The Washington herald., 1921-07-04
THE FLAPPER AND THE YOUNG
PERSON. -

A strenuous effort is being made
in England to shoe the chickens
speaking in tho vernacular. back
into the home coop from which
they have escaped.
Which is to say that at the re-
| cent meeting Of the National Sed-
GRAFTON of Brotherhoods at Bristol
the modern young girl was accused
of going 1t a bit thick. don't you
know. Furthermore 1t was de-
termined that the only way to save
her was to lead her back along the
paths of the Victorian period and
show her where she must again
mount the pedestal where men look
up to her, and not continually
| climb down and mix with the very
men whose habits she deplores II
she is a good woman" as the reso-
lutions put II. .-
And it was resolved to carry on
extensive propaganda to this end.
II can't be done, brethren and
sisters. You can no more change
the modern fiapper into the "prunes
and prisms" maiden of her mothers
and grandmothers time than you
could get her into her mothers or
her grandmother's eighteen-inch
corset The girl of today has
grown a natural waist line, spirit
ually and mentally as we'll as ply
sically. and she couldn't lace Nher
body, nor her ideals. down into the
Victorian hour glass pattern II she
wanted to. And nothing is further
| from her desires.
There is nothing in the picture
that mother draws of the life of a
nice" young girl in her day that
fires the fancy of daughter. "A
young girl In my day desired no
greater happiness than just to stay
at home with her dear parents. and
help her mother with the house
| keeping" says mother. Gee, but
you must have been a bunch OF
dead onesw comments daughter.
Il never went anywhere alone
with a man." says mother. Il was
always properly chaperoned, even
at my own home"
Say. MOTHER asks daughter
couldn't your mother trust you out
of her sight"
mo man ever kissed me except
your father. and he never kissed me
, until after we were engaged" says
mother. What you missed, poor
dearw sighs daughter.
Every woman was placed on a
pedestal then" says mother. Cut
the pedestal stuff" says daughter
There's time enoogh to grace a
monument when you are in the
graveyard. Besides, perhaps the
reason that women in the past
didn't keep up with the men was
because they let the men shunt
them out of the way on that
pedestal base"
And there you are! Two genera
tions looking at life from different
angles, as youth. and age have al
ways done. We of the older gen.
Grafton are terribly shocked at the
youth of today, and perfectly GER
tain that their manners, and
morals. and modes of dress are
bound to send them to the devil.
But il we will refresh our
memories, we can recall that our
own parents were just as shocked
at our manners and morals. and
mode of dress, and made the same
prophesies concerning our ultimate
fate. And our fathers and mothers
said the same thing about the de-
esdent youth of. their times
After all. what is there really so
much wrong with the modern girl
Look at the way she dresses. you
saw. skirts to the knee, no corsets,
waist no more than the proverbtal
Ng leaf. Well, isn't modesty in
dres. merely matter Of custom!
A. south Sea Island belle considers
herself completely gowned in a few
strings of shells. An Indian woman
can expose every other part OF heI
person with perfect propriety pro-
yided that her face is veiled.-
And no one can deny that We are
| becoming so acclimatized to the ao-
! breyiated petticost that 1t is las,
becoming as decent as the ole
fashioned trailing street sweepe
and microbe catcher. A woman
laukles were only Interesting when
lat was improper for her to show
them. Now that legs are Just as
| frankly In evidence as arms nobody
gives a second glance.
| Another thing that horriies US
elders Ia the frankness of conyer.
l Natl0n DfLWttu SoSe
Of today. They have no reserve
No 'delicacy. 1t seems to US. YOUNG
men and women discuss slhjects
once sacred to husbands. and wives
and midwives, subjects that not
even q girls own mother could
have brought herself to whisper to
her. II makes our hair stand on
end to hear a blue-eyed little de-
butante calmly announce the num-
ber OF children she intends having
or manly youth aver that when
he pops the question to a girl that
he viii file his health certihcate
along with his proposal.
Yet, In all honesty. are not the
young blazing a straight trail to
travel with this frankness. instead
Of biundering into sloughs In the
dark a. we did with. our reticence
which made US clamp the seal OF
silence down upon the fundamental
facts Of life, We ignored the
things Il was OF most Importance