Show Tt m r 1 Y I. I 4 7 1 t t i iC t r t tive X A NEW iAN N T Ta E 1 a ATHERTON i Gertrude Atherton well who known feels novelist that e American husbands J While Woman Has alas leave leate much to be 4 desired of social in in the thc graces way i Progressed Man lYLan IT H as Stood too I Still Says the Famous f l 1 A American Novelist and if i f He 1 r Q Doesn't Give More Care Care to His Shortcomings Shortcoming s We A- A I r Will Have Within the t tR ta Next I W R a r rJ Woman as t the h e I pa Half If C Century en t ury Stronger and Superior Sex l I 1 fr n 1 f r I j By LIllIan G. G Gent I IT T Tv T v WASN'T so long ago that one used to read enlightening ar and listen to entertaining lectures parental and otherwise on what t. t woman can do to please the man His desires his thoughts his ambitions ambitions ambi- ambi and his idiosyncrasies were conscientiously studied by every woman who wanted to win a husband In recent years though the situation has gradually but undeniably been changing Now not infrequently one can read priceless bits of e advice as to what man can do to win and hold a woman This is beginning begin begin- r r ping ning to be an art that demands far more study and concentration than th the average man is willing to admit There is no doubt that women are showing an increasing indifference to marriage A spinster by choice is no longer greeted with wise glances for it is well known that today a a. great number of women are in truth remaining single from preference And in those cases where marriages man are contracted their f lack of adhesive powers is one of the chief topics of the day There are many who attribute this attitude on the part of J. J woman yoman to her economic freedom to her selfish desire tp to lead her own J. J i. i life and to her wanting to enjoy x the pleasures of marriage without its onus But these reasons are r emphatically y denied by Gertrude Atherton the famous novelist The cause she said saia goes l E deeper than that Anyone Any one who r will wiIl matter a little thought will wiIl see that what is needed today is a new man to meet the require require- rt ments of the new woman i SHE SHE sat in the sitting room of a New NewYork York hotel a very looking feminine i ci woman dressed In a dainty blue tea l. l gown She has deep blue eyes and pale x red gold hair wl which ch she wears In a somewhat somewhat some some- what old fashioned style making her look like a charming daguerreotype i 4 While the modern woman has been t h forging ahead since her emancipation she continued the man has remained stationary Indeed he has been so smugly Y complacent about l his s superiority both physically and mentally that he hasn't realized he has been bem gradually losing it until today he finds he Is almost bereft ct cf his former glories In fact It Is l his s deficiencies that are now becoming glarIngly glar- glar apparent It If he doesn't take himsel himself him him- self sel In hand and give more attention to 4 his shortcomings we w will undoubtedly have within the next fifty years woman as the stronger and superior sex One needn't have ha unusual powers ot of prognostication prognostication S either for one can already see unmistakable signs ot of It Should ne think that this would be bea a a. new and odd situation in the history of s- s the world Mrs Atherton straightway diss dis- dis that idea For as she informs there have been periods before when women r f ruled and were regarded as the superior sex The interviewer recalled that In a recent book of Mrs Atherton's a novel ot of intrigue and adventure In the fifth century B B. B C. C she dwelt upon the fact r that in Egypt at that time the women were the ruling sex That was not the only instance where there was a matriarchy related Mrs Atherton when this point was called to her attention There have been many periods throughout ancient history when women carried on the affairs of the S state while men attended to the domestic 5 tasks even taking care of the children The latter Were regarded as the inferior sex and it was the women who were ab- ab supreme I am not speaking of the Amazonian women of prehistoric y 9 4 ti y 7 I S times either but of women In such countries countries coun- coun tries tries as Egypt Persia Sparta Syria and even later In Germany Of course men Gave lave been the domi dominant ant sex so long that it Is Inconceivable for us to think that omen tomen could ever have ruled Yet we shall come to such a period again and andin andin in this very country unless unless' the American Amer- Amer American ican man will cease keeping his nose to the grindstone of business CERTAINLY in this enlightened age we should be able to keep both sexes at a par Man and woman w were re remade made equal and it Is unnatural for either to t be dominant over the other When such a situation does exist neither sex ca be content for the unhappiness and the martyrdom of one sex casts Its shadow upon the other and is a hindrance to the joy of the one In power The modern woman Is leading more ot of r a o Q dp 0 d o a p E x I. I t 4 I Y IL I I w y wa i S I 4 t yX 1 5 T t tH f S 1 Time and again I have met men at a social gathering or have had them sit next to me at a a dinner who were we're quite unable to conduct a conversation Of course they can talk to other men but put them in the c company of women and they are tongue tongue tied says Mrs Atherton an outdoor life and she has become a stronger and healthier woman She is vItally interested not only in business and world affairs but In the arts as well She has cultivated herself 00 the nth degree in so far as charm and the social graces are concerned And while she has made almost a fetish of cUltivating herself the theman theman man has spent little or no time at all allin allin in making himself attractive to a cultivated cultivated cul- cul independent woman The consequence consequence con con- sequence Is that the modern modem woman Is finding the man dull duIl and quite a bore One can accuse the European man of many faults but one can never dub him hima a bore Mrs Atherton has had abundant opportunity opportunity op- op for knowing the European man man as she has lived abroad for many years That she has as thorough an understandIng understand understand- Ing of the Continent as she has ot of her native country Is well weIl substantiated by the scope and background of her numerous numerous numer- numer ous novels As a writer Mrs Atherton ranks among the foremost of th the day and she is one of the few Americans to enjoy a vast reading public abroad She was born in San Francisco and is a direct descendant of a brother of Benjamin Franklin All of her ancestry is Colonial and her grandfather Stephen Franklin was one of the formative influences in the pioneer days of San Francisco She spent her childhood in a literary environment and her talent for writing was early encouraged aged very young she married George Bowen