Our Girls Part 6

In this place it is only necessary to say, that a strap should be fastened to the skirt-band at the side, to run down over the hip, and on the outside of the leg, above the knee to divide into two straps, one of which is to be attached to the stocking on the front of the knee, and the other on the back of the knee.

Somewhere in the course of the single strap, a buckle may be introduced to regulate the tension of the support. This sort of support has been very much used for children's stockings. It has now been adopted by thousands of women, many of whom have spoken to me very warmly of its value.

LARGE vs. SMALL WOMEN.

Pet.i.te, applied to a woman, is a very dear word to the fas.h.i.+onables.

Ah, the dear, delicate, pet.i.te creature! Ah, my darling, sweet pet.i.te!

But oh, how dreadful and monstrous such words as--the great creature!--She's as big as all out doors!--for mercy's sake, look at that woman! why, she could lift an ox! Among fas.h.i.+onable simpletons these words are applied to a woman who weighs, say, one hundred and sixty pounds, who has a fine, n.o.ble physique, fully competent to the labors and trials of motherhood and life.

By a large woman, I mean one who weighs one hundred and forty to one hundred and sixty pounds. A small woman is one weighing from ninety to one hundred and ten pounds.

The reason for this preference for little women, among men, is simply this. Formerly, women were slaves to the pa.s.sions of men. In modern times they have, among our better cla.s.ses, risen a little above that, and have become the pets and toys of men. Now a pet or a toy, say a black and tan, is valuable in proportion to its diminutiveness. A man in selecting a wife that he intends to dress in silks and laces, with trinkets hung in her ears, rings on her fingers, and little ornaments stuck all over her, who is to sit in his parlor while he is absent on business, to dress and redress herself several times a day, to be ready to receive him, all corseted, besilked, bejeweled and bescented, when he shall come from his office,--a man who selects a wife as a pet, a toy, is very likely to have the same sort of preference for a pet.i.te wife, that he has for a pet.i.te black and tan.

This is the source of the preference for little women.

Whenever women shall rise to a true companions.h.i.+p with men, as their equals, and not their toys, then a small woman will no more be preferred than a small man.

When the great ideas of use, of citizens.h.i.+p, of a true womanhood, of a dignified motherhood, shall come to prevail over this Turkish notion of toy women, then women of n.o.ble bearing and commanding presence will be the style; and the little woman will suffer the same disadvantage, in the matrimonial market, that a little man does.

I beg you will not misunderstand me. I am only speaking of the source of a fas.h.i.+on, a prejudice, a false preference. Some of the most lovely, delightful women, as well as the most useful women I have ever met, were small.

However, I am bound in truth to say that, during many years, I have been on the qui vive with reference to the differences between the large and the small, among women, and that I have reached the conclusion that the average large-sized woman is, like the average large-sized man, superior intellectually and otherwise, to the small-sized one.

Women of commanding height, average, so far as my observation has been able to determine, a higher morale, a more dignified character, and greater amiability than the pet.i.te ones. I think this statement is true of both s.e.xes. Little men are more irritable, nervous and unreliable, as a cla.s.s, than large ones.

Some one says, "I don't believe it; it's no such thing; there's that little Mr. R., who is the brightest, smartest man in town." This is not at all improbable.

But what do you think of this fact: At one time in the history of our great Revolutionary War, about fifteen of the most prominent actors in that memorable struggle happened to meet at West Point.

They were weighed, and a record made. I have that record. Of the fifteen, only one weighed less than two hundred pounds.

A small man weighs one hundred and twenty five pounds. How many men of that size, or near that size, can you recall, who have figured among the solid, great men in the world's history? We can recall two or three brilliant poets, perhaps as many celebrated orators, who were small men; but when we look among the men who have ill.u.s.trated the great, grand, solid, enduring traits of human character, in any of the important departments of life, we find that, almost without exception, they are above the average size.

If women were prized for solidity of character, dignity of bearing, strength and reliability of judgment and behavior,--if they were prized as women and citizens, rather than as darlings and toys, there cannot be a shadow of doubt, that women of good size would be greatly preferred, as a cla.s.s, to small ones.

WHY ARE WOMEN SO SMALL?

