San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-25

married life, declares that "the depen'
dent woman is the only type who is suit.
ed to conventional matrimony; and mar
riagc as the average persons interpret
it. is almost impossible for the indie
pendent self-supporting, thinking indi-
,vidual."
She goes on to say further, in support
! of her idea. and in way as proof of it,
!, that absolute LOYALTY and truth in big
, matters and freedom in small ones is
necessary for the success of freer adj
! justment of the marriage relation and
that the independent plan would not be
advise bic for the woman who is not
economically independents who can
not think for herself"
To such criticisms of conventional
marriage there will arise the mass oppo-
sitior that always springs into existence
at the suggestion OF any change. These
criticisms will afford ample scope for
counter criticisms of the "selfishness' of
such an attitude and the question of
what the critics propose instead of the
laws and customs that exist 1t is a
good place too for all varieties OF oDin-
ION on the "sacredncss of marriage" on
"woman's place" and the imminent dan,
ger to the "homc" and the whole social
anything other than what is take place.
But allowing for all that. the point Mrs.
Winslow makes is at least worth aralvz-
ing upon its basis of an idea il nothing
else.
The marriage customs of this country
are founded upon the dependence OF wo-
man. economically. Some religious cere-
monies reflect this in "cndowing' with
worldly goods in demanding that the
woman ''obey." All the laws are built
on that idea of woman's economic de-
pendence on man and the ideas that clus-
ter about>marriage point to Support"
a good home" good marriage" mean
ing a financially successful one.
There are those who will maintain
that this is the only sound basis for
marriage and that woman's truest ex-
preston comes in working through :nan
and not for herself, and perhaps that
idea is as tru- as any idea ever is. It'll
suits the raster majority OF women who
ch':se economic dependence rather than
independence and all the risks entailcd.
till cHe cannot fail to get around the fact
that no matter whether it is pleasing or
not or whether it upsets notions held
Sacred economic conditions are daily
forcing larger and larger bodies of mar
RED women into wage earning. business, |
the professions. and the arts.
This has changed women. and has had
its inevitable. effect on womans atti-
tudc towards marriage Whatever iudg-
ments are made as to that attitude can
be only superficial for changes in so !
cial structures cover vast periods of time
and arc always attended by surface ir-
regul@ritics that tend To confuse the larg-
er issues at stake.
On the other hand the present eco
nomic changes may hc the superficial |
clement. 1t may be intended" as poo
pie are SO fond of saving whenever they
approach an idea that disturbs their per-
sonal set of values. that women be de-
pendent on men. Here is the place Tor |
a 10. Of talk about how good it is for
MEN TO support their families: the psy-
Geological value of duty and response |
bility; the recurrent fear that rises 10
the lips of inrumerable dependent mar
ricd women whenever the subject ct Geo.
nomic independence is preached that the
men would not do anything thev ought
to do il they were not bound in some
way That very attitude itself is illu-
minating. Do women believe that men
would rot fulfill their obligations to their
children, for instance. unless they were
forced by the laws and the gospels: All
OF which is food for argument.
But the point to be made, certainly
in the whole question is that any de-
velopment which tends to relieve the
marriage relationship OF exterior COM
pulsion of laws. whether legal, religious,
or economic, and place it upon the high
or plane of complete inclination and mu-
tual truth, is step upward in human
development and moral advance
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