The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-12-06
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL {
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director.
- Washington, ID. C.
a BLOW no CHIvA1RY.

subject of good deal of debate among
advanced feminiStS, and it is even pos
sibfe that some procurement on the
subject may be made by a leading
onlan's organization.
No longer is it safe for a man in
discriminatingly to lift his hat to a
woman. That is, not If she happens TO
be a feminist of the most advanced
schc.i.
These radicals say that hat tipping,
far from signifying respect, means
simply that the man regards woman
as a weak and helpless creature. They
dig back into the romantic days of
chivalry 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. Woman came, in
| this second group. There may have
been other reasons why the knights
made a ladyS presence a regular eX-
cuse to dispense with their head
cages. Probably the weight made their
heads ache. Probably, too, they liked
their feminine friends to see their no.
Bile features. But the big idea, wheth-
err they were CONSCIOUS of it at all
times or not was that woman was a
thing apart and not to be taken seri-
ously.
The same principle, according to the
feminists. has come down to us in 9TH
er bits of gallantry which in their true
meaning proclaim womans inferior
ity. This is true of man walking on
the outside of the pavement to guard
a woman companion against any dan
ger from the street, and also of a man
rising to give a woman a seat in a
street car.
The first is obviously an act of pro-
lection, based on the idea of woman's
fragility. Regarding street car con-
duct there is some controversy. The
advance guard of fenninism finds that
4 HI lanA
resign his seat to a woman, he is maxi
ing . special concession to her sex, es-
pecially her frailty. If the woman is
able bodied, the insinuation is not eX-
actly a. compliment. Therefore, they
say, the pantomime of exchanging po-
sitions' on a street car can be elimi-
mated and social intercourse will be
one step nearer an honest, sensible
basis.
Formally Versus Consideration,
Most of the women. however. even
| those who prefer not to accept favors
from men when offered on a basis of
special consideration for their sex.
agree that very often a man is to be
applauded for giving up his seat to
someone else. Common politeness-
not offensive chivalry-demands that
an old person of either sex. a woman
with baby. a cripple, or a sick per-
son, should be seated in a street car
or waiting room. Some concede that
a man can even surrender his seat to
a tired-fooking woman of any age
without implying that she is a mere
E, doll to be handled with care. And, of
course, some women say that they like
i to see man show consideration for
them, whatever it implies.
Ancient ideass'of woman's place in
society still guide us when it comes
to many social formalities. In some
places it is still held the correct thing
1 for man to precede woman upstairs
land descend after her. The origin of
\ this is obscure, but we have been told
! that it could probably be traced to the
| time when women wore hoop skirts.
| This fashion, combined with the po-
lite idea of the time that a woman
| had no legs would make t~proper for
a man to conduct himself so that the
illusion might remain unshattered. If
| he descended first, and stood awaiting
| his fair companion below, either the
| styles in clothing or in decorum would
| have had to change. Nowadays. when
women's skirts are knee length and
street car steps two feet high, the pre-
| caution of a man preceding a woman
up 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 dinner party to
/
men to smoke and talk in the dining
room. This procedure started at me-
dieVal banquets when everybody. men
and women alike. crammed to the
neck on as many kinds of food as the
host could pile on an overladen board.
After dinner, the damsels retired, and
| their lords proceeded to drink them
selves tossleep under the table. This
| dinner party etiquet, which was still
| justified until recently by the fact that
| n tn ri
| gar smoke, is now mere hollow form.
| Certainly few modern women object
| to the scent of tobacco smoke, and
many feel sighted If not invited to
help make it.
! Some Individual Views.
The women do not intend to keep
| their theories in the conversation
stage. There is talk here pro and con
of a public declaration to settle these
matters of what is desirable in the
way of courtesy from men 1t Is in
this connection that the Woman's
Party is considering a bill of rights 10
| be drafted by the national convention
of women voters when it meets at the
capital next February. This would
certainly simplify the situation for
perplexed man. Before such a declar-
alton could be made, however, there
would have to be a consensus of opin-
ion obtained. So far. there has been
no organized attempt to find out where
woman voters stand on the question,
though there is no doubt every woman
has her own definite ideas on the SUBJ
/ ject.
| We give here three sample opinions
by women who are representative, and
we predict that the convention will
have some trouble in 7reconciling the
different factions which will rise to
show that lifting a hat is an act of
scorn or a gesture of reverence
Margaret Hatfield. who is a strong
| believer in woman's equality with man,
and who retains her maiden name.
though married, expressed the follow
ing view:
i f''There always has been. and | sup
pose always Will be, the chivalry which
is founded on women being the moth
ers of the race. Mans Willingness to
founded ON this factuaI basis. But the
chivalry which divides women into
two classes. the protected. and the I'M