The Great War altered Bri tradition of domesticity, into cool, capable you definite place in commerce and an and customs of our daily lives.
Women control the bulk of the nation's retail. buying, and the very definite ideas of the woman customer regarding what she wants does {ar more than dictate the contents of the big shops and stores, Tt guides about 80'per cent of the nation's output of newspapers and periodicals, because these eaninot exist without the advertisements of firms catering for women, Toa far greater extent than most people realize, the life and thought of the country: are already under' feminine domination.
What, then, will be the effect of the present war, should it be pro-Jenged for several years and involve the death of a great number of present and potential husbands?" Will Britain become a matriarchy? Will women take complete command? Will they tell _us they are sick man-made world that does" nothing bout drift into a succession of ghastly wars, and proceed to show us how the country ought to be run?" Will the shortage of men result in. two or three women sharing a husband Between them?
Those who expect sensational and dramatic changes such as. these are doomed to. disappointment. A matriarchy could only succeed all the "powerful "nations of the world were tun by women, and in most other countries the women are either generations away" from such a development, perfectly satisfied with their present status, oF unlikely to find themselves in a suMiciently powerful majority as a result of the war. Changes there will be, but they are more likely to be an acceleration of normal and commonsense progress.
Consolidation in Business To begin with, the war will almost certainly witness the consolidation of woman's place in the business world, We talk a great deal about careers for women, but anyone familiar with commerce and the professions Is perfectly well aware that only the Fare {and " exceptional woman "has. any chance of attaining a position equal to that gained by' the average man.
are content to employ women £0 Jong as they provide cheap labour for the performance of dull, routine tasks, but directly they try' to take fon responsible posts they find themselves opposed by a nerve-shattering wall of masculine prejudice. By the time the war is over our women will have established the principle that the holding of a job and the salary that goes" with it are decided by ity and not by sex.
Duty of Motherhood That does not mean that women will forget that nature has imposed upon them the duty of motherhood. Aldous Huxley visualized a brave new world in which babies were produced synthetically,, but even though science might make this a practical possibility within a _comparatively short while, human nature does not change so quickly. Except for a few mechanical gadgets, the ferences between people of today fand those of the Greek and Roman Empires of two or three. thousand years ago are negligible, Therefore, safe (o predict that even when nother thousand years have passed man's first and deepest instinct will be. motherhood, What we shall see is a vast im. provement in the care of the children who ate born and of the mothers who want, heat it up and persuade your; family to heat—1 mean eat—it up.
But worse things are threatened. 'The scientists are producing food in concentrated tablet' form warranted fo contain all the nourishment derive ed froma six-course dinner, From reports I have read the tablets appear to be composed chiefly of cow. heel, bullock's heart, the skins of the the offals of the soya bean, and the lini of the female herring.
But really one might be in Ger-sh women out of all recognition, In four years they turned from shy, retiring housewives, imbued with a 9 women with a enormous influence on the manners bear them. 'The last war gave a tremendous impetus to infant welfare, and great. reforms were instituted. But motherhood is still one of. the dangerous occupations, and the hullo of the infant mortality' rate occurs during the first fow weeks of a baby's life. In other words, a child is pretty safe as soon as its mother can look afler it. There is the gravest risk as long as the mother and child are the care of others. Women will longer tolerate that state of affairs, To abolish it they will take supreme command of the nation's infant we" fare and motherhood services, and, to ensure the rebuilding. of a' healthy nation, motherhood wilt be financially subsidized to a far greater extent than now seems possible.
'Thus, no matter whether a woman goes into' business, or marries and brings up a family, "the march of events will give her far greater power than she now possesses. "She will feel herself to be a vital and important teeter in the nation's economic system, and that will give her the poise, confidence, "and assurance she' now lacks, Today' it "is only. the exeeptional woman who is able to dominate circumstances. Most women stilt feel that their sex is a disadvantage and that they can only lead an assured and comfortable life by winning the goodwill of some man, Tomorrow, that feeling will vanish, and every. woman will start life with the cer tainty that as much as any man, she can control her own destiny, That must lead to the woman of tomorrow being an even finer char: acter than the woman of today, \Present-day girls are magnificent in their health and alert brains, but they will bbe easily outshone by those" who Teach maturity in twenty years' time, No one for moment thinks that they will abuse their new powers.
Will Women Propose?
But it is highly probable that, with her newly won confidence, woman will not be content to. retain a. passive attitude towards love and. to wait patiently until some man condescends to ask her to marry him. "A shortage of men coupled with a high standard feminine character will mean that women will boldly socle out their mates and take the initiative in woo-Sug. 'The leap year joke of today' of the woman who proposes will become the commonplace of tomorrow.
Do these feminine triumphs mean that sex antagonism will be intensihed? One thinks not. The reason it exists today is that women resent the prejudice and injustice of a man-made world, Even though the average woman may not think twice about the subject of women's rights, she is subconsciously influenced by feelings that are only openly expressed by the intelligent minority, Under peace conditions it might have taken a hundred years to. bring about the reforms women want. In a world war they may all be accomplished in five years, and, with the disappearance of feminine resentment, sex antagonism will scun become a'dim memor
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.