The Washington herald., 1921-01-07
Dorothy's Dix's Advice
= Copyright. ls2l, by. the waeeier
Syndicate. Incl
Do WOMEN WANT TO ID
..-- PETTEDs

lhed nuspdHos " treat tfSin aS
equals and companions, not as do
mestic pets. y
Which is right. the lady or the
Judge? Do wives wish 20 be petteo
or not?
I side with the judge. 1 think
that where there lis one woman
who desires to be dealt with on a
cold. hard. business platform by her
husband, there are 100000 who
yearn to be babied. Also that about
the same ratio prevails between the
number of wives who would rather
discuss what Harding is going to
do about the league of nations than
to- listen to- their bubbles tell them
that they are the sweetest, prettiess
little loYey- -doveys that any man
was ever lucky enough to tic up
with.
Age-long experience has amply
shown that while a man takes any
interest in holding his wife's hand.
she will cheerfVlly work it to the
bone for him, and that If a husband
wishes to blind fhis wife to his
goings-on, all he has got to do Is
that other women envy a woman is
not the man who is a model of. all
the virtues, or the man who pro-
vides his wife with tiaras' and linn
cuisines. 1t is the man who Is ten1
der and affectionate to his wife, who
shows in u thousand little ways that
his love is a living thing instead
Eof expecting her to take it for
granted.
If a woman wanted merely to be
treated as a mans equal and to
have intellectual companionshIp
with him, she would be a great fool
to take upon herself the burden of
matrimony, for she would give up
much to gain little. The business
woman enjoys an equality with the
men with whom she works shoulder
to shoulder that their wives can
never know, because she is not de-
pendent upon them, nor bound to
them in any way, and their wives
are. So the woman who yearns for
equality with men had best stick to
her job and her own pay envelope.
The woman who wants her hus-
band to treat her just as he would
a man friend can get more of that
sort of chumminess outside of mar
Tiage than she can in it. That
ideal of the relationship between 4
man and a woman can best be car
ried out in a platonic friendship,
where two people who have a mild
regard for each other and a mutual
taste in symphony concerts and lit
erature, can golf, and walk, and
talk together and enjoy each others
best without having to endure each
others worst.
In these days any able-bodied, in
telligent. woman can make a good
living for herself at the kind of
work she has picked out because It
is congenial to her. She. has lib
erty to come and go as she pleases,
unquestioned. She can spend her
money as she likes without rem
dering an account to anybody. She
has certain hours of the twenty
four absolutely for her own.
The average married woman has
to work far harder than any bust
ness woman does. She has no
money of her own, but must ask
Ter husband, who is often niggardIy
and grudging, for every penny. II
she has children there is no hour |
of the day or night when she is |
off duty. She must go through suf- |
fering and endure sacrifices of |
which she had never dreamed.
The only thing in the world that |
can repay her is the tenderness of |
her husband. His kisses, warm
with love. and not a chill peck of |
duty on the cheek: his murmured |
words of endearment, are the magic |
coin that settles the long score that |
a woman charges up against matri- |
mony, and that makes her rich in |
happiness.
The woman who has looked from |
the lovely gown and soft furs in
show window to her own shabby |
troek, and knows that she could af-
ford 'Eothing. better because the |
children had to have shoes and the |
coal was nearly out: the woman
who has wrestied with pots and
pans, and the wash tub all day,
while the baby -howled AMI the
other children fought, until ber
nerves were raw-will she be |
soothed by her husbands treating
her as his equal when he comes
home at night. and converses with
her about the Federal Reserve
Bank and the railroad situation?
I trow not. But il he puts his
arms around her, and pats her on
the shoulder, and says, There. there,
now" and tells her that she is the
dearest, bravest, most wonderful
little woman in the world, and he
just wishes he had the money to
doll her up and show people that
his little wifekins has got any of
these living pictures backed off the
screen, why, somehow, the tired
ness goes out of her back, and the
envy out of her soul. and the suns
come again in her heaven. and she
Is ready to go down on her knees
and thank God for giving her such
husband, even If he isn't any great
as a money-maker.
- And women aren't the only ones
who want to be petted, and cooed
aver, and chucked under the chin.
and talked baby-talk to, either. Men
like 1t just as we'll as women do,
and the bigger and the more in
tellectual, and the sterner- looking
the men are, the easier they fall
for it.
Out in the world among other men.
4 man has TO keep his mask on and
pretend that he is far above all hu-
man weaknesses, that his strength
Is sufficient unto himself, and that
ne doesn't want to be gurgled over.
lt All camoufage. In his secret
soul he is yearning for tenderness,
lor. the love that is just for him
self, independent of what he has
done. for somebody that under
STANDS how big and brave is the