Atherton and since he considered considered con con- her literary ambitions very unfeminine unfeminine un- un feminine he qt quickly discouraged them It was not until after his death five flye years later that Mrs Atherton again took up her pen As she realized she did not know much of the world she started to tot t travel gOing first fast a across ross the continent t to New York and then later to Europe She has since studied almost every noo nook k of the world and she still finds delight in studying it and writing about it She Sh e er is a brilliant conversationalist and he her r information is most extensive whether it Is about politics art history boo s or men and women she told the interViewer In Europe the man considers it a duty to make mak e himself interesting to the women H Hhas He e has the conviction that women are t to tobe o tHe be courted with care and attention H His He HeIs Is well weIl informed about music literature art and the theatre and he usually has ha s something to contribute to the conversa- conversa tion But even when he has nothing ver very y important to say he has enough social technique to keep a conversation going When he is in the company of women he can talk and carry on a mutual dis dis- I use the w word rd mutual deliberately smiled the novelist because in this country country coun- coun try the conversation Is usually one sided Since the woman Is familiar with a diversity di- di di diversity of subjects she has a fund of information information in- in formation at her fingertips But her conversation conversation con con- very much resembles a monologue monologue mono mono- logue for the man having nothing t tsay to o say keeps sti still tt TIME TIME and again I have met men a at t a social gathering or have had the them m sit next tome at a d dinner who were quite quit e unable to conduct a a conversation Unless Unless Un Un- less one encouraged them to talk about abou I their business their private affairs o otheir or r their favorite hobby which may be poker prizefights or their favorite bootlegger one received no response Of course the they y can talk to other men but put them f in inthe n the company of women and they ar are ne e almost tongue Is it any wonder that women become becom e quickly bored with American men I If 1 they dont don't tire of them by the time the they V enter into marriage then they tire o of f them soon soon afterward The fact that the they y never have enough leisure to devote t to o their wives and give them the attentions every woman likes also causes a rift I know a very clever young couple who seemed to possess every qualification tion for a happy partnership and yet after only two years of marriage they were divorced He was all business the wife told me I never had any companionship compan- compan companionship from him He would come home ho e efrom from business so tired dog that bed hed fall faU asleep right after dinner It If he did g gout go out at aU all then he would want to go taa to ta toa a night club or a cabaret in order to forget about business And there really was no reason at all for his working hImsel himself hIm hIm- sel self to death that way And I 1 think this example is typical The men so exhaust themselves with business business busi- busi ness that they have neither the energy nor the inclination to do anything ng else I do not blame a woman for letting such sucha a man go She has far more to give than the woman of other days and she na naturally nat nat- demands more of a man And it she cant can't at least have sympathetic com companionship comy from a lover and a husband then she will do without him Today she is economically independent enough to forgo marriage and she does not have to face the stigma or the scorn of society society so- so if she remains single t N THE THEother other hand I do feel 0 ON sorry for the men What are they getting out of me life Nothing that Ican I can see It is really pathetic when you think of it There are so many pleasures and enjoyments that me life affords but themen the themen men are so tied up with business that the they are too weary for anything else eIse WorkIng Working Work Work- Ing hard all day in an overheated room room- another peculiar American with Vice hi hie mind at a tension from early morning morningto to 5 or 6 o'clock at night the only way the man can relax Is to go to sleep orto or orto to dissipate rU If men do not want to see themselves entirely outdistanced by the women they must work fewer hours during the day and be satisfied with a reasonable amount of money so that they can find time to cultivate themselves and to become real companions to their wives They will then be able to lead richer and fuller lives Their children too will receive more of their companionship and ence than they are now getting Another point that Mrs Ms Atherton brought up in her d discussion was th that generally because the man has has no in interest terest in intellectual or cultural thing his matrimonial standards are low thing A It is no secret that she he man rarely rarely wants a woman who knows more or whose mental equipment is greater thaD than his He therefore marries a woman o of low the intelligence very type that i unfitted for wifehood or motherhood Of course he doesn't find any real happiness with her for it takes a goo good deal of iii intelligence in- in to make a successful wife and mother Some women are clever enough to I realize mans man's antipathy to a dIsplay ai f intelligence and they therefore hide theIr capabilities Many ot of these marriages prove to be quite happy The trouble now Is though that women are beginning to tobe tor be far too independent to hide their I in intelligence i and to win a husband by sub sub- sub They feel it is up to the men mento me i ito to please them and to prove their worth worl Make no mista ce about It however women still want men but they want waDi wantonly only the kind of men they want 1 In the course of time It may be as J has happened in other periods in hiStory hiS hiS- tory tort that If our women do become t too dominant man will bestir himself arid and seek to recover his powers The only way he will be able to do this will be by liSt fiat raising himself to womans woman's artistic a and d intellectual level He will have to gift more attention to developing his mind J and bOdy and to acquiring a social tech tech- pique 4 t When he is so equipped we win will have haul a new man who will be on a a. par witt J the new woman Since they will posses interests that will be similar they wit wi find greater enjoyment and happiness it each others other's company They will fin that tha t there will be a good many thin i J they can do together What is more thel will consider it as essential to make time for them as they do for business rot for eating And the mans man's greater under under standing of the woman will be the I Iby by which he will hold her j flu by Ledge I |