The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-26
Mrs. Gilman Tells Women Mt
Aston They Dwell Too Much
on Sex Attraction.
SEES NEED OF NEW IDEALS
Urges Search for Beauty in
Health-Physical Equal
ity With Men,.

women have had to change their Twins
bodies to suit mems arbitrary ideals OF
beauty. IF they did not please the,
starved So women have become over.
scxed."
This was the burden OF Charlotte
Perkins Gilmans last talk on femlnisn
at the Aston Yesterday morning. "To
please men," said Mrs Gilman, women
take all sorts of forms The Hottento,
woman cultivates hustle. in northern
Africa the chiefs favorites are shut up
in dark huts and led OH meal and
nolasses or on oily seeds to make them
fat. They must conform to the standards
Of their market.
THE physiology OF my youth presented
the differences between mans physlque
and woman's in diagrams. his triangle.
hers an oval. But those were the days
when II was fashionable for women TO
have shoulders like n hook bottle. Then
along came Gibson and created n new
ideal with broad shoulders. And the girls
rose up and achieved 1t.
To-day we have new silhouette
curled UP. dropping. sllnky, sloppy. Men
couldn't change that way"
Reminds Her of "Oxford stoop."
Eyes. they could" disagreed a woman
In the audience. Think Of the oxford
Otoop!'
I'm talking OF men. not of college
boys said Mrs. Gilman And the
ideals OF men have always been physical
strength and skill Men have not escaped
the ruthless modification OF heredity
(senfratinpu M no
reduce the shoulder strength gained from
combat, but his ideals remain the same.
He simply doesn't conform.
But women have to. Take a lot Of
old volumes Of Punch and see how
ridiculous the women look to you. But
they thought they were beautiful Then
Du Maurier appeared with his Duchess
Of Towers, and the tall woman came into
her own.
Why should women be smaller than
men? kaffir women are not At little
distance you cannot distinguish them from
the men. Among animals the female is
frequently larger The male hawk Is
only third OF the size Of the female.
1t Is not to the advantage Of children
that the mothers should be small
But the small weak woman was easier
defend herself The swift woman got
away. And SO the race was bred from
the slow.
DISADVANTAGE 20 Re small.
at is a serious disadvantage for a
woman TO be small. Things in this world
are built mans size. The hooks in the
man made closet are high. She can't
see In a CROWD.
THE normal woman should meet the
race type with only such notifications
OF sex as are necessary to motherhood.
A horse doesn't have to be soft and fat
and weak and little simply because she
Ia mare. She doesn't have to be a con-
spicuous object of ultra mareness. Sup
pose she looked like this" and Mrs
Gilman drew on blackboard a picture
OF mare with wasp waist and high
heeled shoes
THE beauty Of horse lies in its
being good horse. So no one can be
beautiful woman unless she is a beau
tful human being.
mot content with modifying our living
BODIES. We had adopted mans Sex deco
cations. Ii Is the male animal that is
given the name. crest, wattles or tail
feathers. Woman has been forced TO
adopt the bright colors and seek to at
tract because OF her economic depend
ooce upon man. She is the only female
animal not free to choose.
so man has been driven into a mad
0ondness for starch. and Il coat that lie
must take of whenever he tries to do
anything. no matter how handy its
pockets.
Women Dress TO Please Men.
"You may think that you do not dress
- please men. But women as a whole do.
Look at the difference between Sat
urday's and Mondays costumes at
summer resort. just in proportion as
. woman profits by pleasing men does
she develop the characteristics that strike
his fancy. The woman who depends on
man FOR casual support is most daring
OF all. But the old books Of etiquette
used to tell the wife never to be without
. rose In her hair. She has to please
her husband over and over.
1--WE need standard OF beauty. We
know the points Of dogs but not OF
people. Our children should be trained
in ideals Of beauty and educated in the
most beautiful buildings OF our cities.
THE human race Is oversexed. women
more 80 than men II In less crude ways.
6he is much more woman than human.
Ask a woman whether she would save
q train load OF children from a fallen
bridge by switching the train onto the
track where her own baby was playing.
1T Is just as abnormal TO expect a
little girl TO play mother as to expect a
kitten to play with toy kitten. But
We give the little girls everlasting dolls
and gloat over them as they play. The
teddy bear has been "a godsend. Give
the girl chance to play outdoors with
. ball
''woman must become human. The
arrest OF civilization In every nation has
been due to the arrested development OF
its women Merely masculine culture can
reach only certain point But men and
women together can go beyond"
One questioner asked II women could
give man nobler ideal OF beauty by
going without corsets.
I'VE ought to work out a standard OF
beauty In costume" Mrs. Gilman replied