Woman in Transition by Annette M. B. Meakin

Author:Annette M. B. Meakin [Meakin, Annette M. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780722215364
Google: 2pHXdmvhzD8C
Publisher: Methuen
Published: 1907-01-15T15:58:15+00:00

Chapter XII

Girls of the Middle Class

The average English girl’s first object in choosing a profession is to make money. The idea that every woman who teaches children does so out of a special fondness for the little ones is absurd, as absurd as the idea that every woman who becomes a hospital nurse does so out of sympathy with the sick. The career of many a daughter in these days is decided upon by her parents entirely with regard to the cheapness of the training required and the amount of time that will have to be devoted to it. When a girl shows no particular talent or inclination for one pursuit more than another she is not likely to evince any particular enthusiasm in the calling chosen for her. On the other hand many girls who have a special bent are unable to follow it on account of the cost, and when the training is over they know there will come the anxious time of looking for a post. There are still very few professions in which a woman can expect to make as much money as a man would do in her place. In the teaching profession, as well as in almost every other, the difference between salaries of male and female teachers is very marked in all European countries, and even in America. In Sweden the difference is that of one-half. Yet teaching is a profession that has always been open to women.

Many leaders of the woman movement firmly believe that the opposition that men have shown, and still show, to women entering the liberal professions is really a form of their “bitter cry” forced from them by the keen competition that already existed among themselves. If this be true, we can easily understand why Socialists and Anarchists have no objection to seeing women occupy posts that were formerly open only to men. Socialist and Anarchist propagandists are for the most part people who despair of being able to get posts for themselves; they have clearly less reason to fear the rivalry of women.

Those who are anxious that women should remain “womanly,” and be satisfied with womanly occupations, overlook the fact that the more womanly the work the worse the pay and the more grinding and often humiliating the task. Where the parents have spent all their available funds on their sons, the daughters must of necessity choose a line of work that requires little skill and short training, and this means that they will have to work hard and get little pay for the rest of their lives unless they chance to marry. Yet how many families do we see around us where there is not enough money forthcoming even to give the sons a profession, and where the brothers are forced to begin life as office boys and work their way up as city clerks! Unless these are specially gifted with energy and push, their future is anything but promising; years and years of toil are before them and one fortnight’s holiday in twelve months.

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