Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-22
BY EYE CARRETTE GRADY.

% RE women being Disseminated against
m I'm aviation? Is society pushing men
~ forward and holding women back In
the great modern conquest OF the air?
Miss Amelia EarhaTt, the first woman
10 Nv the Atlantic and perhaps bssS quahneo
70 s,,eak authoritatively in behalf OF her sex,
SAYS emphatically that they are. Desplte the
fact that women are rapidly overcoming the
inbred timiditieS which civilization mas I'M
posed upon them, despite their widespread IN
terest in flying and the future 1t noios Ior
them. they are still bound by the chains OF
artificial difference between the sexes. she
says:
women can qualify in the air as in any
other sport. Their influence and approval are
vital To the success OF commercial aviation.
women and girls write to me by the thousands
10 learn the truth about aviation and what
womens chances are. There Is nothing IN
woman's makeup which would make her IN
ferior to q man as an air pilot. The only
barrier to her swift success is her lack Of op-
portunity to receive proper training.
Society has imposed unjust distinctions In
the education Of the sexes Regardless Of
womans natural inclinations and talents, she
has been assigned summary to certain pre-
scribed courses Of study in public and private
schools. Sewing and domestic science are made
compulsory for schoolgirls whose propensities
are wholly In the direction Of things mechani-
cal Women have an abysmal ignorance Of
mechanics and engineering through no fault
Of their own.
However, the importance which mechanical
labor-saving devices have assumed in the
average American home IS beginning 10 open
the eyes Of even the most helplessly feminine
woman. She Is beginning to realize that to
keep IN tune with the march Of modern prog
Att
chanical knowledge.
'she realizes that 1t is important to her
comfort, her efficiency as o worker and
buyer that she learn what makes the wheels
go round. It is my firm belief that the wosnan's
interest In aviation-baeked by the strong opin-
ions Of an air-minded generation Of school,
girlS-will bring this question of unfair and
unjust discrimination between the sexes as re-
CARDS education with reference to vocational
aptitude directly into the open and definitely
burn away fallacious barriers"
MISS EARHART strobe up and down the
ONCE, her hands boyishly thrust deep in
the pockets of her trim tweed suit. I had
found her ct the trophy -cluttered desk Of her
publisher. George Palmer Putnam, performing
one Of the duties Of o celebrity and an author,
reading huge piles OF fan mail.
The aviatrix is tain and slender and wears
clothes with distinction. She has the unaf-
1ected simplicity Of real person and q dis
arming friendly smile. She prefers coat Of
tan and a few freckles to rouge and lipstick.
One hates to be banal, particularly since her
praises have been sung from coast to coast,
but 1t must be set down as my firm conviction
that no description Of Amelia Earhart is ade-
Quate without the statement that she represents
that which we like to think of as best and
truest in our women. In other words, Amer
J ica's first woman flyer" is the real thing.
Commercial aviation is a busting industry,
but at present it Is making little or no effort
TO enable women to secure the training and
experience required Of an industrial pilot on
One Of the regular airways." she said.
The Army and Navy training schools, which
are among the best, are, of course, closed to
women. Some Of the large transportation COM
panies conduct their own schools for pilots.
They are excellent, but there too, women are
barred.
Sooner or later the big air lines must enlist
Won1ens intelligent cooperation, because with
out them aviation cannot hope for success.
One has only to study the history Of the auto
mobile industry to recognize the truth of what
am saying.
Twenty years ago the idea that woman
could learn to drive automobiles was considered
preposterous. The eternal bogies, feminine
nerves and physical weakness were advanced
as hnal and conclusive arguments when all
others failed. And strangely enough today
In the face Of superlative proof to the con-
trary, enc sees these same threadbare, bromide
arguments solemnly busted of and brought
forth again to be used against woman avia-
tors' Miss Earhart smiled
Il doubt If men will ever believe that there
Is no such thing as feminine nerves as opposed
10 nerves of the masculine variety Yet II