Carthage courier. (Carthage, Tenn.) 1913-current, 1919-02-06
is MUSIC EFFEMINATE?

There is an idea in the minds of
some people, who have not put great
deal of time and energy on the study
of music, the greatest and most
loved of all arts, that music is effemi-
nate and only girls should study it
TO any extent.
Nine people out of every ten. or,
shall | say ninety per cent, love music
and derive a great deal Of pleasure
rom listening to it. This per cent
age includes the men of the world. In
fact, it has been quite a pleasant sur
Prise for me to discover just how
iond of music our men are. OF
course, as we all know, there are diff
.erent degrees of love and, while we
nay be very fond of music and de
rive great pleasure from it, only
hose who have devoted a great deal
IF time to its study can appreciate it
n the fullest and love it in the deep
est sense of the word. Music tickles
the ears of most people while, to only
a few, it breathes and pulsates with
life and that intangible something
We term divine.
Now, music has two sides-one we
will term the masculine; the other
the feminine. Some music is deep
noble, broad and inspiring; other mu
sic is tender, sympathetic and beau
.ifuI. So are our men and women, or
so they should be. At least, they pos
5ess these qualities in our ideals
There is nothing more disgusting tc
the average person than an effeminatt
nan or a masculine woman; yet, VIZ
must admit that a man can be toe
masculine or too coarse and a woman
100 feminine or devoid of what we
Term force or personality. Wha
IL IL
,ess? He must be masculine but no
90 rough or coarse; he must have
enough refinement about him not t.
oe repulsive to the weaker sex; h.
must be strong in character, mind an,
physique, but he must also be littl,
tender, little sympathetic and kline
I Let's now take our ideal woman
She must be feminine, but does tina
/ mean weak? She must be tender
4 bat not so tender as to be incapabl
of shouldering the duties life place
/ before her. She must be sympatheti,
but firm.
We find, then, that our ideal MAJ
is masculine but is strongly inf1u
enced by feminine qualities and vic,
versa.
We also find that music has tn,
| characteristics of both man ant
woman Why, then, should it be con
fined to one sex and the weaker sex
Music would cease to be music an,
beautiful were it not for the gentle
/ influences, or, the feminine charac
/ teristics, yet we women are unabl
/ to give it the deeper, broader solidit.
which the masculine mind and natur.
/ bestow on it.
Most people possess emotions, OF
aspirations or longings or ideal:
| which long for expression, sympathy
/ and comfort. God gives US thes,
emotions and He also gives US som,
kind of talent or means of expires
sion; and if this talent is not backec
up with the mind or individuality o.
expression in some tangible form, We
are capable even then of deriving |;
great deal of comfort and consola
ton from the works of those VIII;
have most beautifully and truthful.
expressed these same feelings an
have recognized in them the divin.
influence and mastery.
Boys, as a class, possess as muc.
love for art and as much talent a
girls. Then why should deeper az
probation and deeper enjoyment 0
art be denied them? Aside froT.
-hese characteristics, music is yer.
complex study, and it takes brains t
master it with concentration of tn
most absolute character. You sen
your children to school for what
To educate them you say. And wha
s education but mind development !
The biggest aim in education is t.
teach boys and girls to concentrat
and think things through, to bette
equip them for life and develop thei
| minds TO the extent that they will b
able to solve life's problems. Ye
what a sore need school teachers hav,
felt for a developer of character an,
high ideals and the best nature of boy
and girls along with their minds. TIL
Germans have highly developed mind
out they are warped and have lost tn
pest, noblest and highest thing il
life-high ideals. Latin and algebra
do not stimulate this side of boy
or girls nature, while art or musi
does and develops the brain at tn
same time. One of the foremost pub
ic school men in the United State
said the other day that music was a
necessary in the education of boys anC
girls as latin and algebra.
What is it in boy that draws hin
to the woods on a pretty spring day
hunting, fishing or just roaming
What messages have the trees, birds
and fish for him if not divine ons
which is closely akin to the message
God put in the power of sound .an6
harmony and melody.