Evening star., 1935-02-03
gIf the shade ofMrs. Psnkhurst |
we're to survey the globe today
he would find feminism advanced
beyond herwidest dreams. II.
d The fair sex is on its way

founder of modern China, and Nine Chang
Kai-Shek, formerly Mei-Lung Soong, o grad
uate Of Wellesley College and now the wife OF
Chinas generalissimo. They both point with
pride to the fact that Chinese women today are
lawyers, publicists actresses and authors as
well as employees in the government service and
members Of the legislative body Of Nanking.
CLOSE to the Orient Mrs. Pankhurst:s
~ shade would find the long arm Of the
Soviet Union, which brings with 1t an attitude
toward women that it is pleased to call entirely
different from anything to be found elsewhere
on our globe.
Not only Is the modern Russian woman q
citizen on an equal footing with her man in
every walk Of life, but she tries hard to outdo
him in the factories, on the farms, in the law
courts at the mills and in the arts. So COM
pletely has she become emancipated from aI
the old traditions that she has forsworn ro-
mantle love in favor Of the responsibility Of
building up backward nation.
The Russian woman was given her absolute
freedom by q stroke Of the pen In October; 1917.
Immediately she made o mad rush away from
the home toward mems occupations. Now that
there has been q gradual resifting, she Is
more apt to be found where she Is best fit for
she has had to realize that even in the Soviet
Union there are some jobs which are unit for
women.
In Moscow today however, out of 10000
persons who are assigned to the none too easy
task Of digging for the subway $4,000 are wom-
en-. Six thousand collective farms boast woman
presidents. There are 100 900 women elected as
members Of the courts and 400 900 women have
been elected in local governing soviets.
In the higher schools one-third Of the student
body is female: in the medical schools II per
cent Of the students are girls. Ten per cent Of
all the engineers are women and 16 per cent
Of the members of the Communist party belong
TO the fair sex.
Perhaps the speed with which the Russian
woman has cast aside domesticity can best be
shown by the fact that 100000 women are TO-
day employed in Soviet industry and IL, ,O00, 900
children are being cared for In the nurseries
while their mothers work.
\A/OMEN have entered all kinds OF pro-
w fessions. Irene Rusnova, for instance
was the first woman polar explorer; Nina DEM
me lived at polar station In North Land for
two long years; and a member of the famous
Chelyushkin expedition to the Arctic bore her
child while the party was stranded on an ice
foe.
Soviet women have won many distinctions
from their government getting the order Of
the Red Star, the order of Lenin and the order
Of the Red Banner.
Will 81 muCu Oh CQelr energy gwen over %
outside work. homemaking Is given little time
and less trouble by Soviet wives; they don't fuss
about furniture or china, but seem to put their
own and their husbands faithfulness to the
community and its enterprises ahead of their
homes.
But were Mrs. Pankhurst's shade to fly from
Moscow to Berlin, she might have to rub her
eyes to make sure that she was still on the same
planet.
Here she would hear enthusiastic speeches I'm
praise OF "womanly woman" lectures on new
ways to cook good foods, care for children and
make better companions for the husbands.
ERE women are not allowed in the govern.
ment or military forces. They are told to
forget all about the "silly business of hand
kissing and murmuring gnadige frau" Their
first and most important duty is to get married
and help their husbands and sons to be stalwaxt
soldiers Of the state.
Though women do have the vote in Germany.
they do not have 1t in France or Italy the one
q republic the other a cooperative state.
Under MusSolini's banner, Italian women
know that their chief function Is that of marry
ing young-divorce Is not allowed and legal
separations are made extremely difhcult-and
bringing many children into the world.