The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-25
Are Women Losing Influence?
By FRITZ ROY GARDNER

The real woman is today apt to be regarded by many of her own sex as an effete institution, to be taken seriously only by poets, parsons and few-too few-novelists She has been supplanted in marked degree by an artificial crea- ture, who, while affecting the freedom of the man in thought, speech and ac- tion, has acquired none of the mans finer qualities as substitute for the grit of true womanhood. which she has sacrt- feed on the altar of what she worships as "fashion.''
 The growing tendency to familiarity be- tween the sexes, for which the emancipa- tion of woman is the excuse, points to- ward the gradual elimination of mans respect for the woman. One hears, and not only in what is sometimes known as smart society" gentlewoman by birth and education, if not by instinct, discuss ing with casual acquaintances of the op- posite sex books of a questionable kind, and the reports of public trials of the most scandalous nature, and repeating and listening to stories such as were told formerly nowhere except in the smoking room of club or the bar parlor of q public house.
 Unfortunately, women who thus pro- claim their contempt for what they would term "prudishness'' lower not only them selves individually, but their sex in the estimation of the men to whose baser instincts they endeavor to appeal "Is chivalry dead?' was the subject of de- bate in one of the newspapers some little time ago. The answer might be, Yes; women have killed it.
 One of the most baneful effects of the extremely modern" woman's influence arises from her marked irreverence in re- spect to religion, and. in fact, of senti- ment of any kind. Men who may be careless about religion themselves, have an instinctive respect for women who are sincerely devout, and who live up to their principles. With many women the word love" is now ridiculously obsolete, or nothing, but a convenient name for an ephemeral form of emotion from which 1t Is more easy to recover than from an attack of influenza.
 The marriage of convenience,'' which not long ago was considered sufficiently abnormal to be taken as theme by novelists, playwrights and artists. is now such an ordinary occurrence as to excite very little notice. Formerly 1t was ex- clusively the outcome of an arrangement between parents, whereas now it is more often engineered-there seems no more appropriate term-by the girl herself. Many a young girl today sells herself to man with as light heart as if she were disposing of poodle, or breaks off an engagement with cold indifference to the effect on the life and character of the other party thereto.
 Formerly. women could be more, or less distinctly divided into two classes good and bad. But by degrees a new. inter mediate class has come into prominence. represented by the type which Is ashamed of being quite good and afraid of being quite bad. The average man who has lost his respect for women generally ranks the intermediate woman with the bad, and does not discriminate between her and the class that Is altogether out side the pale of society, among which he may occasionally find hearts capable of more lasting affection, more self-sacri- flee. and more influence over him for