of one stenograPher who quit
work 20 Go 20 College in the
kitchen and Get Pay
while Learning.

American people?
scathing demonstrations Of 1.-THE selfish |
American girl" by certain sociologists have
aroused "a discussion that is waging I
fiercely. Many Of the disputants maintain |
that real domestcity is growing less ana
less; that the old-fashioned American home
is fast disappearing. IL not already gone
and that the American girl is its destroyer |
and she, too, is to blame for the fact that !
there is servant girl" problem.
IF domesucity is not altogether thing
on the past. st is rapidly waning" says one
| eminent sociologist, "and the American girl !
instead Of being the builder Of homes, has
been transformed into social butterfly or
a mere low-priced adjunct to an Industrial
or commercial machine"
| DR.. Ohmann- Dumesnil, prominent physl-
/ clan OF st. Louis, and a profound student
| OF sociology, in an interview in the st.
Louis Globe Democrat conours In the view
Of the sociologist who arraigns the Ameri-
can girl as the cause Of celibacy.
Real home life has practically vanished
says DR.. Ohmann-DumesniL THE average
housewife Of the middle and higher class
of the present day chooses to idle away
her whole life in the parlor, the woman's
club or in society The daughter prefers
the store the office or the factory to the
kitchen and to devote her God-given ener-
gies outside the hours when she is earning
wages to fitting about and the gayety of
the cafe the theater, auto joy-riding the
\ summer garden or the ball room-in winter
never giving a single thought to training
herself for the duties Of wifehood and
motherhood. Mother and daughter alike
are concerned only with the idea Of hay
ing a good time"
Men Must Rebel.
The doctor believes Il is because OF these
alarming conditions that many men are
crowded out of their legitimate spheres OF
usefulness and occupations, and that wages
and salaries Of men have not kept pace
with the increased cost Of living. He cries
out to the women and girls, HAITI
simultaneously, he suggests to the men TO
rebel"
Go into the kitchen you men" says he;
take up the womens work just as they
!; have taken up yours. They'll scream
}, against the invasion They'll denounce
e you; but it's the only way to restore the
! lost American domesticity-similia, simili-
r bus, curantur"
= Speaking on the subject not long ago
l. Miss Jane Adams OF Chicago said;
;, There Is no doubt that the girls of the
l. present day are too eager to shun The
duties Of the kitchen and take up work ii
= I
certain extent lies with the mothers. j
the girls were taught that household worl
is not mental labor, but rather the steppinl
stone to the highest and noblest usefulness
-as it surely is-there would be no servan
girl problem, and no charge could be sus
tanned that the American girl is destroying
the American home"
New woman Loves Ease.
THE love Of women for good times AM
! an easy life is the cause of the servan
lie girl problem" says DR.. Ohmann-D umesni
IS 80 many things seem out Of joint Tn
Id home life is not inviting, because of IN
wild, mad plunge OF the feminine sex int
ne mans domain, II man began as determine
= an onslaught into womans work we woul
- have music.
~ y why do girls hate homework? Is
: because they have come to look on II a
~, drudgery? why. there is not the hundredt
- part Of the drudgery about II that there
u, IN standing all day behind a counter in
store pounding typewriter for nine hour
or in feeding a machine for ten long houI
"a at a factory
w II am inclined to think that girls dis
like or hate housework because they hay
- an utterly wrong conception OF it. The
do not see the nobility In It or the honC
~ attached to the service. They do not 81
| Lnal IL is creative occupation BlNlI
'ei opportunity for the exercise Of the highe
" brain power. Selling ribbon or some oth'
y commodity In a store IS nothing but
- mechanical task. The saleswoman Great,
nothing. She has 10 be polite, no matte
De what the provocation to be otherwise. Ov,
ed and over again she must lift the goods oil
ire OF their places on the shelves, display the
he to prospective customers and YEARLY II
uo them back again. She Is a mere huma
tut machine.
err Queen in the kitchen.
~ How different the queen OF the dtche
TOT say queen advisedly, for all the gre
SO titles do not belong to Europe. Mnady
rec the kitchen or milady OF the America
III home is a nobler title than any other ev
le- given to woman. 1t embraces the swe
'h- girl. the devoted wife, the affectiona
ne mother In America there IL 'milady
society, milady Of the pen milady
of the brush and palette. milady Of fashio
Ell. and 'milady Of the amusement CIRCLE The
tin are great titles, but 'milady Of the hon
Of Overtops them all--it Is title par eXcellen
Cd that denotes the truly noble Americ
rch woman, and to her we doff our hats and
Itss obeisanee.
rec at IS a common saying that the farm
ere pays for all In It's last analysis that is
ella true saying But 'miady of the kitchC
lille Is greater than the farmer; she ministI
MIR, TO all. Nobody can overestimate what {
peHds IN common and business life on
fiss management Of the kitchen. 1t is
ar foundation mark, and let Il suffice. c
,ent il be doubted that the reluctance Of
gis- average American girl TO perform hou
hold duties makes the eligible Amerc
and bachelor averse TO matrimony? The sensi
yler man seeks helpmeet who IS skilled
20 domesuciU and shuns the butterfly
No pleasure"
med Girl who Went 10 college,"
Hiss DR. Ohmann- Dumesnn recounted
and story told him by a professional friC
The who thought homework ought to be cal
onal college work" The professional fri,
had a young woman acquaintance
nm stenographer, who gave up office ",
her for the kitchen. lie met her while she '
Mr. rejoicing IN her new occupation.
m I'm going 10 college" she explain
"a in Mrs. BIS kitchen I'm getting rel
ans, 20 keep school with George. He can't
on stenography and typewriting, SO /
the office Stenography and typewrit
- was AN knew. l. therefore, conclu
WIN 10 go to college" and Mrs. b. offered
the opportunity. I'm getting pay wi
''"' learning, too
Il cook sew sweep dust make IA,