The Washington herald., 1918-08-19
The Two Points of View
BY DOROTHY DIX
THE WORLDS HIGHEST PAID WOMAN WRITER.

! men. And she frankly says that the
idea of marriage does not appea'
to her.
she wants to go to work. Sht
says that she considers 1t Is dis,
graceful for a woman to be a
loafer. an idler. and a spender. as II
is for a man to be one, and that she
simply cannot look herself in the
face unless she is engaged in some
productive labor that is of use In
the world. and she is begging heI
father to let her take a course at q
commercial college and go into hi,
office on the same plan that he
| would take on any other girl-and
! especially on the same plane that
he would take his son into his bust.
ness.
What do You think Of that! And
all these years I have been SC
, thankful to think that we would be
able to give our little girl ease and
luxury, and protect her from the
hardships of life Why, ] have never
seen a girl standing behind a coun-
ter, or bending over a typewriter
that I didn't have a little throb OF
gladness that by Ellen would be
safe from that. and now that is the
very thing that she is pining to
do.
And could weep with disap-
point for myself. ] thought we
would have such fun going out to-
gether in society, and the only place
she wants to go to is a business
office. thought I would have such
Joy in dressing her up, and all the
clothes she will have are plain little
tailor made things. / thought we
would have such good times in
Eossiping together. and the only
things she is interested in DISCUSSING
are heavyweight topics. about the
betterment OF social conditions. OF
the future of the steel trade, or the
price of stocks.
Yes. Ellen 10 a pretty girl, and a
good girl, and a clever girl, but she
Is a problem, and, believe me, the
problem daughter is a million times
more Of a problem. than the problem
son."
And the girl says:
Il am awfully sorry that I am such
disappointment to mother. 1 know
how she feels about me. She feels
like swan who has Matched out an
ugly duckling, and she wonders how
she came to do II. ~
What mother would like would be
for me to be just the same sort Of a
girl that she was. would IL I could
just to please her. but you can't turn
back the hands Of the clock. When
mother was my age she had nice
dainty little tootsie wootsies, and
wore a number two shoe. have
played golf and tennis and taker
hikes all Of my life. and 1 wear
number four shoe. Mother had wo,
tight corset since she was 13. az
| had an 1s-inch belt measure. I b
got a natural waist line.
All Of that goes mentally as vel
as physically and can no. more ge,
| into mothers point Of view abou
what a girl should be and do. than !
could get into the clothes she wor,
when she was girl They don't NEE,
on me by six inches. Poor mother
and poor me!
Mother can't understand whv
want to go to work and do something
worth while in the world, some roa
work that counts. and that shows re
suits in dollars and cents. I cam
make her see why It seems to m,
utterly silly for a human being who
has a brain and has spent ten year,
In cultivating it at a good school. e
spend her time in doing what is cali.
ed woman's work, In embroiderins
dinky little doilies, or crochstinl
miles Of silly little edging, or fussins
over putting in miles of hard worl
on underclothes that nobody sees.
"A criminal waste of time, cal
about nine-tenths of the work tina
women do. but mother thinks it Il
the refined and proper thing for
gentle woman to do. and that ther,
is something abnormal in a girl wh,
can't feel that it is her great mission
in life to run pink and blue ribbol
in her lingere.
"And as for trotting around I,
society, and going. from party {,
party. and lunch to lunch, and din
ner to dinner meeting the peopl
who have never done anything els
all Of their lives, and to whom tn
! most Important question in tn
world is what sort of an entire I
going to be served, to whom tn
greatest discovery of the age Is
new cocktail. and the most vital is
sue Of the times, whether the Jones
have a new car or the Smiths cal
afford the style in which they ar
living. why simply haven't tn
strength to do 1t. not even to pleas
mother. for I am not the stun o
l zuhf.h mo rfvrS ora ,..oS~ 1901