The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-10-09
DOROTHY DIX TALKS
BY DOROTHY DIX
Worlds Highest Paid Woman Writer.
Women as Regular Human Beings.

>~7----7--"@-7---
/ Women as Regular Human Beings.
The secret ambition of every wo-
man who has an inch of backbone and
a tablespoonful of brains is to be re-
garded as a regular human being in
stead of merely as a woman.
She is tired of being thought of in
terms of millinery as doll who must
1 be continually dressed up, or as a toy
1 to be played with. or as a clinging
vine that has to be propped up. What
she yearns for above all other earthly
things is to drop the question of her
sex, and to be considered and dealt
with as a fellow creature who has in
I telligence and reason and capa bility.
and who is thoroughly able to stand
alone on her two sturdy little feet.
This desire that all women cherish
is being realized now for the first
time by a class of women who are
being officially recognized by their
country not as women, but as regular
human beings For in the draft of
men to defend their country those
who have dependent, helpless wives
| are excused from service, but not the
men who have married women who
4 have been self supporting. Thus does
the government recognize the woman
who can take care of herself as a
citizen instead of a female.
In spite of the sorrow and anxiety
that tore at her heart as she saw her
man go, it must have been a proud
moment for such a woman to realize
that she was no drag upon her hus-
band, keeping him tied down to his
daily job when his soul longed to be
marching away with those who are
4 fighting the battle for the freedom of
the world; that she was no obstacle in
the path of his duty and that she
could give to it all that any woman
can give and the work of a man be-
sides.
! When the government announced
That the husbands of all women who
had been self-supporting would not
be exempted from service in the
army, it was as if the accolade of
knighthood had been laid on the
shoulder of every woman who has
ever stood behind the counter, or
! manipulated typewriter or bent over
ledger, or followed any trade or
profession by which she earned her
daily bread. Such women were en-
nobled by their work, recognized for
all time as regular human beings
who could do their share of the
worlds work, who could take their
place as comrades and fighters with
men instead of being helpless bur-
dens on mems hands.
Certainly the need of teaching ev-
cry girl some way by which she can
earn her own living has been en-
4 phasized by this war SO that it does
not seem that even the duIlest and
most short-sighted parents could fail
to see the Importance of it Every
day we are seeing the empossible
happen, and the things that we
tnought could never take place occur
fortunes are being swept away and
people who thought themselves rich
are being impoverished. Men are be-
ing Killed and MANNED. Women are
I being widowed and children orphaned
and those who had fondly believed
that they had strong men to protect
them from the hardships of life, sud
denly find that they themselves must
protect and care for the wrecks OF
men that war sends home to them
AL of the old feminine landmarks
! of safety are being swept away on the
j tidelof blood that mandates the world
Nothing will be the same for women
after the war as it was before They
will not even be able to count on get
ting married, as the predestined and
ordinary way of a woman's makine
her livelihood, because so many men
will be killed that there will not be
enough men to go around as husbands
by many millions.
Therefore, it behooves all parents
to see to it that their girls are taught
some means of earning their owr
bread and butter, for it is just as GER
tain that the young woman of tomor-
row is going to have to support herself
as it is that her brother is.
OF course, under any conditions
girls should always have been taught
some gainful occupation so that they
could support themselves if necessary
The reason for it has always existed
1t is only emphasized now, and the
most curious thing in the world is
that fathers and mothers have never
seemed to appreciate what a crue
thing, what a criminal ting, it is tc
turn their daughters adrift in life
; without even a financial spar to cling
to.
None are so ignorant as not to know
. that money lies at the basis of al
health, happiness and Responsibility
A woman must have food and shelter
and clothes. If she has no husband
: or father to supply them she mus
: make the money to buy them herself
and if she is not taught some way o
making the money honestly. she il
! forced to get it dishonorably.
Parents know that, and yet they ar
so careless they trust their daughters
fates to chance. That is why the sill
of ninety per cent of the girls who g
wrong is on their parents heads. Tn
girls would have been glad to work l
they had been taught anything b.
which they could have earned Iv
ing wage, but no one saw to it tina
they were taught how to do anythin
1 we'll enough to command decent sal
ary and so. utterly unframed End un
skilled, they drifted from miserabl
i job to miserable job until finally the
drifted on the street.
4 The way to keep girls from goinl
a wrong is to teach them how to work
4 Teach them skill at some occupation
: for which they have an aptitude, TO
2 there is no keener pleasure than il
doing the work We know we do well
and you will supply them with sucl
) interests and ambitions that you vii
fill their minds with other thought
than that of dance halls and chea
= amuseme ntS.
Teach them how to do the kind 0
} work that is worth good money an
thew will not have to buy the finer
! that all girls love with their souls
They can pay for it out of their owl
pocketbooks. Teach a girl to be sci
q supporting and you put into her sci
respect and independence that make