El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-15
Working Girls Weddings
Marriage Is n Serious Problem and
Long Gamble For the Girl With
a Good Position.
ny Dorothy Din
N HERE is no doubt that life gro

~ HERE is no doubt that life grows
more and more complex, espec-
tally for women, and Jne more
doors Of opportunity that stand ajar for
them the more difficult it is to choose
the particular one behind which they
viii find happiness
Take the marriage problem for in
stance. Heretofore that has simply
been Hobson's choice with a girl. and
the only trouble she had was in decid-
ing which one OF her suitOrs she would
take
Now, however, it isn't so much
question of the rival attractions Of two
men as il is Of the man and his job,
and when YOU see a pretty maiden
pluc1ing at the petals of daisy she
is not saying with The pOeucal heroine,
"he loves me, he loves me not out
she is asking the rates whether she
shall give Up a good situation for
prOblematical husband
She has TO sacrifice her independence,
her ambition, her ioy in the work that
she has prepared herself for, and that
was the breath Of her life to do.
More than that she has to give up
the line Of work that she prefers, ana
do the sort Of work that she probably
doesn't like, for which she has no
natural aptitude, and in which she is
totally unSkiued.
Of course its the custom to ignore
these plain and simple facts, and to
rhapsOdize over the joy Of having your
own little home. But the expert and
highly paid stenOgrapher or teacher,
who exchanges a nice desk in otGlce or
school room, and a fat pay envelope for
the drudgery of Kitchen, and the
soul narrowing experience of trying TO
get along on less than half Of the money
she has been accustomed to live on, may
be hardened If she casts a few regret1ul
glances at her past estate.
There is the other side of the picture
Every normal woman wants husband,
and home, and children Of her own,
and the only way she can secure them
is by marrying, and making the secri-
fiCes that marriage demands That Is
the price she has to pay, and ii is for
her to decide whether she is willing to
give it
Of course, in time, this problem viii
settle itself. In the process of evolu-
tiOn there will be deIevOped a new man
to be the fitting mate of the new
woman. and he viii look on all these
domestic questions with wiser eyes
than the man Of the present day
He viii see that il is just as unfair
to ask q woman to give up the work
she has prepared herself to do, and to
become financially dependent on him,
as it would for her to demand that he
should change his profession because
ne married her, and become dependent
on her.
Why should the man, for instance.
who marries an actress insist upon
her leaving the stage2 or why should
the man who marries a business wom-
an expect her to become a housekeeper
when she may have financial ability Of
the first order, and be the poorest cook
that ever made a pan Of adamantine
biscuits2
The rich man who can supply the
financial equivalent of his wife's earn
inEs has some sort of Justification in
requiring her to decide between a mar
Tiage ring and her job. but certainly
the poor man has none. As long as
his wife must work to help him it is no
more than right that she should be per
mitted TO do the work that is easiest
and most agreeable to her.
But men don't look at the subject
this way. The average mans vanity
requires the sacrifice of his wife's pub
lie career. He wants her to work for
him as hard as she can, but he wants
it done behind closed doors where no.
body can see it, so that he will have
an opportunity to pose around and talk
about supporting her"