Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-29
THE DAILY CHIT-CHAT.
By Ruth Cameron.
My cat has two kittens-a little lady
ger kitty and a sturdy little black boy

My cat mas two k1ttenS-a little lazy
tiger kitty and a sturdy little black boy
kitten.
Usually this brother and sister play to-
gether very happily in their basket by the
fire. but once in a while 1 am disturbed
by hearing a most terrible mewing. And
the cause. l have found, is Almost always
this-the little tiger kitty has picked a
quarrel with the black kitten. Now the
black kitten is inclined to be rather quiet
and ultra peaceable but once he is
aroused he fights for all that's in him.
and being larger and sturdier than his
sister. is soon Furnishing her severely.
Nhereupon, little sister promptly shows
the white feather and sets up cater
wan ing which she knows will probably
bring the mother kitty or me to her aid.
DO you know this illogical nd unworthy
custom of my tiger kitty Always makes
me think of the equally illogical and un-
worthy custom Of some of her superiors
OF the same sex?
Surely you know what ] mean The
lack of logic, justice and sense of fair
pay shown by the woman who asks to be
put on an equal footing with men, and
then resents it when they treat her as an
equal.
woman who claims her right to go ipto
an office. to do work which used to be
done exclusively by men, and then wants
in addition to the rights Of man the
SpeCldl privileges VI d WOfudH.
! think my kitten symbolzes the woman
who enters some professional or artistic
field as competitor with men, and then
is satisfied or even anxious to have her
work judged with leniency, because she
is a woman. Agnes Repplier has a very
singing essay on this subject, in which
she justly rebukes the woman who does
not expect that her work should be fair, y
and Squarely compared with mems work
and adjudged good or bad on this basis.
but is satisfied to have it called good
considering.
And now. lest leave loophole for
my friends. the anti-suffragists, / want to
| say what l think the kitten does not SYM
| boliZe.
| She does not stand for the woman who
wants the vote. and yet still wants to
| be treated chivalrously by men, to have
her physical weakness considered and re-
spected.
| 1t Is one Of the oldest and most COM
mon anti-suffrage arguments that If a
woman gets the vote she must not ex-
pect to have men give up their seats In
the street car. or in other ways show
her courtesy any longer.
| TO me this argument seems like the
most absolute balderdash. Woman does no
assume in asking for the vote that she Is
mans physical equal. She simply as
sumes that in so far as the qualifications
necessary to make her voter are con-
cerned she is, or can soon be educated
| to be- mans equal. This matter has moth.
ing whatever to do with her physical
qualifications or her need OF chivalry.
| A man would rise to give an old, sick
or lame man a seat in street car. And
vet ali these men are voters. The fac,
| that they have he right to voc does
not deprive them of the privilege Of be-
ling treated with kindness and considera.
ton on account of their physical weak
ness.
In claiming her ability to do the same
work as man. woman places herself or
1.-THE same level Of competition so far as
THAT work goes and 1 think should ask
no quarter in the struggle, but l do not
see why either the fact that she competes
with man in her daily work or the fact
that she wants to help govern herself
should deprive her of mans courtesy and
| consideration in other relations of life.
| / am ashamed Of my own sex when II
| raises it's weakness as a white feather
and demands special privileges in strug.
| gle which 1T has entered with the dec
laration that it was willing to fight or
equal terms.
| / am ashamed of the other sex when II
makes woman's demand for justice anG
her desire to do mans work. II that Is
what she is fitted for, a pretext to deny
her chivalry, courtesy, consideration ano
protection. when her physical inferiority
1 dor nd those