The Business of Being a WomanTarbell, Ida M. (Ida Minerva)
General
The Business of Being a Woman
Tarbell, Ida M. (Ida Minerva)
Women -- Social and moral questions
There is no more critical time for her than when her young people go
out to try themselves in the world. The girl particularly needs this
pull of the home, not only to keep her on a straight path, but to keep
her from the narrowness and selfishness which overtake so many
self-supporting women who have no close family responsibilities. The
fetich which has been made, for many years now, of work for women,
that is, of work outside of the home, frequently leads the woman to
take some particular virtue to herself for self-support. She feels
that it entitles her to special consideration, releases her from
obligations which she does not voluntarily assume. The attitude is
enough to narrow and harden her life. The great preventive of this
disaster is a responsible home relation. If she must share her
earnings, it is a blessed thing for her. If not, she should share its
burdens and its hopes, in order to have a continued source of outside
interest to broaden and soften her, to keep her out of the ranks of
the charmless, self-centered, single women, whose only occupations are
self-support and self-care.
The problems involved in keeping the girl who has a home from being
homeless are not simple. They are as intricate as anything a woman
can face. They call for the highest understanding, responsiveness, and
activity. No futile devices will meet them. "My daughter is not coming
home to be idle," I heard a fine-intentioned woman say recently. "I
insist that she take all the care of her room, save the weekly
cleaning, and that she keep the living-room tidy." But what an
occupation for a young woman with a college degree, who for four years
has led a busy, well-organized life in which each task was directed
toward some definite purpose! What a commentary on the mother's
understanding of "economic independence," a matter of which she talks
eloquently at her club! All that it proved was that the woman had
never realized the girl's case, had never given consecutive, serious
thought to its handling.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account