South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-02-22

EINAas ana SIRE bn1M aILfu dC- n
cording to nature when they fell in 4
love. but they have disappeared I
from life and romance. except when \
they make number on the pro- /
gram Of some great dancer inter- /
predng love In Already.
Today girls who doubtless sur 4
pass Phyllis. the shepherdess. in /
beauty. no longer trust nature as a 1
guide Ia heart affairs Today they 4
put frank questions about mans
preferences.
w nat does the average man Ike I
most In glrls2" writes Flossy D. us I
Il modesty2 I feel sure It cannot +
be this OF account Of the way they I
act with forward girls"
Now prudery IS one thing and I
Tnodesty another. Girls are always
confusing the two. They are not re- /
eponsible for their perpleuty. Usu- /
ally 4 Is a complex which was forced /
upon them by their parents and |
environment before they were six ]
years old
MOdesty s. an instinct. I think !
Eve possessed it in the beginning.
her for a cloak But she became a
bit OF a prude after she had eaten
ehe apple and taken the serpent's
advice 10 hunt up some vine leaves
end thorns and cut out an apron
pattern.
Some women wear modesty or
prudery IN the same way today.
Vow most men lothe a prude but
dore a modest girl They like
modesty when IL is an unconscious
attribute bu, they do not like il
rs hen a girl keeps II on parade.
For certainly IL is the manner In
which a girl wears her clothes rath-
81 than the garments themselves
Is Mich stamp her as modest ~ other
wise A nude. IN art. is OF "a mod
est. while the garb of a (, Gale fig
ure covered from throat 10 toes.
may be designed only as a lure.
Flaming painted cheeks are often
far more immOdest than a knee
length skirt.
OF course mOdesty includes speech
and many varieties OF behavior. IN
all Of these the innately modest
girl wins in the end. which is of
course, the engagement.
Modesty wins for this reason: No
man cares TO marry girl when he
IS convinced that all the men Of her
set have kissed her on demand: nor
q girl who viii enjoy a vulgar story;
nor a girl who will tell one
This subject could be developed
for pages. but It IS absolutely IN
necessary for any writer to make
a book about g. why?
Because good girls and bad, old
women and fngenues, know in their
own hearts the difference between
modesty and vulgarity.
They know whether they are US
ing modesty as an advertisement
or as a cloak and an armOr.
The course OF true love Is about
as rough as the course Of the true
pacihst. Many persons approve Of
love and peace-as theories-never-
theless they use their best energies
10 upset both. How successful five
sisters can work in combination is
told by their victim;
II am the youngest Of six sisters.
none Of whom IS married
MY mother never allows me the
smallest privileges am % and
treated by my mother as IL I were
u. Ny FIVE sisters delight in dis
Ciplining me.
II have plenty Of nice friends and
could enjoy myself like other girls
but my sisters invariably object TO
my plans. Occasionally when 1
have taken courage and have &C
copied invitations, the whole fam
lily has refused to speak TO me for
DAYS
"Of course can have no men
friends although I would Ike them.
] am not unattractive to men. but
my home IS
Il cannot leave home. so do not
suggest that. but do not need
help"
a girl who has a mother and five
/, mature sisters at war with her So
cial inclinadons certainly does need
help But when she refuses 10 get
away from her family she refuses
TO take the only possible road to
freedom
Here we have case 70 fasclnate
e. student Of human behavior. We
have a real Cinderella story with
more spiteful sisters than were In
the original We have another IL
1ustraton OF the fact that the old
fairy tales ere all psychologically
sound
We have community OF segre-
gated women and a whirlpool of
thwarted affections of honorable
and natural sex instincts turned in
ward: OF great energy concentrated
on petty domestic routine: OF an in
herited need of love and Of men
friends. a craving for marriage and
home. changed 10 an unwholesome
denial or these proper urges.
SuDer-refnemen and superiority
90 what they have lost is the reac-
yion which animates the conduct OF
the spinster sisters.
They are afraid OF love they pre-
tend to scorn IL, They would keep
lovers away from the llttlest sister.
they would save her from marriage
in spite OF herself, They think
this is their duty but the fact is
that they are trucking themselves.
They are really so tearous OF lovers
that they refuse 20 speak to the
youngest sister after she has been
10 a party
A book might be written about
this striking example OF what de
rial and repression OF normal in
stincts can do 20 women And Il
would be a book OF warning against
the shut in life for girls.
What would happen IL six broth
D