American women are becoming the smallest among the civilized peoples, while the men are among the largest. Our army averaged larger than the English, French or German. But look at the droves of school girls, who, at eighteen or twenty years of age, are so small, that it requires a stretch of the imagination to think of them as wives or mothers.

In a neighboring state I was trying to find the house of a friend, and, meeting a little girl, I said:--

"My little girl, will you please tell me where Col. Grant's residence is?"

"Yes, my little boy; he resides in the second house on the right hand, my little boy."

Now, as the scales always allude to two hundred and odd whenever I step on, her remark struck me as sarcastic.

I said at once, lifting my hat, "I hope you will pardon me, I did not intend any offence."

"All right," said she, "but I thought you were making fun of me, by calling me 'little girl.'"

"I trust you will believe me when I a.s.sure you that nothing was farther from my mind; but you were so small, I supposed you were a little girl, and so, without thinking, I called you so; it is so dark I could not see your face."

"All right, sir; but my husband would have been very angry if he had heard you call me a little girl."

Born of the same parents, fed at the same table, educated at the same school, why, in America, does a man weigh fifty pounds more than a woman?

I know a good many young ladies, very active in the matrimonial market, who do not weigh more than ninety pounds, and, poor little silly geese, are squeezing themselves as tight as possible with corsets.

This pet.i.te size can be accounted for. Nothing, to my mind, is plainer.

Exercise is the great law of development Our girls have no adequate exercise. Besides, the organs on which growth depends, viz., the lungs, stomach and liver, are reduced, by the corset, to half the natural size and activity. These two causes, with living in the shade, explain the alarming decrease in the size of the average American woman.

IDLENESS AMONG GIRLS.

My friend Mr.---- has three daughters and two sons. The girls are between eighteen and twenty-eight, one son is thirty-five perhaps, the other is about fourteen.

The father keeps a tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs store. The oldest son is somewhere in the West, the youngest son has already left school to a.s.sist his father in the store.

The three girls do nothing whatever but dress, play a little, make calls, receive calls, and go a shopping, and, I should add, that during the summer they visit the country, for their health.

Twice the father has compromised with his creditors, and he told me a week ago, that sleep, appet.i.te, and hope had all left him, that he had just borrowed two hundred dollars to enable his girls to go up into New Hamps.h.i.+re, that he saw nothing but ruin before him, that he was completely exhausted, that he had recently felt symptoms of paralysis, and that I must tell him, as a friend, what he could do to save himself from insanity.

These e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns culminated in his covering his face with his hands, and bursting into a flood of tears.

"Why, sir," said he, "I owe everybody. Even that faithful creature in my kitchen hasn't had twenty dollars in a year."

A FAMILY COUNCIL.

He went on: "The other day when the girls got ready to go into the country, we held our first family council. My poor wife, who is all worn out, couldn't bear to have the girls troubled with it. She thought it wouldn't do any good, and that we had better keep it to ourselves. But I said, 'no, for once we will have a fair understanding.'

"The girls were to go on Tuesday, so on Monday evening I said to them, 'now, as you are going away to-morrow, let us spend the evening, as a family, alone. I want to advise with you.' They were very good about it; they sent, and broke an engagement with the Browns, and we all got together in the parlor. I tell you it was ticklish business, though. The fact is, we never had had a perfectly frank talk about business with them.

"Mattie was all curiosity, and began at once: 'What in the world is it all about? Why, father, what makes you look so awful solemn; and, dear mamma, why, you're as pale as a ghost.'

"Well, I saw we were in for it, and so I just let right out. I said, 'Girls, mother and I have talked it over, night after night, and we have concluded that we ought to tell you about our circ.u.mstances.

The fact is, not to be mealy-mouthed about it, we are all on the brink of ruin. I am head over heels in debt, and can't see any way of getting out. Your mother and I are nearly worn out; we can't last much longer. And now, we both feel that we ought to have a plain talk with you.'

"f.a.n.n.y went into regular hysterics. My wife said, 'Don't, father, don't!' f.a.n.n.y then began to cry and sob, and declared she shouldn't sleep a minute all night, she was sure she shouldn't sleep a minute.

"Mattie declared she had always lived like a beggar, never had a sixpence to buy anything like other girls, and she wished she had never, never been born.