The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-08
SUMMERTIME CHAT OF PEOPLE AND IDEAS Plans and Pastimes of WOm-
 en and Society 3 EVENTS OF THE DAY
Weddings - Engagements - Parties Announced for Visitors-Views of Thinking People on the
 Signs of Progress

l recently overheard a frivolous dis cussion that revolved around two lphrases-"the ideal wife" and the edeal husband" It was, perhaps, one lof those debates whose flippancy would have shocked an older generation. Curi- lous-is it not?-how readily social party will nowadays enter into an ar tgument on the subject of marriage and lits problems when half a century back, laccording to the best historians of that time it was not proper to acknowledge that matrimonial problems could ever larise. All couples presumably, lived .s4fhappy ever after" and for group of diners, some married~and some not, to Fentertain themselves with gay specula- tions as to what constitutes the ideal in "a helpmate would not have been comme dl faut.
 Then, every wife was tactily supposed Ito be blessed with an ideal husband, and every husband to be blessed with an ideal wife. To have implied even in s5est that this might conceivably, not be the case would have mortified our xrardparents' dinner guests into si~ lence. Our present candor-for the airy npersiflage which is now the fashion of-
 
 hot be best. It may make for shallow criticism; it may make for honest hhinking But one thing is certain hhe adjective "ideal' as applied to either man or woman will not lead us very far in any direction A woman's ideal woman and a mans ideal woman are seldom if ever the same. Don't hve all know of some woman who is z I,,a hown sex and who, nevertheless, seems Eto possess no attractions for men?
 She is the sort of woman that is the kcDfidante and friend for hosts of her tellow women. She is clever and often dimes beautiful And except that her nevotees would scornfully pronounce lher "too good for any man" they would unite in the opinion that, as wife, &he would be the ideal of ideals. Yet slot man in her whole wide circle Eseems to think the same. This woman lis womans woman, not a mans. And hshe usually knows it!
 On the other hand there are still plen- Ny ef examples everywhere of the man e,pEo is immensely popular with his lChums or club friends yet who makes lslot the slightest impression upon wom len He simply doesn't interest them -- 8Len seek him eagerly. Women have no ideas about him whatever. To them he has a curious quality of being un- saotieeable It is not that he is in the slightest degree offensive. He is to Them only quite colorless and lacking lin appeal Such man-he practically always remains bachelor-would be voted for by all his men acquafntances as the ideal husband. And maybe moi a woman who meets him would evel tconceive of him in the role of anyone's Husband. ideal or otherwise.
 So. of course, this talk about tho 1deal wife or the ideal husband is use Hess; the visions differ-happily-- every different dreamer. You find tha fhe comparatively everyday girl choser lfpr him by women match making friends is seldom the girl whom a mal actually marries. An ideal wife, hi frhe difficulty Is she doesn't happen t' be his ideal; she is only theirs
 
 And another thing in which the time have changed, is in Friendships. l talked Of this with clever woman of a cer lain age the other day, and she givei 1t as one of the signs of the world'l progress. She says that there was time within the memory of many of ul nyho are not yet old when deep ant 1asting friendships between two womei were the exception. People were no surprised at great friendship betweeI fWo men lasting, often from boyhood t' old age. They used to say that mel could be loyal to each other, but th idea of loyalty between woman an, woman was one that excited their doub if not their ironical smiles. Wome, Themselves were particularly given t' this sort of sex disloyalty. They dit lot believe in each other, and whel asked if they would like to be tried b, h jury of women if they happened t. have committed some crime, the answe was .Now most decidedly. Now il this Year of of Progress, 1914, put tn same question to your modern, up-to tate ad4ancing woman and what an swer 6o you get?
 The answer will still be "Nov' ac horling to my friend. but will not stol with that one monosyllable ver' hmrortant "but" will quickly follow it No we women do not wish to be trie' by jury of women. but by a jury com bosed of men and women togetherl w nsk to be tried by a jury of our peers Hnd we contend that as human being we have the right to be tried am hudged in such a way that We shall re reixe neither leniency nor undue sever 2 htv in our sentences, and in order t cet such justice we want the point O Riew of both men and women combined
 .sNo doubt men are under the impres kton they themselves are being tried b kheir peers when they stand before
 curv composed exclusively of men. bu fhev are not" she said "In many
 kriaI there is great need for woman noint of view even in dealing with
 man Tn some instances the woman Viewpoint will be more severe, in other more lenient and merciful. Humant Iehould be tried by humanity, not SC bv sex and Humanity is made up ( "A men and worlen together"
 z There are many persons who feel COT k ,yinced that we are on the verge of & <ox war Her own conviction is that tl |X rvar of t6e sexes is more of the pa, N .hau oHthe future. Between the sext . 2 q war has been waged through the age Man has fought with his weapon an woman with hers, and because woman only has seemed to be her capacity fo nubflety and deceit, as opposed to man superior physical force, 1t is little wor F Gsr that she has used the weapon. St E Aas not at all times been consciousl