Omaha daily bee., 1917-02-03
Man, Woman's
Chief Woe, but
Also Chief joy
By DOROTHY DIX,

has been trying to solve the eternal
problem OF human woe, has decided
that SO far as women are concerned
the fountain head OF trouble is man.
In proof OF this contention they cite
the facts that widows are proverbial-
ly fat and jolly, and that old maids,
as soon as they cease to struggle
against fate and abandon themselves
TO celibacy, wear all expression OF
peaceful calm that no married woman
ever exhibits.
This sounds very much as il the
modern Eve had borrowed Grandpa
Adams Garden OF Eden excuse. and
was laying the blame for trouble on
someone else, Nevertheless there is
a grain of truth in her accusation.
Man is at the bottom of most of
women's SORROWS. But for him she |
would seldom have cause to weep.
Yet she is never so happy as when he
is kissing away the tears he has made
her shed. Life without him would
be stormless voyage over placid |
sea. but it would be so dull she would
be bored to death before she reached !
the end Of it.
Let US examine into some OF the
burdens which man lays upon the
shoulders of his sister woman.
In the first place, one of woman's
greatest troubles is the difficulty in
catching a husband This is unde-
niably mans fault. Why can't he
have heart, and come up and stick
his head in the halter instead of wear
ing woman out chasing him down?
OF course, there are women who |
were born with the marriage certifi-
cate in their hands, so to speak; and
get not only one husband, but two
or three, as death or divorce requires.
Other women waste their entire lives |
in a vain pursuit of one husband and !
the majority of the female sex de-
vote from two to ten years to the |
business of husband hunting What
they go through in that time-the
WEAKNESS, the anxiety, the boredom
is enough to qualify them as saints
through martyrdom.
Nor is a woman's troubles ended |
when she acquires husband Then
comes the trouble of keeping him.
This also is mans fault. No man
ever worries his head about keeping /
his wife in love with him, but women
get crows feet and gray hairs ago
nizing over the problem to keep their
husbands fascinated.
This is the reason that married |
women look older than their single |
sisters of the same age. The girl |
bachelor may have her own anxiety |
and tribulation over the bread and |
butter supply, but she doesn't have
to wait up until 3 a. H., to deliver a
lecture to a man who rolls in with
the rolls. '
Nor does she have to worry over
the prospect of losing love that is
not strong enough to stand thirty |
three-inch waist measure. You never |
see old maids dieting or physical cul-
turing
Having no man to please, they take |
on fat or scrawniness as heaven sends |
it, and make no effort to conform to
any masculine standard of pulchri-
tude.
Another misfortune that woman
may lay at mans door is the awful
burden of dress. If women don't
paint because men admire roses on a
woman's cheeks; if they don't lace
because men are hopelessly commit
ted to the willowy figure; if they don't
pinch their feet and wear high-heeled
shoes because for thousands of years
men have sung and gloriied little
tootsies, will somebody arise in meet
ing and kindly explain why the min
ute that women are alone, and safe
from masculine eyes, they cold cream
their faces, shed their stays with a
gasp of relief, and get into kimonos
and fip-Aop slippers?
1t is significant that all of the
fashions for women that crib, cabin
an confne have been invented by
men, while woman's efforts in devils
ing dress have run to bloomers and
polymuriels, things that you can get |,
Oil with one hand and that fasten with
one hook. Even the French cou-
turiers have had enough compassion
on their sex to invent the natural
waist line and the short skirt.
anu, llildlly, IL 10 man wiz 10 ut tiS
bottom of all our servant troubles,
because except for man we would not
cook, and therefore there would be no
recalcitrant cook lady Except for
man there would be no more dinners,
and the world would be run on a
tea and toast basis, and the maid
would cease from troubling and the
cook stove be at rest.
1t is for man that woman pickles
and jells and preserves and roasts.
Left to herself, the simplest sandwich,
the festive olive, and the succulent
caramel, would suffice, and Mary Jane
might stay, or go, without raising a
ripple On the domestic pond but with
husband clamoring for food--real
food-the servant girl problem be-
comes a burning issue, the solution of !
which no woman can see.
But why delve deeper into the sub
ject? Enough has beeen said to show
that when woman was created she
found trouble, in the guise OF man.
waiting for her, but instead OF fleeing
from it--from that day to this she has
been chasing after it.
She has welcomed her affection, for
while life with man is full of stress
and, storm, without him it is cinders,
ashes and dust, and not worth having.
And there you are.