The Washington herald., 1911-05-08
THINGS IN WOMEN
men CAN'T FATHOM
The Matter of Dress, for
Instance.
HER LITTLE WHITE LIES
And How She Will Handle Thou
sands of Dollars in Business With
out a Cent Sticking to Her Fingers
While She Loses No Chance to
Cheat in Small Ways.
By DOROTHY DIX.

''The thing that l can't understand
about women" said the sixth man, rs
the speculiar feminine code of ethics.
Women are the self-elected conscience
keepers of the world. They make the
moral laws. AS a sex, they are better
than men, and yet I've seen one of these
very patterns of feminine virtue do
things that no decent man would do.
And she did it without moulting sim
gle one of her angel feathers because,
according to the queer feminine logic,
whether a thing is right or wrong, honest
or dishonest, true or false, depends on
the time, the place, and the season. and
the mood she happens to be in. There
are no hard and fast rules in regard to
what Is decent in conduct as there is
among men.
For instance take the matter of dress.
Can anybody explain why it is perfectly
modest and proper for a woman TO pa
rade along the Seashore, in the sum-
mer. in Il costume that barely reaches to
her knees, while she will blush herself
to death to expose more than tip of
her toe in her parlor, in the winter?
No respectable woman but would be
Mortified at doing such a brazen thing
as appearing, even in her own house, in
the daytime with Der arms and neck un-
covered. vet in the evening she will
calmly put on her most decollete dress
and go to the opera to be gazed at by
a thousand strange and curious eyes
Condone the Male Singer.
Then observe the strange attitude
that women take on the question of chas-
tity. They are particularly strong on
this point, yet they condone. in men, what
they damn in their own sex.
''They draw their skirts away from the
woman sinner and invite her male part
ner in sin to dinner.
More than that, the very best Of
women, and the ones who are the lead
ers in the crusade for social purity, will
marry their innocent young daughters of
to men whom they know TO be disrep-
utable.
Can you beat that for inconsistency?
Is immortality immoral only when il gets
in the feminine gender? Is there sex dis
tinction in virtue?
'T won't even speak of the matter OF
white lies, for the mere masculine in
tellect reels and totters when it consid-
ers the number of apparently unneces-
sary falSehoodS that a perfectly truth
full woman considers it proper to tell.
"A man is liar, or he is not. 4 wom-
an is both liar and truthful; and
she considers herself a model of veracity
if she tells the truth on big occasions
at home when she is; that she is thirty
five when she's past fifty; that she had
a perfectly delightful time at a party
when she was bored to death; that a GER
tain woman is a dear when she thinks
her a cat; that her gown is an imported
one when she made it herself and so on,
she considers none of the recording an
gels business, and she'll get the surprise
of her life when she finds out that these
20 ha IJaox- pIH-
Record under the general heading of
Lies
Then who can explain the nice di-
vidng line that women draw between
honesty and dishonesty. When il cores
10 a question of money, women ara far
more honest than men. If woman
owes you money, she will pay it # she
possibly can speaking for the sex, by
and large. If you trust her with r1cney
she will be faithful in handling it. That
is the reason that women cashiers are
superseding men cashiers in so many
business houses. 1t is very seldom that
the trusty female employe tampeTs with
the cash drawer.
How Honest Women Steal.
But the very woman who handles
thousands of dollars, without a cent
sticking to her fingers, will look blandly
out of the car window while the con-
.ductor passes by asking for fares; or
Will soak a used postage stamp off CT
an envelope and try to pass 1t again.
Women, who are respectable and we'll
off, and who would sue you soT libel If
you called them dishonest, will steal hotel
towels and spoons from restaurants ard
perjure themselves to smuggle in a few
trinkets. and, instead of having any sense
Of shame about these things, they brag
of them.
Certainly the feminine conscience
works in mysterious way its wonders
to perform, and no man can guess before
hand at what tangent 1t is going OF.
For myself, 1 have the most profound
reverence for II, but / regard It as one
of the great unsolvable mysteries of
creation