Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-03-02
THIS IS SURELY
DAY OF WOMEN
Any They Are Just Beginning
to Stand Off and Discover
Themselves
BY Beatrice Fairfax.
is the day Of woman.


We are just beginning to stand off
and look at ourselves and consider
ourselves as a problem.
Once upon time a home and it's
duties satisfied us. We spun and
wove and baked and sewed and
brought up the children and rather
enjoyed what the woman of today
would be inclined to call drudgery.
Modern efficiency plus modern ma
chinery has taken most of our house
hold tasks from us. And a great
many women find themselves with
leisure on their hands and a vast un-
rest in their hearts.
The world does a great deal of dis
cussing as to what really is necessary
for woman's life.
Physical well being" says the Ma
terialist. Exercise and fresh air
and enough money to live on COM
fortably. A woman who has these is
bound to be happy and have a full
and rounded life"
The Apostle of some new ''ism" re-
spends to him scornfully and says
that woman must come out of the
place where the material things are
and study her soul. She mustn't
think of her body, but of beauty, all
comprising beauty.
The Intellectual looks up over his
thick goggles and says Nonsense!
What woman needs is work"
The Old Fashioned Man shakes
his head sadly and declares "Oh,
no; what woman needs is to give up
all these new movements and the
desire to make her own place in the
world and to come back to baking
and cooking and satisfy herself in
the home as her mother did before
her."
The Woman's Idea
But Woman herself shakes her
head to all of this. She has looked
out into the world and seen that it
has need of her and she knows that
she has need of 1t. Perhaps there
is vague unrest in her heart, but
there are ideals, too. She knows
that, however much she needs sun
shine and fresh air and thoughts of
beauty and enough domesticity to
satisfy her, there is more needed.
Woman needs a chance. to do useful
work and the joy of counting su-
premely to some one for whom she
cares.
In an ideal state one might sum it
up by saying that she needed happy
occupation and home and love. But
ours is not an ideal state. Not
every woman can have an abso-
lutely congenial occupation. Too
many women have to forego the
warmth and comfort of home. And
husbands and children don't seem
quite numerous enough to go round.
So for practical purposes woman
has to be satisfied with a chance at
useful occupation in which she can
express herself sanely and to which
she can bring certain vital energy
which will make her gradually come
to feel real interest in 1t.
An adaptable woman who wanted
to be concert singer and who
ended up by being a reader in a play
brokers' office would be able to make
that work interesting and satisfying.
Love is an absolute necessity.
Without it human life could no more
persist than could our world exist
entirely without sunshine. But sun
shine doesn't come just when we
want it nor with the precise degree of
"oi AhSh doh. NUT l5 WOuldU
always given 1.-The love of strong
man." 1t isn't actually necessary,
either.
What is necessary is to matter
supremely to some one." That some
one may be 5edridden old mother,
or crippled little sister, or a worn
and weary father, or young brother
who looks to one worshipfully for
help and guidance.
Even the woman who has no kith
nor kin may have splendid loyal
friendships. And the woman who has
that has not an empty life.
None of us can exist without work
to interest us and love to warm and
caress us. If we have that we have
much. If we nave more we are in
deed blest.
But what every woman needs, in
its simplest terms, is the chance to be
useful and the privilege of loving and
being loved.