The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-11-13
TO THE
 LOVELORN B.
By BEATRICE FAIRFAX

When your mother was a girl, waltzing was a scandalous perform ance which caused hands to fly up Tn the air and tongues to wag energet- ica1ly.
 ..How a nice girl can, do such an undignified, unrefined thing!" they said.
 The polka, the minuet and their forbears came in, no doubt, for their share of criticism. The>scostumes Of the Directoire period wereNas scanty- in spots-as those of today. The nor arls of any period were as sketchy-- in spots-as the much criticized 'looseness'' of the here and now, I
 I wonder if it wouldn't. do us a whole lot of good for a change: to sit down and admire ourselves and, our generation, instead of thinking what terrible folks we are. ,-4-...
 One of my favorite authors did a bit of criticism a few days ago; which struck me as applying to several other folks and hundreds and thousands of folks besides the individual whom he so well painted. Said the man of fas- ci1e pen and keen brain:
 Whenever he tries to unbend, it has seemed to that he felt his mind was going slumming." -=.
 I wonder if most of us aren't too much given to holier-than-thou, shoulder -shrugging mental attitudes which leave us with our noses elevat- ed and our skirts drawn away from a lot of things that aren't half bad, until we try to make IneIn out all DaO. Not at First Hand.
 The interpretation of anything-be it work of art or situation-stands all too frequently between. the world and the thing it is supposed to clarify for the world. We don't often get things at first hand. We see even the stars through layers of atmosphere. There's mental gauge between us and most of the things we survey.
 Now, then, is the woman who duSts a shiny nose with powder to be criti- cised for subtracting the unbeautfful shine" from the worlds sum of ugI- ness? Is there anything inherently | immoral about red cheeks? Hardly, | since they are symbolic of the health and c1aan living and outdoor exercise i and sane eating which once were the cause and method of getting them. Then why isn't the beauty-loving in- stinct that makes the woman we just permitted to powder her nose justi | fled if it lays a soft layer of rose-col- ored powder over sallow. cheeks We all live rose -colored glasses and the optimistic viewpoint for which l they stand. Sometimes l think de- gently applied touch of. color on 1eaden skin is nothing but a symbol of op | tmism and love of beauty.
 The paint brush run riot is another thing. I am not upholding the mas cara-ed eyelash, which may get into the eye and infect it, and which cer- tainly affects the eye of the beho1der i like a smudge of dirt on a pretty pie | ture. I don't like vermillion lips, such l as nature never made.
 Brassy blonde hair and henna-ed locks have as little of beauty and charm as of naturalness Still they do not prove that their possessor would rob a baby's bank or run away with her neighbours husband. They only show thsE she's groping for beauty and hasn't the best of taste. I can find it in my heart to con. demn the sour-visaged woman who whispers a little evil of the over roughed lady far more than the fam buoyant wou1d-be beauty if she smiles ct the world and drops nickels in blind mems tin cups and smiles into the slot of things that make the. world go taround. . | The Love of Scandal.
 | Scandal-mongering, criticism of all seeking the joy and running after 1 loveliness sometimes seem to be way of taking ones own wicked inn pulses vicariously. Just , rolling wicked morse1 over on the tongue is such fun for some Puritans.
 1 Skirts an inch or two below the. knees aren't pretty, nor are they mod est. But 1t is no whit more pleasing to gape at them and giggle at them and sheer at their wearer. -.
 Good taste can allow for the bad taste of some one else. Letting your mind go ~- off on a Summing trip'' by wa1lowing in thoughts of how very lax some one i else is, and how near to the thinneSt edge of the thin ice he's skating isn't keeping your mind pure and your thoughts holy. The man with the high-powered crimson car may have less of the '.slum taint" xn his mental attitude than the chap who is@ sure that .'red devir' is heading straight 1 for-all the wicked places of. which his critic likes to think, even if. he'd never-never-ne go there ..z.
 To be merry and 4ay is as natural for young humans as for friskins lambs. To purse up your lips at youth
 isn't fine and high-minded but, to- l ken that you're afraid that if you were