Evening star., 1942-05-25

:but there didn't seem much that
they could do about it, for they not
only got themselves talked about If
they showed too openly that they
were on the husband hunt but 1t
| frightened the men so that they fed
from them like startled deer.
The situation seemed, indeed,
hopeless, with the old maid crol
piling up, year after year, and mil
lions Of women sitting around
hoping and praying and waiting for
| the proposal that never came, and
statisticians going into a blue funk
over the falling marriage rate. And
nobody knowing how to deal with
the problem.
Then came the war, and for once
women's intuition lived up to its
reputation. They had a hunch, or
maybe it was their Guardian Angel
who whispered to them that this
was their opportunity and to 60 to
1t, 10 strike for an equal liberty with
men in courtship. Everybody was
sloShing over with sentiment. All
the old inhibitions were swept away
Men were softened down into putty
by the thought of leaving home and
going away to dangerous adven-
lures, and they had a pathetic child
like craving to feel that they were
leaving some girl behind them who
would weep over their going, and
miss them, and who would spend
her time waiting for their return.
1t was a natural, one might say,
and the girls have made the most Of
it. They haven't let concealment
prey on their damasked cheeks
They have realized that time was
short and they had to work fast, so
when they fancied a boy they just
up and told him right out in meeting
about how much they loved him, and
how grand and wonderful they
thought him, and how it was break
ing their hearts even to think about
being parted from him for the du-
ration, and what about marrying be-
for he left? Just giving him the line
that men have used since time run
meth not to the contrary when
wooing the girl they wanted.
And 1t has worked. For what lad
can behold a pretty girl weeping
for him without drying her tears
on his breast? And what argument
can he use about putting of we'd
ding when she assures him that she
has a good job and is perfectly cap
able not only of supporting herself
but a husband, should the necessity
arise? None. And that is why the
wedding bells are working overtime
in every community. The women
have done it!
For my part, I am all for the senti-
mental reformation that would give
women $3.50 opportunity of select
ing their mates, and I am sure that
there will be more and happier mar
riages now that women have scrap
ped the old taboo that kept them
from popping the question For wom-
en- are wiser in matters of the heart
than men are, and they will look
more at what is inside OF mans
head than what's outside Of it, and
regard his past performances more
than his present promises. before
they offer him a life partnership.
The woman college graduate won't
pick out a nitwit for a mate, as so
many intellectual men do. Nor will
the widow with seven small children
select 19-year-old boy as suitable
stepfather for them, as middle-aged
widowers pick out little debutantes
to mother their broods.
And, above all, the woman who
gets the man she wants for hus-
band will be a good wife who Is
always on her tiptoes trying to
please him. A lot of the nagging
and complaining and sloppy house
keeping is due to their having had to
marry their opportunity instead of
their preference. But never again.
The war has made them free to
pop the question.