Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-10
THE INDEPENDENT WOMAN

and helplessness for self-reliance, self
respect and self-confidence are human
traits common alike to both sexes.
These qualities should be fostered in
every child. The disregard for them
breeds the same evil in the character of
the girl as in that of the boy.
From the advent of the child in the
home, the whole attitude toward it is
likely to be governed by its sex. While
the elements that develop strength of
mind or body and courage, independ-
ence and forcefulneSS are emphasized
in the boys training, they are largely
discouraged in the girl. The easy ways
are always found for her.
When in course of time this artificial
protection which has revoked for her
the salutary penalties is removed, she
must learn the inevitable laws by be-
coming their helpless victim. With
personal charm presented to her as an
end in itself, and emotions and senti-
ments as goals instead of means and
motive power toward some definite pur-
pose, she must inevitably be dependent
for much of her satisfaction in life
upon the most ephemeral and tickle
qualities in her personal relations. 1t
is only the boy who is trained to be the
active doer, she the passive recipient;
he to give and create, she to take, en-
Joy and be. The little brother is accu-
rate if he is brutal when he says, Il
won't play with her; she is cry-baby
and won't play fair. and the general
tone of her discipline is no less accu-
rately expressed IN the mother S reply,
"Oh, she is just little girl, and you
should play as she wants you to-
When she appears in the industrial
world she reSentS being measured by
the standards applied to men in the
same positions. Standards of accuracy
and reliabilitv in most lines seem to be
in, M DS 11rinu
mans work. Unless laws of the imam
cial world are modified to suit her con-
Venience or personal preference, they
take advantage of her just because she
is a woman"-a plea strangely sug-
gestive of cry baby" Her ideas OF
business honesty permit her to take
little mean advantages, and her efforts
at getting something for nothing
strongly SAVIOR of not playing fair.
The girl should be put on an equally
responsible footing with the boy. She
should have her allowance and be re-
sponsible member of the family, not
merely an ornament or plaything. She
should learn to value and cultivate
her own physical and moral strength
and to be ashamed of cowardice OF
weakness. She should be taught the
Observation-Disclosures of playing the drone,
and living as parasite on the strength
and wealth of others. She should be
trained to be good for something, some
one definite thing by which she Will
contribute to the worlds wealth, either
in the sense of its pleasure or its ma
terial goods. If it is Housekeeping,
let it be so thoroughly and scientific
ally learned that it might be in whole
or in part a means of livelihood. II 1t
is some accomplishment let it be Sc
riously undertaken with the idea OF
making it valuable to the world,
whether in the home or outside Of 1t.
ONLY the woman with useful interests
outside her daily routine of homely du-
ties in her home can escape the pitfalls
for the devoted wife and mother. The
woman who lives only in the lives OF
her husband and children and sees the
world only in the relation it bears to
them is the woman to whom IN some
form her children and husband must
sacrifice themselves. If during the
wears her children need her constant
care she finds in that her sole reason
for being, in the years to follow, When
they need her care no longer, she VIII
find she has not the wisdom of vide
experience and the serene quality Tor
companionship that happy self-eXpres-
sion alone can give, and which would
make her both needed and wanted in
their later lives. The dependent Wom-
an has always that quality of fear that
makes the Jealous and eXacting wife
and mother, who sees in every new re-
lationship of husband or child menace
to her place in their lives and affec-
tons.
The independent woman is the wom-
o11c Nf ~ o.