Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-08-17
ABOUT GIRLS.
Writer Compares and Contrasts Enu.
llsh and American Girls,

pafeS ana contrasts English and Amer
lean girls. Life he thinks is smoother
Tor the American girl than for her Eng
llSh sister. for every roughness is
smoother from her path. and few seri-
Gus demands are made upon her time.
The country lie led by most English
girls renders them somewhat dull as
social factors. but it gives them a
knowledge of nature which is denied to
the town dwelling American girl But
he SAYS:
On the other hand in ENGLAND it is
after all, customary ior every girl to be
Interested in some form or other of So
cial and phianthropic work. whereas
IN America that work, admirably done
as it is. is done by d class of women
who are highly educated, indeed. but
who have given up their lives to that
one object and firm a class apart
The writer finds that there are differ
ent spheres of girl life in America"
the college" girl, for instance, and the
society girl. representing entirely
different sides of girl life, but it is to
the society girl that he largely con
fines himself in noting the differences
in which she eXcels her trans Atlantic
sister. She IS described as q character
lstlc product of America. of quick and
observant mind. equally interested in
clothes ana culture, easily adapting.
nefS"f TO circumstances, and possess
ing tllat sense OF duty TO herself and to
her hostess which causes her to exert
every faculty in order to show herself
in the best possible light. Then, again
she has the infinite capacity for TAX
ing pains in her dress, which amounts
in this case to positive genius" Mean
while, her English sister. with NOR.
natural possibilities. such as complex
ion, hair and general health lacks the
r2allZ1tion as Il duty OF good dressing
that attention to sEall details which
go so far to make up the appearance Of
Wei dressed woman"
The American girl is constantly meet
ing men of her own city. shrewd III
business and boastful of their ability to
size up a fellow. Their standard
measure is outward success, either in
dollars or prominence in the public eye.
while the English girl is brought in
contact with life as it is lived in differ
ont parts of the empire. for some of he,
men folks are sure to be possessed of
wanderlust. The interests in her life
are therefore Worldwide instead of
,
what she does. Again:
There are two keynotes of al English
girls lfe-poltics and sport-and they
are both INDUCED in with that clean
ness and Vigor which are only possible
through health of body and mind, with
perhaps, an accompaniment of rustic
dulness.
The differences in comestic life are
also touched upon. American men are
credited with regarding women as a
sort of race apart. to be placed on q
pedestal. and propitiated with many Of
ferings, indeed. says the writer, in a
sense the chivalric instinct is almost
too deeply implanted in the American
man. ana in MANY Of his IDEAS concern
ing women he is, although he would be
horr'hed To be told 50. curOusly mediae-
val The English man and the Eng
lish girl see little of each other before
marriage. but after marriage the com
mon life is necessity and the wife
must study her husbands interests
and make them more or less her OWL
Before marriage in America the man
and the girl are excellent friends, en-
joying much freedom in their inter
course. but after marriage they lead
separate lives. ! ne man Is wrapped uT
in his business. while the wife devote
her energies to the care of her home
and social pursuits. They can not real |
ly be SAID to lead n common life. And
the writer adds
The idea of marriage settlements or a !
definite allowance is abhorrent to the
American mind. and yet. when all isl
said and done. the American woman
with all her independence, is the mos.
derendtnt of women. for is not he who
holds the purse strings after all the |
real master? 1t is more than probable |
that large number of divorces in Am
erica are due to the unconscious desire
OF the woman to find n real partner
and coinrade in life instead Of the mere
financial agent that the average Amer |
lean man is contented to be.
This word of caution follows to the
English sister: She should emulate her
American sisters in making the best o
herself roth in looks and conversation |
and it is time she sfOIld abandon T.
attit,.dc Of her soy in regarslia%Tee9r
rnan in the light Of possible hnshan
and tegin to cultivate that habit c