Great Falls daily tribune., 1920-12-09

Washington, ID. G., Nov. 3O.-ls the
system of formal courtesy with which
men treat women sign of respect or
of scorn? Does it put woman OH
pedestal. or brand her an inferior!
These questions are just now the sub
ject of good deal of debate among
advanced feminlsts, and it is even posi-
bic that some pronouncement on the
ST bject may be made by a leading
Woman's organization.
No longer is it safe for a man indis-
criminatingly to lift his hat to woman.
That is, not if she happens to be q
feminist of the most advanced school.
These radicals say that hat tipping,
far from signifying respect, means SIM
ply that the man regards woman as
weak and helpless creature. They dig
back into the romantic days of chivulry
and produce data showing that the bold.
brave knights used to remove their
weighty helmets in the presence of any
one who was to be trusted or harmless.
Women came in this second group.
There may nave been other reasons why
the knights made Iadys presence
regular excuse to dispense with their
head cages Probably the weight made
their heads ache Probably. too, they
liked their feminine friends to see their
er they were conscious Of it at all
times or not, was that woman was
thing apart and not to be taken str
iously.
The same principle. according to :he
ffminisrs. has come down to US IN other
bits of gallant2y which III their true
meaning proclaim womans lnferlorlty.
This Is true of man walking on the
outside Of the pavement to guard a
woman against any danger from the
street, and also Of man rising TO give
a woman a seat i'll street car.
The first is obviously an act Of protec-
tion, based on the idea of woman's fragii-
ity. Regarding street car conduct there
is some controversy. The advance guard
of feminism finds that when a man rises
in O public place to resign his seat TO
woman he is making a special concession
to her sex, especially her fragllty. Ii the
woman is able bodied. the insulation IS
not exactly a compliment. Therefore,
they say, the pantomlme OF exchanging
positions on street car can be ellInnat
ed and social intercourse will be one step
nearer an honest. sensible basis.
Formally Versus Consideration
Most Of the women. however even
those who prefer to accept the favors
from men when offered on basis oI
especial consideration for their sex. agree
that very often man is to be applauded
for giving his seat TO someone else. Com
mon politeness- offensive chIYalry-
demands that ali Old person Of either SEX.
a woman with q baby. cripple. or Il
sick person. should be seated III street
ear or waiting room Some coucede that
a man can even surrender his seat to
tired looking woman OF any age without
irt,F, F,IHriD laf hn n he
handled with care And. Of course. some
women say that they like 10 see u man
show consideration for them, whatever
il implies.
Ancient ideas of woman's place in so
citty still guide us when it comes TO
many social formalities. Ia some places
it is still held the correct thing for Il
man to precede woman up stairs and
descend after her The origin of this is
obscure. but we have been told that II
could probably be traced to the time when
women wore Aoop skirts. This combined
with the polite idea Of the time that q
woman had 40 legs. would make 1t prop
CT for q man to conduct himself so that
the Illustration might remain unshatter-
3D. If he descended first. and stood
awaiting his fair companion below. either
the STYLES in clothing or i'll decoruni
when womcn's skirts are knee length
and street car steps two feet high, the
precaution Of man preceding woman
np flight Of steps is obviously out OF
date. Recently convention has changed
somewhat to allow the man TO follow the
woman both up and downstairs
Another threadbare convention is for
the women at a dinner party to adjourn
to the parlors, leaving the men to smoke
aud talk III the dinning room. This pro
ceedure started at the medieval ban
quets when everybody men and women
alike crammed the neck on as many
kinds Of food as the host could pile on
the overladen board. After dinner. the
damseis retired. and their lords proceed
cd to drink themselves to sleep under
the table This dinner party etiquette
which was still justified until recently
By the fact that women were supposed
70 object to cigar smoke, is now mere
hollow form. Certainly few modern