The Washington herald., 1911-05-04
WAY OF SETTLING
PLEASURE PROBLEM
Question that Threatens the
Peace of Many a Home.
By DOROTHY DIX.

One Of the burning problems Of matri-
mony, that gives rise to endless strife
and discord in families, Is the amuse-
ment question. The mere mention Of the
subject to the average husband has the
same effect on him as Haunting a red rag
before a mad bull. while women have
simply picked the proposition in their
tears.
A man, who has worked all day long,
who has been on a tense nervous strain.
and who has given out every particle of
vitality that is in him, almost certainly
has right to stay at home Of an even
ing and the rest II he SO desires.
It is cruelty to animals to make him
dress and drag him around to entertain
ments, where he will be kept up half
the night. where he will eat and drink
= things that will upset his stomach. and
where he will have to make heroic efforts
to conceal his boredom and to be enter
tanning.
Beating rocks on the street is light
and joyous occupation compared to most
evening parties
Needs q Clear Head.
More than that. the man who is en-
gagged in the strenuous struggle FOR sue
cess and who needs to go to his work
with his head clear and his wits nimble.
knows that the reveller, with three or
four hours sleep, cannot compete with
the man who comes to his labor after
long nights rest.
Therefore 1t seems to the husband that
his wife is outrageous in her demand
and fool into the bargain to insist upon
his escorting her around to places of
amusement
and with justice, that she works just as
hard as her husband, and that her work
Is the most monotonous labor in exist
ence and the kind that most gets upon
a PERSONS nerves. In her husbands busi-
ness he has at least the daily change
of going from his home to his place Of
business, and whether he is in Wall
street or laying brick, he has the diver
sion of seeing new faces. hearing new
thoughts. getting fresh ideas.
A Monotonous Round.
On the contrary. the woman spends
her days within the same walls: she
works alone, with no one with whom
she can exchange entertaining CONVEX
sation, and the worst of homework is
that it is a mechanical doing of the
same thing, with nothing in il to divert
ones thoughts from the dreary round
they pursue.
Say what you will. making beds and
sweeping floors, and boiling a pot is
not exciting occupation, nor. no
matter how much you love them, is the
artless prattle of children stimulating
conversat ton for grown up and intelli-
gent women.
Hence ii is perfectly natural that the
woman who has cooked. and sewed, and
baby-tended all day should feel, when
night that must have
diversion, something that will take her
out of her treadmill, or else she will go
mad
This. then, is the situation-the hus-
band is satiated with the variety he has
had during the day and wants to stay
at home for a change. The woman is
crushed by the deadly monotony of the
home that she has endured all day, and
pines for little variety. What shall
they do?
Compromise the matter. The wife
needs recreation just as much as the
husband needs rest; and she should
have enough amusement to keep her |
bright and cheerful: but there is no
reason why she shouldn't take it so as
not to interfere with her husbands |
comfort.
Matinees were devised especially for |
such cases. Let her go to them instead I
of dragging weary man out of nights |
Let ner JOIN as many or the Women'S /
clubs as she can find time for. Let her |
belong to afternoon bridges instead Of |
night ones. Let her go to luncheons |
and teas instead of dinners
There's all the amusement that any
woman can reasonably ask to be en-
joyed between 2 D. m. and 5, and that |
will send woman back home in time
to give her husband his dinner.
Husband Should Meet Her Half Way. |
The husband. however. should meet |
his wife half way in the amusement
compromise. If he doesn't want to go |
with her to places he should try to Of
fer her some substitute, and he should |
at least show some appreciation of her
position. He should show her that he !
understands that her work is monoto-
nous. and that she needs some change
to brighten her up