woman then and now

8/12/2019 Woman Then and Now

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Woman: Then and NowAuthor(s): Blanche C. CarterSource: Fine Arts Journal, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Jan., 1919), pp. 30-31Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25587616 .Accessed: 16/06/2014 09:16

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MRS. BLANCHE

CARTER-A

MEMBER OF

THE FIRST

DELPHIAN CLUB

ORGANIZED IN

CHICAGO AND

AN ENTHUSIASTIC CONTRIB

UTOR TO THE

FINE ARTS

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* s S

9____ r__

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e

.

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.';X',,

HER FIRST

BOOK, "DREAMS

AND PANCIES,"

WAS PUBLISHED

IN 1908AND

CONTAINS RICH

GEMS OFTHO U.GHT IN

BOTH PROSE

AND POETRY

Woman n-Th en an d NowBy BLANCHE C. CARTER

W HEN Mr. Caveman of primitiveage decided to take unto himselfa mate, he went out and got her.

The fact that she was already mated made

no difference o him. He tookher quietly,if possible. If not quietly, he fought forher and when successful hrew er over hisshoulder and took her to his cave. Perhapsin the depths of her savage heart there wasa glow akin to pride, in his strength andforce. To sit on the ground and gnaw abone, and to have a new animal skin occasionally for her wardrobe was all that shedesired. She followed her mate in thechase, and was content. After a time fire

and its uses were discovered, probably byaccident. As it was hard to kindle, it be

came very desirable that it should be keptburning, so the man went to hunt alone,and the woman kept the fire. Thus, withthe advent of fire, woman lost her liberty

and freedom, nd finally ecame subjectedtoman-his slave, to be taken or cast off asthe fancy eized him.

For many centuries omen were lookedupon as inferior to men, mentally andphysically. History tells us that by theirbeauty, intellect nd wit, many of themcaused dynasties to be founded and destroyed, nd yet theywere not considered

men's equals, and apparently wayed themonly through heir eauty and charm. In

the humbler walks of life, marriage wasthe only occupation for a so-called good

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WOMAN-THEN AND NOW Page Thirty-one

woman, and it certainly was a positionwhich only a woman of. brains could fillsatisfactorily. t included hegreatest trial

of a woman's life, hild bearing, nd afterthe oming f the hildren hewas not onlymother, but became nurse, teacher, octor,seamstress, ouseholddrudge, nd a penniless pauper, with absolutely no rights. fany kind.

The stronger ex not so many years agothought oman had no right to an incomeof her own, that she did not have brainsenough to know how to spend it. Shecould fill ll the above-mentioned ccupations acceptably but her intellect as too

weak to handlemoney. In his softer oodsbefore marriage, he likened her to theclinging ine, buit fter, xpected her to bea sturdy oak on which the whole familycould lean, and he did not expect any creaking or moaning among the branches. Ifshe had a dress a year, and food which sheherself had prepared, hewas lookeduponas a very fortunate woman, inasmuch asshe had a god-like creature called a husband to provide them for her.

Finally, after years of inward struggleand hate of their umiliating osition f inferiority, hen they knew their earts andbrainswere stronger, learer nd better hanthemen who dominated hem, hey ebelled,the struggle began, and no one but the

women know what that struggle has been.Every effort to develop mind and heart,every effort to enter colleges as co-stu

dents with men, every effort to study medicine, law, or the arts has had to be foughtbitterly every inch of the long weary road.They have endured sneers and slander andpetty persecution. And so down throughthe years they have come with a persistency, an indomitable courage which weaksouls could not have survived, and as a re

ward for the longexhausting rial, womenare coming into their own.

The doors of colleges have been thrown

open to them. They aremaking their arkinmedicine, law and the arts. Women's

names lead in the world of literature. heystand side. by side with men in factories,laboratories, nd shops, nd their ork is as

good and ofttimes uperior omen's. Theyhold responsible ositions in offices, ndthey' ake superior buyers for dry goodsstores. -They reach the gospel of Christ,and purity of life for men as well as Women.They have fought he curse of- iquor, ndthe wrong -of child labor. Always - hen

women strive t is for better, leaner, appier condition. Equal suffrage s bound tocome, and our conservative enators whodefeated the bill so short time go willlive to see they made a mistake. It takessublime courage for our men to go forthto battle for an ideal for a righteous cause,and we honor themwithout stint. Haveyou thought f the ourage f the mothers,wives and sisterswho see their ear onesgo forth to danger, disease and death, andstill send them ith a smileon their faces,and a dagger of pain in their hearts? Howfaithfully hey toil to add to the comfortof the men on the battlefield as anyonestopped to think f the thousands f gar

ments their fingers ave fashioned for thedestitute ick andwounded in thewar-torncountry, f the thousand pon thousandof bandages they have rolled, of the comfort kits they havemade, and other thingstoo numerous to mention? And all youskeptical. nes stop and think, owwomen

with all their chievements re still builders and keepers of the home, and a better,

happier home than ver before. Educationhas proven to men that women are theircompanions, not their toys or slaves; that,working together, ntellect ith intellect,heart to heart, home is a finer, cleaner place;a place where the family can gather andtalk of their failures and achievements tohearts that can understand and sympathize.

So every characteristic of Mr. Caveman'swife has disappeared, xcept her ability tokeep the fire f home bright nd ready forthewanderers to gather bout it.

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