91

IN DEFENSE OF HER OWN SEX

Mrs. Peattie Writes a Reply to the Communication of A. M. M.

She Maintains That Women Are Not Light Minded, but Are Frequently the Family Strength.

Some Sharp Arrows Which Are Shot Without Rancor in This Joust Over the "New Woman."

A. M. M. has a bitter and somewhat excited article in the Public Pulse columns of a recent issue of this journal concerning women's rights-as she is fair enough to term them. One does not, of course know what should have caused A. M. M. to wrtie so earnestly upon a question which at the present time appears to be abeyance. Very likely it was some private discussion which stirred her and impelled her to give voice in public to the personal indignation which she felt. At any rate as her ideas represent those of a large class of women and as they are set forth with the most evident sincerity, they are entitled to the condideration of women who are willing to bear with some pride the epithets heaped upon them by thos of shallow wit-epithels which were intended to be opprobrious. As "Yankee" was a term of contempt, yet came to be born with honest bride by those whom it was appiled so "the new woman," which was meant for a slur, has come to be a shiboleth, and the women who work in eclence, in art, in the professions, in the trades, in the home, the church and the school have come to accept with dignity that application and to fraternize under it.

The arguments which A. M. M. advances aginst the political enfranchisement of women are very old. Though really that is nothing aginst them. Almost all good things ate old, as well as most bad things. Nothing is older than injustice. F w things are older than sophistry. And without injustice we should not have had the heroic trimphs of justice. Without sophistry we could not have had the background over against which in place the fair figure of truth. One does not mind that what A. M. M. says is very old and lacking in originality. One could hardly ecpect, indeed, that a member of the"light minded foolish and frivolous" sec should be anything but a plaglarist. How could a creature so abject create anything-save children like any other mammal? It is A.M.M. who after talking about all for which the Creator intended us, says that we are "light minded, frivolous and foolish." Perhaps she knows. But indeed, could she look in the hearts that however foolish we may be, however frivolous we might have been long ago, we are not light minded! Perhaps if we could be for a while the world might not seem so old Perhaps if we could let the hundresds drop and the durucs fall, and the awful of what we owe to out children and in others who live us be forgotten for a while life would seem very day and wonderful to some of us. No, really believe me A. M. M., we are not light minded. We cannot conduct homes with all the fine economies necessary, we cannot [trust?] our children with all the hopes and prayers and fear [?] upon that sacred task , we cannot muc in a world so filled with injustice and sorrow and be light minded. Perhaps you are, dear A. M. M. But there are many, many of us who are not, and who never can be again, though we may have been so once when we were little girls and ran over the meadows of our youth, where the butterflies were. But that was such a very long time ago!

We cannot even retain out "light mindedness, A. M. M., and contemplate the awful erros made by "our wisest men," of whom you speak with such abject revrence that it remind me of the "Japanese grovel" with which good Mr. Gilbert had the subjects of the mikado approach his most illumunated majesty. You are indeed under the thrall of sex. I congratuales you upon tour masculine axqaintance. I have know many faily good men and two remarkably good ones: I have enjoyed the acquaintance of hundreds of interesting men, and thousands of comparatively inoffensive ones. But the wisdom of which I speak I have not seen, neither in the mwn whom I have been permitted to shake the hands at public levees-such as Mr. Cleveland, for instance. I have often perveived that men became famous by a mere trick of fate, over which they had no control. I have seen men as heroic as the most successful men as heroic as the most successful fall because of another trick of fate. And as for wisdom-merciful heavens: is not this country bewildered by the errors of men? Is not this state in abject trepidation- are not men regarding one another with oitable eyes, conscious past words of their own fallinility and of the wreck in whch they have precipitated themselves? Have you not seen many and many at time, families dragged to ruin bythe mistaken judgement of good men, and the selfish vices of bad ones? Have you not observed pretenders everywhere? Have you not learned it is often greed which triumphs coarseness which succeds, tyranny which wins respoect, and does not the wole world bow before a shining yellow metal, which will make the possessor of snowwhite swan in the wyese of those who erstwhile, before they came into possession of that metal, though him or her a goose? The "wisdom" of men! Truely they are as wise as women-but what a little thing is that. And do not women know how weak these men are-how the beat of them must be carred for, pettied, cajoled, encouraged! The world is a very vruel place, and there never was a man yet who did not now and then falter before the strige of it, and shrink form it, hurt and afraid. It is easy to believe that Josephine may have seen Napoleon weep; quite easy to think that Martha may have kissed courage into the lops of Washington-lips which men thought so implacable.

