The Washington herald., 1921-12-14
WOMAN EXPECTED
TO DO EVERYTHING,
SAYS DOROTHY DIX
Must Be Diplomat to Live
In Peace With Her
Husband.
BY DOROTHY DIX.

BY DOROTHY DIX.
| wonder why the world has al
ways looked down upon women, and
regarded them with undlsguised
contempt?
The smallest baby boy weeps with
rage IL you mistake him for a Girl.
The very word "effeminate" when
applied to one OF the opposite sex
is fighting word II he has a drop
of red blood in his veins. To call
a man an old woman is to offer him
the ultimate insult.
Woman's work, although IL is the
most important work in the world,
has never been considered worth
paying for, or classed among the
occupations that confer distinction
upon those that follow them. In
deed, women's chief business. that
of wife and mother and homemaker,
Is not even listed in the census re-
ports among the gainful pursuits.
Yet. the profession of being a
woman is the most difficult and
complicated job on earth It is the
one occupation, above all others,
that demands a knowledge of all
the arts and crafts. and entities the
one who follows ii to be ranked
among those who practice a learned
profession.
Not without reason is even the
humblest woman who has been q
girl, and a wife, and a mother, en-
titled to write NJ. A. after her name.
To be man is very simple
proposi don. man has only to be
what Cod made him, and let IL 60
at that He may be as ugly as the
proverbial mud fence dabhed with
tadpoles. He may be fat and bay
windowed, and baldheaded. He NAV
be so dull and stupid that people
! fee at his approach. He may be
egotistical. and monologue about his
own achievements until he is an
understudy of Samson. who slew his
thousands with the jawbone of an
ass.
All is forgiven him because he
belongs to the masculine persua-
sion. he is sought after, endured pa
tiently. even admired. because he is
a man. Just to be a man is a ca
reer of itself and an excuse.
More: We expect little Of men.
W hth E" man 10 q OF u
carpenter. or a plumber, we don't
expect him to do anything but
blacksmith, or carpenter, or plumb.
II he is lawyer. we don't expect
him to be able to remove an ap-
pendix. or cure cancer. as a side
! line. II he is doctor. we don't
expect him to know how to trim
hats, or hang skirt. Neither do
we expect a judge to be able to cook
dinner. II he is priest or
preacher. we do not expect him to
be a graceful shimmier, or an ex-
pert toddler.
But we expect every woman to be
able to do everything under the sun.
She must be an Admiral Creighton
in petticoats. We are not satisfied
with q woman being a nrst class
cook. she must also shine in the
/ parlor. Likewise the parlor orna-
ment must be equally servicea bl q
as a kitchen utensil. We expect a
| college graduate to be frivolous, and
FLUFFY Rufnes to be profound.
| Just the average woman who run.
a home must be a commissary gem
eral who assemblies continually the
| thousand and one different articles
II takes to feed and clothe a fam
/ lily, and make IT comfortable She
has to be . priest who sits in the
confessional, a preacher who lis
tens to prayers, and leads little
souls heavenwsrd and makes up
the family average of piety. for. as
has been truly said. most men carry
their religion in their wife's names,
! She has to be a financier who makes
81 do the work OF IS. and who per.
forms feats OF money juggling that
would make her fortune on Wall
Street IL she were a man.
She has to be surgeon who
can give first aid to the injured. a
doctor who is a good diagnostician,
and q trained nurse. She has to be
| Sherlock Holmes who can sleuth
out who robbed the cookie jar, and
which one started the fight. She
has to be fearless law eiver, and
just judge. She has to be a dip
lomat whose talents entitle her to
be ambassador extraordinary and
minister plenipotentiary to any
court in Europe in order 20 get
along in peace with her husband,
and make him believe that he
thought first Of doing the things
that she wants him to do.
In addition. she must he a cook,
dressmaker. a milliner, baby
nurse, Kindergarten a coach in
all Of teh ologies and foreign lang
uages for her school boys and girls.
and as IL this were not enough, she
must know how to dress like a
daily hint from Paris. how to dance.
and play cards, and be an entertain
ing conversationalist who can talk
about he last book ard play, the
new art, and the new music, and
keep up with all of the fads of the
day.
Worse still. she must be beautiful
thoroughly, and never grow fat. or