The Washington times., 1923-02-16
COLLEGE DEAN.
DEFENDS
GIRLS
foung Woman Of Today Is
Merely Readjusting
Herself.

international News Service.
HELENA, Mont, Feb. 16.--What's
he matter with the modern girl?
Not single thing in the world.
Immoral? Possibly. Immoral?
Never!
You have that on the word of
Dean Emerita Sarah Louise Arnold,
OF Simons College, Boston. And
here is probably no greater au-i
.hority on the subject of girls than
this same Dean Arnold. Her au
thority is the product Of experience
about forty years OF it-With girls
Of every sort and condition and of
every nationality, creed, Of every
kind of training, and every lack of
it, and of every temperament and
inclination. Superint Of
schools, teacher In high schools,
settlement worker, dean of women
IN college, student Of human ma
ture, and a keen-eyed, level-headed,
serene and charming judge, she
awards her judgment in the case
Of the critic versus the modern girl.
Merely adjustment.
There isn't single thing the
matter with the modern girl, not a
single thing. She's really quite a
remarkable young person." Dean
Arnold told international News
Service in an interview here.
Then why all this powder, and
these weird dances, and these ciga-
rettes, and this bobbed hair, and all
the thousand and one other things
that are causing the world so much
u1R ash <aA
She dismissed them all with q
wave Of the hand.
Readjustment-every single one
Of them. The whole world has
passed through an emotional crisis
the war. And the whole world is
readjusting itself to the changed
conditions which the war has
brought about. And why shouldn't
the modern girl have a chance to
readjust herself? She was forced
by circumstances into situations
and into an existence which she
had never before dreamed of-she
ceased to consider the conventions.
Enjoys Her Freedom.
"And she found that she really
enjoyed it, this being freed from
conventions. And she intends to
stay free Of them. Being only hui
man, she goes a bit too Tar, per
haps. She becomes what term
immoral. She is unconventional.
Conventions are merely the appear
ance Of things. The girl OF today
Is not thinking Of the appearance
Of things. A bit later, when she
has time to sit down and rest a
while, she win begin to learn how
to deal with the. conventions. But
that's a thing that only experience
can teach her.
Men Had Their Turn.
''The men who went to war went
through q big experience. And they
have come home asking questions
they never asked before. The WON.
en- stayed at home and went
through as big an experience in
their way. Now they are asking
questions. And although they
don't knoW it they are both nearer
heaven than they have ever been
before.
cts the most arrant nonsense
to say that the girl of today is not
as pure as her grandmother. was.
She's exactly as pure. She's Just
facing fundamentals. The facts of
existence have been written on the
sky for her to read. There need
be no pretense about it. She
knows and knows in a big, clean,
open way-a way which will make
Tor greater purity, because it
makes for a cleanness of mind that
wasn't possible before. A.
Not Sentimental.
"The girl Of today is not senti-
NNNnvNf0l hAb
business, and she doesn't wear her
heart on her sleeve. But deep
down within the heart Of every girl
there is the fundamental fact that
she is the mother of the race, and
she knows it. And it is this funda-
mental fact that will make her
stand straight in the face Of any
crisis, just as she has always done,
and will bring her triumphantly
through with whatever there is for
her to do.
''She's too busy hustling to stand
in one spot and do the things
which are ordained for her by
other people. She's living her own
life. And in insisting upon doing
that she's possibly a bit explosive.
several steam explosions before
steam was entirely regulated. And
the world mustn't forget that be-
hind this disregard for conventions
which I call Immoral there is
tremendous force which will make
itself felt in a series Of useful ex-
plosions.
Individual Liberty.
'The spirit of individual freedom,
you know, precedes the spirit of
national freedom and the conscious
ness of what is due the group. It
Ii far more natural to cross a
busy street than to wait for the
orders of the traffic policeman,
but less safe. 1t becomes a matter
of regulation, and one must do his
own regulating. He'll do it, if he
is given time enough. So will the
woman. She will regulate
herself to the needs Of the traffic.
And when she does there will be q
saner and better set of traffic regu-
lations. It's bound to happen. It's
the spirit of progress. and the
woman is typical Of it.
There isn't a single thing wrong
with her. She's splendid. I've
been handling girls for forty years. |
I ought to know. and I'm willing
to say that she's just as fine and
just as pure and just as sweet as
her grandmother was. And she