You think, do you madam, that a wrangle over "rights" is unseemly? Why, then, so was the American revolution undeeingly; so was the wrangle which secred the manumission of slaves, so has been every struggle of liberty! Unseemly! All vial things are unseemly. Do you think that superstitions-such for instance, as the unquestioning respect for all things masculine whihc you entertain-are to be crushed with a cambric needle? Seemly? Is it seemly for the man in the factory to cry out with oaths, that for the pittance for which he works he has sold his life, his vote, his freedom of thought? Is it seemly for Debs to shout out his words of protest against a new tryanny? Is it seemly for women to starve on even less than men, because, forshooth, they have not a vote with which to argue! Seemly, madam. There is nothing seemly-unless it be a 5 o'clock tea or a bread mixing. The women who argued and bore calumny for the liberites which you now enjoy, who secred for women the right to the education of which you have probably availed yourself, were not "seemly." They were merely heroic. Probably you would therefore not have associated with them. The standard of seemliness which some women entertain is that of profound nullity. To be perfectly respectable one must needs have done nothing at all. A sawdust doll, dear madam is always seemly.

A. M. M. appears to thnk that all women are loved and protected, and she wants to know, why they cannot be content with such felicity. She has again show herself to be forunate in her aquaintances. I have myself had the misforune to know many women who were never offered the love or protection of any man; I have known many who, having being offered such love and protection, could not accept it because their own hears would not respond; I have known many how were widowed, and many others who appeared to be born without the wifely or maternal instinct, just as some men are incapable of happy domesticity. Then, too, I have seen women who could not narrow themselves to domesticity. However much they might envy those womem who could be happy bu a fireside, they themselves could not, but were impelled by some great power to immolate themselves for humanity. Some of these have been in convents, some have been in hospitals, some in pulpets, and some in teachers' chairs. They felt a "call" to their wide covation, as I suppose Whitfield felt a call to hsi, and John Brown a call in his. There are isolated and remarkable beings who are thus implied to the unusal, and since they are disinterested, and even suffer martyrdom for their convinctions, one cannot afford to disbelive in the "call" though one may be commonplace one's self, and never have responded to any sort of a call unless it be the dinner bell.

Indeed, A. M. M., I would have been entirely indifferent to all you had to say with those weary old arguments, about the objections to women's rights, if it had not been that you called us light minded, frivolous and foolish. Was your mother so? Some of us have memories of silent paitience, of loving forbearance, of courage in poverty, of heroism in siffereing, and charity to all, of self subduing of endless sacrifices which makes us ownder and bow the head. Some of us have friends now, yong women, who bear shameful burdens imposed upon them but these wise men whom you so admire, and who bear these burdens with a noble dignity, their lips sealed agianst complaint, thier heads held high in loyalty, though their spirits cower in secret shame! With such memories of those who are gone, or past their work, with such knowledge of living friends, one cannot but protest against the accusation of "light mindedness, frivolity and foolishness." Even Mr. Pope woul dnot have said anything so mean as that, and Walter Scott, you remember very well, though admitting that we might be somewhat undcertain and hard to please in our idle moments, was eager to pay tribute to our fidelity and courage when the occasion arose, for the exercise of thos virtues. Myself, I thnk if homes are sustained and generations raised by creatures of so little account, it were wll if humanity were at an end and "the fevr called living" well over for the whole of us.

You talk about the modesty of women. My dear madame, that modesty was not protected in this or any other country till women arose and protested that they would have laws protecting women. Modestly It has been the modesty of women that has kept them form protesting with sifficient effect against the laxity of laws in certain directions and that permits a man like George Morgan to commit his brief confinement and come out to crush another innocent victim. It would well befit the modesty of any of us to work to secure in the legislature a penalty for such wretches commensurate with the trime they cimmit, insteady of having them confined for the same length of time they would be if htey had stolen a man;s fattened pig or burned his barn. Believe me, modesty is one of those things which vary in th emind of each peerosn. There are women who have never thought it immodest ot have an interest in civic affairs or to labor for th ebetterment of thier community, I remember very well listening to a white-headed gentleman not long ago who declared with a great deal of bluster that "women never had any public spirtit. They had only prejudices." A few minutes later when one was speaking of a lady in this town who certainly has a pibluc spirit-the lady who was the second president of the Woman's club and is now th president of Womans Christian association-he said; Woman were very much better attending to thier own affairs. He believed in card clubs, but he didn't see why ladies should meet expet to play whist or drink tea. The inconsistency of this old gentleman, which one did not mind, because he seemed to be so very ignorant of what was going on in the world, is very common among persons of this class. They comlain of the women for not knowing anything and much more bitterly complain of them if they endeavor to learn. It is only when women appear to take a similar stand that one feels discoruaged. It was the foes who ate at mess with him that filled the soul of Washington with the great grief that that whitened his hair. None of us are Washingtons, and we are not going to grow white-headed over your disincilnation to agree with. There are many hundred thousands women in the world who will go about their tasks with as much parience and courage as if you had not thought them light-hearted, and who willm perhaps make a home, keep it well and do a deal outside of home too. They will give you cards and spades and beat you then, dear madam. I hope you play cards? They are good, things to play when one has very stupid company wiht whom one cannot sustain a conversation.

