Evening star., 1921-07-23
Editorial Digest
Freedom of the Tress.

xIcSUOm OI Cue 4IcSS.
by all odds the most important
problem confronting civilization today
Is bobbed hair" the New Bedford
(Mass.) Standard announces. And
space given that important" subject
since the recent order of a large east
ern corporation barring bobbed-haired
girls from employment, both in edi-
torial columns and in letters from
readers" one Is almost convinced that
the problem" Is quite as vital as
disarmament or taxation. Editors
show scant sympathy for the intrepid
employment manager who declares
that ''all women who bob their hair
are useless" 1t Is interesting to note.
however, that the discussion Is much
more a defense of that style of hair
do as she pleases in the matter. than
an attack on the right of an employer
to exert economic pressure to checI
custom Of which he disapproves. Some
writers. who frankly dislike the style.
deny that 1t is an index OF efYiciency
and scoff at what they consider
superficial standard. A few lonely
voices express approval Of the en-
ployment manager, evidently appre-
ciating so forceful a condemnation of
"shorn tresses.'
The attitude which forces all
bobbed-haired women into a class
labeled useless" impresses the
Peoria Transcript as being "of kid
ney with the statement that all SOL
diers in the war who wore wrist
watches were cads and 'sissies." and
in similar vein the Ann Arbor tMich.)
TimesNews declares that "bobbed
hair does not mean lack of brains in
q woman any more than smooth
shaven face indicates senility in
man..
The Chicago Post even makes an al
most irrefutable case against long
hair in it's relation to brains. citing
we'll known examples which there is
no means of disputing: Can any
one argue that flowing locks are any
indication ,n Of gray mat matter; oisi1duss MsdHss
was such a simpleton that she came
near being eaten by three bears. And
the princess in the tower was
tvicked into letting down her long
hair for the wicked witch
The argument that the new mode
indicates "frivolity and carelessness'
fails to impress the Philadelphia In
quirer as convincing. in view or the
fact that 1t has always been applied
''indiscriminately. to every fashion on
granting S1an "1 that ss there are suitable
and unsuitable styles of dressing
for business" the Inquirer holds.
nevertheless. that efficiency is not
matter of clothes" and IT is entirely
at loss to understand why ANY
way of wearing the hair" should af-
feet intellectual and moral quail
ties"
Even from the very midst Of the
agitation the Hartford Courant. IN
spite Of it's conviction that IT makes
some women look like freaks. is un-
able to take seriously" the insinua-
tion that this style Of hair dressing
Is in itself immoral or an indication
Of immortality or great incentive u
immortality ,.,.,
AS to the charge. as the SlncInha' ~
Commercial-T paraphrases H.
that bobbed haired employees consul
tute liEht-headed barnacles on the
business body polite. most writers
agree with the Raleigh News ana op
Server that "woman's capacity is no.
measured by the length or her hair.
while the Detroit News asserts that
business efficiency and success are not
"a matter of high or low heels, snort
or long skirts, bobbed or unbopoeo
hair; these things do not enter into
the matter at al
Herald holds. is more concerned win
.What comes from the desk or the
Young woman who translates MS
muttered. incomplete and grammat-
ically amazing dictatlon INTO SONS
Kind of sense" than he is with the
appearance of that young woman.
unfortunately history does not tell
u.s." the New York Tribune remarks,
.wbether the first few daring males
who cut off their flowing locks were
thereupon debarred from employ
ment." and the paper considers II un-
likely that such drastic steps were
taken, but in the case of women. who.
the Springfield Union admits. should
be entitled as much as men to exer-
else their own Judgment in personal
matters. there Is always some one
around the corner threatening them
with everything from prison to the
loss of their jobs" when they add an
inch to the height of their heels OF
subtract few inches from the adorn-
ment on their heads.
Such action on the part OF an en-
ployer "can only lead to revolt" the
Rocky Mountain News (Denver) feels,
predicting that girls who never
thought Of shearing their hair Will
do so now to faunt their independ-
ence." The Boston Globe notes that
mo Office has issued orders for a
change in the prevailing style" of
mems hair, even though it seems to
be copied from the prize ring and
since convenience" governs the style
in which men wear their hair. the
New York Mail cannot feel that the
pillars of society are beginning to
shake" when women also yield to the
lure of convenience"