Woman and Womanhood: A Search for PrinciplesSaleeby, C. W. (Caleb Williams)
Science
Woman and Womanhood: A Search for Principles
Saleeby, C. W. (Caleb Williams)
Eugenics; Women
depends upon its success!
Of course it should not be necessary for any man to set forth, for the
instruction of girlhood, the qualities which it should value in men. All
who train and teach girlhood and form its ideals should devote
themselves scarcely less to this than to the inculcation of high ideals
for girlhood itself; yet it is not done. We do not yet recognize the
supreme importance of the marriage choice for the present and for the
future.
Fortunately, if Nature alone gets a fair chance, she teaches the girl
that a man should "play the game," and should not be afraid of "having a
go," that of the two classes into which, as one used to tell a little
girl, people are divided--those who "stick to it," and those who do
not--the former are the worthy for her. But Nature is specially
handicapped by stupid convention, not least in Anglo-Saxon countries, as
regards a woman's estimation of _tenderness_ in a man. The parental
instinct with its correlate emotion of tenderness, is the highest of
existing things, and though it is less characteristic of men than of
women, it is none the less supreme when men exhibit it. In days to come,
when women can choose, as they should be able to choose to-day, they may
well be counselled to use as a touchstone of their suitor's quality that
line of Wordsworth, "Wisdom doth live with children round her knees." A
man who thinks that "rot" _is_ rot, or soon will be.
But in the minds of men and women there is a half implicit assumption
that tenderness is incompatible with manliness. "Let not women's
weapons, water-drops, stain my man's cheeks," says Lear. But it is quite
possible for a man to be manly and yet tender, and to the highest type
of women it is the combination of strength and tenderness in a man that
appeals beyond aught else.
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