Please let me speak of one thing more. You speak of hirelings. Hirelings is a good word ot use in England, or Russla, but in America it doesn't sound well. We are all hirelings here, except a few of us, who make our break by the sweat of some one's elsesbrow. No doubt your huspand is a hireling I hope so. He probably is if he is honest. We all serve in one way of another. Nor does the wage make us consciencesies. The hirelings who hold our little children, or who help in any other way with the domestic labors, may have hearts as tender as our own. Who has not seen their tears dropping at the illness of the little ones they have cared for, or noticed their sumpathy with any other affliction of the family? There are houses where the "hirelings" are the best part of the household-the most healthy, industrious, virtuous and best looking."Hirelings" is not a word for this nation of shop keepers and road workers and wrtiers and scrubwomen.

It does seem as if they were two or three other things I wanted to say to you, but I have forgotten them.

IN DEFENSE OF HER OWN SEX

Mrs. Peattie Writes a Reply to the Communication of A. M. M.

She Maintains That Women Are Not Light Minded, but Are Frequently the Family Strength.

Some Sharp Arrows Which Are Shot Without Rancor in This Joust Over the "New Woman."

A. M. M. has a bitter and somewhat excited article in the Public Pulse columns of a recent issue of this journal concerning women's rights-as she is fair enough to term them. One does not, of course know what should have caused A. M. M. to wrtie so earnestly upon a question which at the present time appears to be abeyance. Very likely it was some private discussion which stirred her and impelled her to give voice in public to the personal indignation which she felt. At any rate as her ideas represent those of a large class of women and as they are set forth with the most evident sincerity, they are entitled to the condideration of women who are willing to bear with some pride the epithets heaped upon them by thos of shallow wit-epithels which were intended to be opprobrious. As "Yankee" was a term of contempt, yet came to be born with honest bride by those whom it was appiled so "the new woman," which was meant for a slur, has come to be a shiboleth, and the women who work in eclence, in art, in the professions, in the trades, in the home, the church and the school have come to accept with dignity that application and to fraternize under it.

The arguments which A. M. M. advances aginst the political enfranchisement of women are very old. Though really that is nothing aginst them. Almost all good things ate old, as well as most bad things. Nothing is older than injustice. F w things are older than sophistry. And without injustice we should not have had the heroic trimphs of justice. Without sophistry we could not have had the background over against which in place the fair figure of truth. One does not mind that what A. M. M. says is very old and lacking in originality. One could hardly ecpect, indeed, that a member of the"light minded foolish and frivolous" sec should be anything but a plaglarist. How could a creature so abject create anything-save children like any other mammal? It is A.M.M. who after talking about all for which the Creator intended us, says that we are "light minded, frivolous and foolish." Perhaps she knows. But indeed, could she look in the hearts that however foolish we may be, however frivolous we might have been long ago, we are not light minded! Perhaps if we could be for a while the world might not seem so old Perhaps if we could let the hundresds drop and the durucs fall, and the awful of what we owe to out children and in others who live us be forgotten for a while life would seem very day and wonderful to some of us. No, really believe me A. M. M., we are not light minded. We cannot conduct homes with all the fine economies necessary, we cannot [trust?] our children with all the hopes and prayers and fear [?] upon that sacred task , we cannot muc in a world so filled with injustice and sorrow and be light minded. Perhaps you are, dear A. M. M. But there are many, many of us who are not, and who never can be again, though we may have been so once when we were little girls and ran over the meadows of our youth, where the butterflies were. But that was such a very long time ago!

We cannot even retain out "light mindedness, A. M. M., and contemplate the awful erros made by "our wisest men," of whom you speak with such abject revrence that it remind me of the "Japanese grovel" with which good Mr. Gilbert had the subjects of the mikado approach his most illumunated majesty. You are indeed under the thrall of sex. I congratuales you upon tour masculine axqaintance. I have know many faily good men and two remarkably good ones: I have enjoyed the acquaintance of hundreds of interesting men, and thousands of comparatively inoffensive ones. But the wisdom of which I speak I have not seen, neither in the mwn whom I have been permitted to shake the hands at public levees-such as Mr. Cleveland, for instance. I have often perveived that men became famous by a mere trick of fate, over which they had no control. I have seen men as heroic as the most successful men as heroic as the most successful fall because of another trick of fate. And as for wisdom-merciful heavens: is not this country bewildered by the errors of men? Is not this state in abject trepidation- are not men regarding one another with oitable eyes, conscious past words of their own fallinility and of the wreck in whch they have precipitated themselves? Have you not seen many and many at time, families dragged to ruin bythe mistaken judgement of good men, and the selfish vices of bad ones? Have you not observed pretenders everywhere? Have you not learned it is often greed which triumphs coarseness which succeds, tyranny which wins respoect, and does not the wole world bow before a shining yellow metal, which will make the possessor of snowwhite swan in the wyese of those who erstwhile, before they came into possession of that metal, though him or her a goose? The "wisdom" of men! Truely they are as wise as women-but what a little thing is that. And do not women know how weak these men are-how the beat of them must be carred for, pettied, cajoled, encouraged! The world is a very vruel place, and there never was a man yet who did not now and then falter before the strige of it, and shrink form it, hurt and afraid. It is easy to believe that Josephine may have seen Napoleon weep; quite easy to think that Martha may have kissed courage into the lops of Washington-lips which men thought so implacable.