The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-01-26
The Game of
Marriage
by DOROTHY DIX.

The great thing that the present
mania FOR outdoor sports is doing for
women is not so much In giving them
stronger muscles as 1t is in giving them
stronger mental and moral fibre. And
It's crowning blessing is that 1t is
teaching them how TO play the game
If life squareiy. and accept It's re-
suits without whining.
Women are not sports by nature.
They like to gamble, hut they want
to do 1t without risk, and When they
lose they howl to heaven. They cam
not understand why you cannot have
your cake and eat it. too. nor why
one has made.
One OF the chief reasons that there
are so many divorces is because wo-
men are so lacking IN the sports
manlike spirit. A girl will deliberate
" marry a man knowing him to be
q drunkard. and then divorce him be-
cause he drinks, which is manifestly
both absurd and unjust, OR, girl
will marry poor young man ana
make his life torment by her con-
tinual complaints because she can't
have the clothes and jewels and au-
tomobiies of a millionaire's wife.
NTlat Incy should DO
II these women had a drop of sport
ing blood in their veins they would
accept with philosophy the fates they
had brought upon themselves. The
drunkard's wife would meet her In
temperate spouse with a red rose in
her hair and a smile on her lips when
he came Keeling home at G. NJ, and
spend the balance Of the night apply
ing ice cloths to his fevered brow. The
poor mans wife would he strong for
the love-in-a-cottage stuff, and simply
flaunt her hand-me- downs in the face
of her little world
Indeed. to do anything else is for
the woman to stultify herself. and
give her husband a crooked deal,
for he, poor M was under the i'm
she was getting when she married
him, and that he represented her
choice in life partners.
This spirit of the tin horn sport
Is also abundantly manifested In the
way that SO many women perform
their obligations to their families
They do their duty, but they dc 1t
with groanings and complaints that
make their illustrations hard to
endure.
How many a housekeeper do You
know whose ABODE Is lulnaCulatttF
clean, whose food is always deli
ciously cooked, whose thrift is marvel,
yet who makes her home worse than
a place of pesti1ence because she is
always complaining about what q
slave she is. and how hard she has
to toll?
How many a wife do you know
who really does do her wifely duty
to her husband to the last button
on his shirt. but who robs 1t of all
flavor by continually reminding him
of the sacrifices she makes for him
and the work she does for him?
Self Advertised Martyrs.
How many mothers do YOU know
who do devote themselves to theiS
children. who toll and economize that
their girls may have good clothes, and
their boys go to college, but who
never weary Of bemoaninG the hard
, ships of a mothers lot and TELLING
| what martyrs they are to their chill
dren?
| These women can never under
stand why they are not hOnored for
| having done their duty by their
families, and loved for the sacrifice
/ they have made. 1t is because they
] have not played the game in a
sportsmanhke manner. They haven't
| taken the loss. along with the gain
| with an even mind.
! There Is a. gambling maxim which
| says. put UP. or shut mp" to the
| buffer. To women might be added
this further admonition: II you are
| going to do your duty, be a sport
| Do II without whining.