New-York tribune., 1922-12-06
Career, for Women

women dIt WI hihb Ne"~N
and into careers. That Is the un-
mistakable fact. They reach their
goal by various routes. Some illus
trious examples have continued
their careers uninterrupted through
marriage and motherhood. Others
have quit and resumed. 1t is the
problem Of these older married
women, whose children have gone
away 10 school or college or mar
ried, that is the most puzzling
and the most interesting. The
change in home life, the reduction
Of home industry TO its lowest
terms, leaves these middle-aged
mothers with their chief career
ended at the precise age which
marks for men the beginning OF
their best years of labor. Here is
plainly a paradox that involves a
tremendous waste Of ripe in.elli-
gence and energy.
But what is the solution? The
problem is by no means as simple
as the first valiant feminists sup
posed. The jealous male is no
longer the great obstacle that ne
was. Women have the urge, they
have the ability, they have, usually.
the consent Of their husbands and
their community. Only the stub
born facts Of motherhood remain.
Each child takes ten years" Is the
convenient phrase of the hour
meaning that for about that length
of time there is steady, serious busi-
ness at home for the mother, 70
steady that a career, in the mans
use of the word, is for these child
rearing years impossible. Thus
either the continuity Of a career is
broken or the best years for train
ing a mind for a job other than
motherhood 60 by with no technique
gained. How at forty or forty-five
either to begin OF resume7
Neither begin nor resume, but
compromise, is the practical sug-
gestion offered by Ethel Puffer
Howes In the December "Auantic
Monthly" This sounds rather like
arguing that women can eat their
cake and have it, too. But she
makes out an interesting case for
altering the standards Of women's
work, especially during the crucial
decades Of child rearing, by provid-
ing for the part-time professional,
the worker on the fringes of the
arts, the free lance. Both her rea-
sons and her proposals are worth
noting.
1t has been easiest, she points
out, for the woman writer,
artist, musician or other worker
whose talent flowers alone; for
her whose usefulness involves
team work, or membership in a
business organization, It has been
extremely difficult. Yet these are
the very women, accustomed to COM
panionship with fellow craftsmen,
who suffer most from the enforced
loneliness Of domestic life. Probably
it is they, chiefly, who have drawn
the doctors into the controversy.
Their thwarted abilities have caused
already a sufficient number Of mental
and physical break-downs, so that a
physician in a great institution for
mental healing said to Mrs. Howes:
"a systematic effort in the direc-
tion Of continuance Of the individual
vocation would cause a great i'm
provement In the health and
happiness Of women"
In order to provide this "con-
tinuity of vocation" both the home
and the career must compromise, Is
the suggestion. The home might re-
linquish portion Of its demands on
woman through cooperative house
keeping and the simplifieation Of the
home routine. The professional
ideals Of women-and this is the
kernel Of Mrs. Howes's idea-might
be modified, so that the contribution
of the married woman TO science,
art or business can be made in her
own time. Institutions for the
higher education Of women must
devise and the directors Of busi-
ness organizations must accept new
channels for the energy and talent
Of women that will be "pursuable
within the limits Of marriage and
motherhood" Every profession,
Mrs. Howes believes, will provide
opportunities for borderline activ-
ties, special research, invention,
publicity or biblioGaphy.
The difficulty Of the part-time
career is the difficulty which faces
all pioneers. It is the woman
with intense zeal for her profession
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