Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 95, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 April 1916 — Kin Hubbard Essays [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kin Hubbard Essays

SEX ANTAGONISM

By KIN HUBBARD.

With th’ passin* o’ th' ole fashioned home with its family circle, women an’ girls haye- become a most important factor In our professional an’ business life. As th’ earnin’ ability o’ th’ modern father ’ll no longer sustain a heme filled with full blown daughters, an’ as th’ supply o’ desirable male prospects is fer below th’ demand, th’ girls have been ruthlessly thrown on ther own resources. T’day woman is a formidable proposition In practically ever’ profession but hod carryin’ an’ structural iron work. From danglin ‘n pink fleshin’s from th’ dizzy heights o ’th’ circus tent t’ runnin’ a livery stable she is a success. T’day it is conceded on ever’* hand that woman excels at ever’ thing she tackles but selectin’ her husband’s hose an’ carryin’ a mattress. In th’ great department stores, on th’ stage, in th’ dice shakin’ cigar stands, on th’ newspapers, at th’ loom, with th’ circus, in th’ practice o’ law, dentistry an’ medicine, on th’ platform, with th’ needle, on th’ stock exchange, in th’ hammock an’ on th’ verandy woman excels. She plugs along without chewin’ an’ smoking’ or sneakin’ out t’ take a drink. Bright an’ early Monday she’s on th’ Job with bright eyes an’ a clear memory. Look at th’ women o’ Europe! With th’ firesides an’ farms an’ factories stripped of men they are pickin’ th’ hops an’ cuttin’ th’ oats an’ nursin’ th’ wounded an’ carin’ fer th’ thou-

sands o’ fatherless children. Ther’s no discount on woman an' most o’ us would like t’ see her vote. But with our changed home life an’ self sustainin’ daughters ther'has developed among women an’ overweenin’ sense o’ sinjeriority o’er man that is bein’ nourished an’ boosted by a detachment o’ stout, florid,, unhappily mated an’ over zealous man haters. No sensible person denies that woman should have th’ right t’ vote an’ try t’ regulate th’ conditions under which she works, or t’ have some voice in th’ course of a sewer or th’ tariff on pearl buttons, but she’ll never git that right as long as th’ robust agitators who have failed at th’ marriage altar inject sex antagonism in th’ suffrage question. I would like t' see th’ woman who started th’ movement t’ have th’ word “obey” stricken from th’ marriage contract. Th* effort t’ create th’ impression among women an’ girls that love is short lived sentimental twaddle, that marriage is a cold blooded business proposition an’ that all men are fer th’ double standard o’ morality regardless o’ ther views on th’ currency question will o’ course fall. Any movement, either scattered or organized, t’ put Dan Cupid out o’ business is doomed t’ ignominious defeat at th’ polls or in th’ parlor. Next t’ a Persian nut Sundae ther halnt nothin’ that appeals less t’ a redblooded man than a militant woman.

“Next t’ a Persian Nut Sundae Ther Hain’t Nothin’ That Appeals Less t’ a Red Blooded Man Than a Militant Woman,”