The Washington times., 1919-08-21
The New Girl.
and the Old
By Eleanor Gilbert.
Author ''The Ambitious Woman I'm
Business7 and Of Articles of
Practical Value to Business
GfrIa

Author faThe Ambitious Woman I'm
Business7 and Of Articles of
Practical Value to Business
Girls.
TT used to be that the ambition
Of every girl as she grew up
was one Of three things-she
wanted to be either a nurse, a nun
or an actress. No girl was really
normal unless she had one Of these
three aspirations. If she were the
lively, fun-loving type, the lure of
the stage held her, and from an
early age she began to mimic great
actresses she had heard of or the
people about her, and she saved her
pennies for the precious Saturday
afternoon matinee.
The self-sacrifcing type always
visualiZed herself in the nurses
white linen cap and, perhaps
vaguely, in the back Of her mind
was the idea that some day her
gentle hand would soothe the pain
Of some susceptible Adonis-and
soon after the wedding bells would
chime for her. And believe that
every sentimental girl had visions
Of a nunnery some time in her life.
But, judging from the many let
ters I receive, my own opinion is
that there has been some change
in the ambitions Of the average
girl. In the first place, It is de-
lightful to find out that nowadays
every girl wants to work. Whether
she needs to support herself or not,
I believe that the average girl is
anxious to be occupied at some
thing and that nine out of ten girls
would be utterly miserable il they
were compelled to spend thir days
in unplanned fashioned, vainly try
ing to pass time by little shopping
and frivolous teas and empty amUse-
ments.
The first occupation that seems to
suggest itself to a girl who wants
to do something" seems to be NOV
ing pictures.
I receive innumerable letters from
girls convinced that they would
make much better screen stars than
the present favorites OF the public.
Or, IL they don't want to be moving
picture actresses, they are sure that
they could write scenarios. Often
they send their scenarios for criti-
cism, because they cannot possibly
understand why such excellent mate
rial is not accepted by the film pro-
ducer.
think the chief difference be-
tween the work ambitions of girls
today and those OF previous years
is that the modern girl wants
something exciting to do. while the
girl Of a decade or two ago de-
sired chiefly some work that prom
ised her peace and seclusion.
The girl who had to earn her own
living used to select teaching auto
matically, because teaching meant
protection and seclusion. Instruct
ing a class OF children was, after
all, not so far removed from bring
ing up ones own infants. The
schoolroom was a quiet place in
which the teacher could rule. It
was a very brave girl who first at
tempted to earn her own living
away from home or schoOlroom and
started to compete with men in
the cold, hard world outside.
It isn't the prospect of plugging
away at a desk writing scenarios
that is attractive: il isn't the run
ming around town on hot days
picking up notes for the society
column that makes reporting Sc
dUctive. No. The girl who wants
a job now wants thrills. and il is
the hope OF novelty and excitement
that piques her interest most.