New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-11-11
FEMINISM AND THE TEACHER
MOTHER
The Cause Of Woman in Every Line
of Industry Is at Stake.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: In discriminating against the
teacher-mother the Board OF Education
makes mockery of justice, Tor ITS
policy. besides being pernicious IN its
effects. is antagonistic 20 the frs
principle Of woman's struggle for free
dom. BY this ] mean her right 70 be a
human being without paying penalty
or losing caste.
But if women teachers desire justice
they must work for ii in the proper
way. Their immediate need is the bal
lot. and every teacher should be an
ardent suifragist. Bur while BE ballot
will be a powerful aid in material way
it alone will not entirely Danish the
old traditions about women their
place, their duties, etc. Therefore, 10
serve the higher purpose OF rea.
spiritual freedom, teachers should IN
dorse the full feminist programme.
They SHOULD study what 1t means 20
them as workers and as women. When
teachers realize that they are human
beings as we'll as citizens, and must have
human rights as well as civil rights,
medieva boards Of education wnl be
things of the past.
Some suffragists oppose the teacher
mother on the ground Of the welfare
Of the child, but the feminist goes a
step further on the principle that
mother free TO follow her profession
and happy in her work will add much
to the wellbeing Of her child, and viii
be an inspiration 20 il, and can give IL
uDerior advantages through her earn
ing power.
ID T. s...s- Yfl-as laaaar O "a
aims higher than suffrage. teachers
should be feminists and animated by
the spirit Of the movement. They can
hasten the day when career viii mean
to woman normal life, not loneliness
and remuneration.
There are other reasons why teach
ers should be feminlsts. The tendency
TO debsr women from high educational
positions is shown by the action OF the
Board of Education Of the city or
Rochester in deciding against women
principals in the higher grade schools.
Foreign influence, especially that of the
schools OF Germany, a highly mascu-
Lied country, is gaining here, and we
hear the cry from many quarters about
the Termination of our schools.
TO check these reactiorary tendencies
teachers must have the vote. ] repeat,
it il their immediate need, but they
must also have the spirit Of true fem
inists. without which women can never
be really free.
Back of the opposition TO the teacher
mother is the instinct that man is
womau's superior and as such may
limit her 10 a small, fixed place in So
ciety. From the same instinct arises
the feeling that high places and large
salaries are too good for a woman and
that somehow she is usurper when
she holds an important position.
She may work long hours for mis-
cradle wage in shop OF factory while
little children at home need her care.
but net word OF protest or criticism
is heard from any one. Noman's right
to work is never questioned except in
the higher and better paid fields OF
labor
Is il not time that teachers as edu-
cational women wake up and take Il
more active part in the great feminist
movement, and in so doing aid not only
themselves but advance the cause OF
woman in every line of industry?
LEONE +. HOWARD.
Cambridge. \. Y, Nov. s, 1914