Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-07-30

The attitude OF one sex 10 hnplhtf
is nowadays fundamentally changed
In regard TO what was once the most
urgent Of all matters, namely OF course,
ioye-at least so am often told and
so / often read. The masculine atti-
tude. according to the popular theory
has not altered. No! The young man,
and indeed the middle -agcd, Is sup
posed still to be the seeker, shs hunt
er. the devourer, the male whose
possessive Instincts insist on being
satisfied II is the young woman who
has changed.
According to the popular theory the
attitude OF the modern young woman
might be expressed thus:
II am not what was. In fact, be-
neath my exterior. which Is more
charming than ever before. l am 50
sterniy altered you won't know me.
Please, therefore. do not make the
mistake of trying TO practice any OF
your old devices. Once | lived solely
for love and marriage: ! dreamed
about nothing but the ideal man. /
had no aim but 10 be mistress Of a
home. But I am nov quite other
wise. I have become a serious crea-
tnrc. I have higher and nobier in
terests than those Of mere love. ] am
no longer fooHshly sentimentsi. Gem
orally / have a vocation, and not sel-
dom a profession. ! can earn ny liv-
ing and / DO. / am more or less inde-
pendent see life and ! know IL. Ny
mind has been lifted UP 10 view the
world And | have realized that ]
used TO be rather silly in my mental
demcanour towards such agreeable
specimens Of the other sex rs ! hap
pened to meet Love is not much
after all. Can you expect my thoughts
to be running after love, when they
are occupied with better and more
interesting things? Can you give me
any reason why should become q do
nestic slave? My horizons are en-
larged, and I am not in the mood for
any nonsense"
And so on.
For myself, / receive the report of
the modern feminine attitude with
caution, with reserve, even with re-
spectfui incredulity. For / have not
yet met with it in real life. There are
certain small percentage of girls
who have little or no use for men and
marriage. who feel no naturai desire
to look better when a man is observ-
ing them than when a woman is OBJ
serving them. But there always were
such girls, and such girls have their
proper place and usefulness n every
organized society. And that the per
centage has increased do not De-
s.evc. because / can think of no rea-
son ghy it should have increased.
Let US take the existence Of an
average girl who goes out into the
worlo and works therein. Does she d.
ii for a pastine? The answer is, No.
People don't toll so many hours a day
and submit to discipline and suffer
the annoyances and nervous strain
of a city journey night and morning.
and keep on toiling and submitting
and suffering month after month and
year after year. simply for pastime.
Even an enthusiastic girl doesn't do
that.
Does she do it then from a sense of
duty TO the world or to her country
arguing that everybody ought 70 help
the general welfare? The answer is
again.
No. Very few men. and still fewer
women have the sense of public duty.
developed beyond the sense of private
advantage.
II girls work in the same fields as
men, they do so either becauce they
must in order to live, or because they
can thereby attain personal or
family advantage beyond the mere
means of existence,