Evening star., 1922-06-18

the dodo, while the American girl
will once more command the respect
as we'll as the interest of her public.
Apropos of this change of attitude
and crystalization of thought into
action on the part of the girls. Miss
Katharine J. Poindexter. a fifteen
year-old Junior at Central High
School, has written in defense of the
fiapper. Miss Poindexter. a native
Washington girl, has spent couple
of years abroad, and. haying recently
, returned to this country and observed
the fapper fully tedged. as it were.
has found the change in her contem- :
poraries much greater than il Would
appear to one who has not had the
perspective afforded by such an abb
sence. 1t is doubtful, however. if in
this particular instance distance lent
enchantment
Miss Poindexter says:
The quiet. demure girl of fifty
years ago has gradually changed
until today we have a girl who'
although quiet. is Independent, dresses
to suit her own taste and follows her
own ideas. This modern girl is called
a 'fiapper.' Not very pleasant
sounding name, and I think the per
son who made it up is. or was. as bad
as the so-called .flapper' is said to be
wild.
The modern girl. the sensible one.
made and comfortable, Yet stylish
and practical. She curls her hair;
but didn't reat-great- grandmother r
do that? She wears low necks and
! short sleeves; but did not her great
grandmother do that? She wears
thin silk stockings; but did not her
great grandmother, her great
grandmother and her grandmother do
that? And doesn't her own mother
wear them? She wears earrings
horrid things! But do they not date
back to the primitive woman, long
before civilization?
She also wears short skirts as well
as narrow. However. l.. as mod
ern girl q scorn the name of f1apper),
will tell you that she does this for
convenience and comfort, not just be-
cause they look smart Why make
such a fuss about them. then, when
our medieval ancestresses never wore
any? But that was before civiliza-
ton.
Then the next thing to be said in
the defense of this up-to-date girl Is
about her using cosmetics. l am a
girl and I know how others feel
about their compleXions. whether 1t
is good or bad. A little rouge and
a dab Of powder do not hurt any girl,
provided she uses them moderately
and that they are carefully put on. l
think there is nothing more disgust
lHS IMAM 10 see SlTl WI HeI NoSe
and chin looking as though they were
an open powder box. while her chee ks
are blazing red. One can usually
Judge from a girls appearance and
manners the kind of home from
which she comes. If she does powder
and rouge to the extreme it reflects
upon the girls mother or guardian
more than upon herself.
young. healthy girls should not
need the various cosmetics excepting
little powder. To tell the truth, all
our grandmothers. great-grandmoth-
used cosmetics. Even in the days of
Babylon they were used.
Now comes the question. Why do
our girls do this? If the truth
be known, girls do the above men
toned things SO as to have boys
that boys like to see a girl dressed
in silks and satins, her face made
up. her hair curly. and so on; but if
the girls did but know it, the average
boy would far rather have a natural
girl than have fraud, all painted up.
girls face SO pink and white that it
looks like mask? No. they do not!
Having been abroad for two years.
was greatly surprised to see the
way the modern girl dressed and
made up. After that l wanted to
hHuW ho" Aic uoys iclt thC
order Of things. so 1 asked a great
many their opinion of 1t and how
they liked 1t. One replied that he
thought slight dusting Of powder
improved nearly every girl, but he
certainly did not like to see powder
rouge and lip rouge caked on. AS for
the clothes. the boys like them. as a
rule. Some boys prefer girls to wear
low-heeled shoes for school and
street. but French-heeled shoes for
dress wear. I've never heard a boy
say that he likes or dislikes girls to
wear earrings, but have heard them
remark that girls look cute with them
on.
"One may easily see that all Of the
f1apper's actions and her dress ana
use Of cosmetics do not belong en-
|tirely to this period and generation.
Many Of them have been handed down
from mother to daughter for centu-
ries. Besides. the fapper does it to
please the men, as all women have
tried to please their men since time
immemorial. Therefore don't blame
the fiapper too much. 1t is not all her
fault"