Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-08-06
Every 9TH Girl
A Spinster?
(WNU Featme-Through special arrangement
with Golfers Weekly
By Aran, Scheinfeld

For the first time in history the
United States is confronted with a
big shortage of potential husbands.
The situation already is so serious
that one out of every seven girls
now seems headed for spinsterhood.
And if we add to this the young
widows and divorces who won't be
able to marry again, we are threat
ened with standing population of
millions of Women-SiX, seven, eight
million, no one can estimate exactly
how many-who will have to go
through life without husbands.
This simple fact is social dyna-
mite. 1t can rock the foundation of
our social system and attitudes to-
ward sex, cut down our population,
change our American way of life.
Those who best understand the
dangers ahead-our population ex-
perts, sociologists, economists and
psychologists - are genuinely con-
cerned. They have seen throughout
Europe, notably in Sweden, Eng
land, France and Germany, the
grave changes that have accompa-
lllCu lSuuSllOllS III lllS plO-
portion of men to women. They
know that unless we begin planning
speedily and realistically to meet
the unbalanced situation of the two
sexes, it is going to be difficult to
maintain our present-day moral and
social standards.
You can't blame the situation on
the war. 1t will make things worse,
but it isn't the primary cause. Long
before it started, there had been a
steady drop in the ratio of men to
women in the United States. If the
war ended today and we could re-
call to life and health every one of
our casualties, there still would not
be nearly enough men to provide
husbands for all our girls.
Men Less Resistant.
There are two fundamental causes
for our man shortage. One is bio
logical, affecting the whole civilized
world: the fact that males are in
herently weaker in resistance to dis
ease and death. The other cause is
peculiar to the United States, and
results from our having used up the
artifcially created male surplus
brought in by past immigrations.
Most dramatic is the biological
factor: Males enter the world with
the cards stacked against them. No
matter how we might equalize con-
ditions for both seXes-by abolishing
war, or eliminating accidents and
added strains on men-males are
destined to die off at faster rate.
That fact now is known to apply
not only to human beings, but to
most of the animal kingdom. From
mice to elephants, from birds to
flies and fish, in almost every spe-
cies the male is biologically less re-
sistant, and has, on the average, a
shorter life span.
One of the most interesting expert
ments on this point was made at the
New York aquarium, with guppies,
the familiar little tropical fish that
give birth to live offspring. Ex-
pectant mamma guppies were
placed in one tank, and after their
hundreds of progeny had been born
and had grown for certain period,
they were counted by sexes. 1t was
found that the females outnumbered
the males two to one.
One of the reasons for this much
higher survival rate of females is
that males are more likely to enter
the world with inherited defects. An
other is that the female organic
mechanism is better able to adjust
to sudden internal upsets or external
Universities.
Among infants dying in the United
States before their first birthday, at
least Is per cent more boys than
girls are carried off. During child
hood this mortality ratio drops, but
at maturity the male death rate
goes up again, and thereafter the
death toll among men is at least Is
per cent higher than it is among
women. By the time the mid-twen-
ties, the principal marriage years,
are reached, the original surplus is
completely gone, and thereafter
women increasingly outnumber
men.
One remarkable fact is that as the
Expectation of life" has been ex-
| tended, women nave prohted more
| than men have. From 1900 to l94l,
the expectation of life at birth had
been increased by about is years
for males, but II years for females.
Up to this present generation, we
always had more than enough men
to 60 around, with seconds" as
! we'll, for young widows and divor-
Gees. We were still able to draw
upon the heavy surplus of foreign
born males brought in by previous
immigrations. Now the situation for
American girls is something like
playing "Going to Jerusalem" u.s.
ing men instead of chairs. With
each turn of the years, additional
men have been yanked away and
more girls have been left to stand