Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-12-12

I the spell-breaking word that dlslllu-
sions the most ardent suitor, and that
when it is said to him he folds his
tent like the Arab and as silently
! steals away.
1t used to be that only the kind Of
women that We didn't introduce to
! our mothers and wives INDUCED n
| telling risky stories and perpetrated
double faced jokes, but now some Of
the raCiest anecdotes we ever hear
are told US by mother and wife. And
as for our daughters-well. it's daugh-
| ter who calmly drags out on to the
! Iarlor carpet problems that father
wouldn't have mentioned to her for
| the world.
I'll declare said the exasperated
man in conClusion,,"I sometimes think
that women have lost all sense OF
| modesty. They have thrown away all
of their seven wells of concealment Of
body and mind They've got no more
reticence in clothes or speech. and
their conversation is as decollele as
their gowns. What's the matter with
women. anyway"
They are in the throes OF a reaction
from old conditions and customs and
the pendulum always swings as far
one way as it did the other" replied
| Because women for centuries have
been swaddled and hampered by gar
ments that cribbed, cabined and con-
fined, they have stripped off all OF
the garments that they could. Be-
cause they have been hampered by
long skirts and trains that they had to
hold up as they walked they have
chopped off their skirts to the knees,
and because a perfect lady was sup.
posed to only say prunes and
at the top of their voices.
Slaves aren't to be blamed if they
mistake license for liberty, nor if they
think that the right of free speech
gives them the privilege to indulge
in the wrong sort of talk That's
where women are making their mis-
take. For so long women have had to
pretend that they didn't know the
things that they did know, and to keep
silent concerning every subject that
wasn't utterly innocuous, it isn't sur.
prtsing that now, when the ban has
been lifted and they can discuss any
subject they please, they have run
conversationally amuck.
ITS been little tedious, you know,
for woman to have to belle her sense
of humor and look Mortified instead Of
amused if the point Of a joke was a
trifle broad. 1t has been wearing on
the nerves to have to be properly
shocked, because you were a lady, if
any one dared even to refer in your
presence to some Of the big vital
problems of life. And women have
been bored to extinction by having to
prattle about the beautiful sunshine
and the birds and flowers and soulful
subjects in general, because they were
the only topics that a refined lady
could converse upon with a member
Of the male sex.
so it isn't much wonder that nov
when women are being recognized
for the first time as human beings
they've gone on a sort of converse
tional debauch, a talk-fest. in which
they are talking too much and toe
loosely and saying things that would
be far better left unsaid.
Il deprecate this thing just as much
as you do. 1t is just as shocking to
me as it is to you, because when a
woman throws away her reserve she
not only casts away her chief charm,
but her chief means of defense.
Women are judged by what they
say far more than by what they do
A woman who is loud talking and
slangy, who rips out a pet oath &C.
casionally and who tells off colored
stories, may be in reality as chaste az
Caesars wife, but she will have the
reputation of being fast and she will
be subjected to insults from men.
On the other hand a woman who is
delicate and refined in conversation
and who frowns upon all salacious
talk needs no better chaperon than her
conversational repertoire. A wise old
man of the world of my acquaintance
gave this advice to a young girl who
was leaving home to make her own
living:
My dear he said, you will meet
many men and women who will trv to
tell you dirty stories. Look them
straight in the face and pretend not
TO see the point or understand them.
Ihere are very few people abandoned
enough to try to- explain a filthy Joke
to a woman SO pure minded that she
doesn't comprehend it. YOU will be
perfectly safe as long as your CONVEX.
satfon Is always modest and refined "
Without doubt there is too much |
looseness Of talk among women. Bet. |
ter the day when perfect lady spoke !
OF the limbs of a piano than those in
which a woman recounts in utter
frankness in public places the init