The Washington times., 1920-09-05

7Y way OF obviating some inevitable
r. misconceptions Of the judicious
readers concerning the purpose Of
This article, allow me to state the follow
lowing predatory explanations. II is hardly
necessary to state. first, that am not seek
ing notoriety by saying the sensational.
The editor of this magazine requested the
article, believing that it might do some
good. l hope II does, though I do not
share his flattering optimism.
al Secondly, I am not q professional re-
former or uplifter or Blue Law inquisitor;
nor do look upon beauty as a snare or
upon pleasure as sin or upon ugliness
and gloom as virtues. utterly loathe such
pests of humans and such unhuman cast
of mind. What say is merely the refec-
tive comment Of a plain, ordinary man
upon the indecency of certain women.
Il believe most women are fundamentally
sound. But their public representatives
are too often not so and there Is danger
lest the quiet majority fall into the evil
ways of the noisy minority.
And, lastly, am not at all over inQusi-
tive about feminine attire. Irefer here only
to what is obvious; what, in fact, is actu-
ally thrust upon our gaze. And | do look
upon such pretty general indecency In
dress as an evidence of an equally general
moral decay within. Were it not so ]
would refrain from comment
Now, in previous article I expressed
the conviction that this indecency in fem
mime dress was a mistake if real beauty
were the object in view, simply because
the nude human body was not as beautiful
as the clothed. Candidly, am inclined to
doubt the correctness Of paying many wo-
men this indirect compliment of supposing
aestheticism to be their ruling motive
There are so many evidences in favor of
the supposition that the prevailing inde-
cency is rather an appeal to the baser in
stincts of the male. In which case, decent
and thoughtful men are quite apt to rumi-
nate upon the capacity and willingness OF
Women to be purifying and civilizing in
fuence upon society in these disintegrating
times; to question If woman is capable or
willing to rise to her splendid opportuni-
ties for doing good afforded by her politi-
cal and industrial emancipation; to ask
women fatty il we men are to take them
seriously as new social factor for good
or to regard them as simply players of the
same old game Of influencing men by the
historic appeal of sex: to ask plainly il
ftmale suffrage is a bluff or a means to
improve society.
In short, 1t all boils down to this, name
ly: that woman Is now the equal of man
in every sense and possessor Of every
right and privilege and opportunity hther-
10 exclusively enjoyed by man. Well, then,
is she willing and capable of appreciating
and making use of these serious opportu-
mites or does she prefer to las above
stately play the same old historic game
OF influencing men through an indecent
.,ppeaI 10 his lower self or sex? In word,
are we men to take seriously the new
woman?
"A good many men refuse to take her
seriously, precisely because they see her
at her old game Of sex-appeal. of which the
present ndecercy in dress is but one man.
Hesitation. And. really, the student Of his.
tory cannot help, in this connection, re-
flecting upon the behavior of women in
times very distant from but strikngly sim.
iiar TO our own; times when surely good
Women we're sorely needed to save society
from ruin, but when women utterly failed.
Remember that at the time when Christ