The Washington times., 1937-08-04
Listen
WOrld!
By Elsie Robinson


played tag with man-eating
sharks and been Human Can
non Balls
But for sheer, reckless, self
liquidating audacity, I hereby
nominate Mr.. Paul Calico. For
why? Turn to the July issue
of COSMOPOLITAN and you'll
know why. On page 152-with.
out even donning a nose guard
Mr.. Calico says
LADY ATHLET E S ARE
WRETCHED SPORTS"
Then, with the obvious in.
tention of turning plain suicide
into mass murder. he con-
tinues-
Girls are not deliberately bad
sports. They are simply women,
and no woman ever plays fair
in any kind of competition
against another woman if she
can help it, which she usually
can.
They Take Things
Too Personally
Gady lady, how that lad
is looking for troubleD
"Women's competitive in
stincts are rooted deeper than
mans Women are psy.
chologically unable to approach
a contest of any kind from
the same angle that men do.
That it happens to be golf or
tennis or squash makes no par.
ticular difference. 1t is COM
petition-AND THE GIRLS
ARE NOT GEARED TO TAKE
1T. With patience and train
ing, you can teach some OF
them to lose with good grace,
but you can never make them
like it. The ladies bear grudges
afterwards, have alibiS, and
make remarks"
Hard to take, isn't it, sisters?
Yet I suspect it's true. Ever
meet a Lady Politician? Ever
have a Lady Guest? Ever have
a woman down on you? 'Nuff
said! Even Miss Clara Morten-
sen, Champion Woman Wres-
tier Of the world, admits she
would rather wrestle with a
man than a woman any time,
because men are better sports"
All this, says Mr.. Calico, is
because women take things too
personally. can't snap out of
it and be a Regular Pal. He
says:
mo man ever takes a game
as seriously as a woman does.
A man views his opponent with
complete personal detachment:
the latter represents a temper.
airy problem and nothing more
once (the game) is over he
forgets it, and the man against
whom he has played is no
longer an opponent but simply
another person. 1t is only an
exceptional woman athlete who
is able to be so impersonal
about someone against whom
she has played"
She Has Courage
And Endurance
All of which seems a mighty
tough indictment. But how
come? Why should the bewitch-
ing charmer in the diving suit
on the Sports Page become such
a hellion when she hits the
bubbles? Why should she re-
gard team work as not only un-
necessary and distasteful, but
as a downright affront to her
fundamental rights?
When it comes to courage and
endurance, woman has - Mr..
Calico admits any man
backed off the boards. Then
is she just naturally cuSSed. >.
selfish, unreliable and vain?
Sometimes-maybe. But, &C.
cording to the late Mr.. Rudyard
Kipling, there's deeper cause
for woman's poor team work.
Women have been despots from
the start-matriarchs by neceS-
sity. For Woman is the creator.
the preserver of life. AS such,
her will must be steel, her word
must be law. she cannot afford
to bubble or compromise or sur.
render as a man may do. 1.-THE
female of the species MUST be
deadlier than the male!"
A million years, at least. from
Bessie Bearclaws, crouching in
her cave. to Minnie the Mer-
maid, diving from her board.
Yet the old tribal law still holds,
and "tha female of the SnecieS"