| Show 0 ATHLETICS iTT C S r A j 4 i f f OR E N a w 0 7 FEMININE p k ki i 4 C 2 5 S S S Ail An Answer From ci i 1 c S ROBER TSO r r i ir t By H. H C. C Norris f- f London t t H T i-T AVE sports spots made women mannish i This question is agitating English English- i f women omen at the moment and the agitation concerning the point isn't unknown either in those United States Neither is the prevalent anxiety confined to the weaker weaker weaker-or or is it it sex Time was said a prominent Scotch-American Scotch sadly the other day when the MacDonald was head of the table B But t its it's 5 5 wears the the noo Wears them I t a trifle shorter too than the MacDon- MacDon aid ever did In short girls will be boys and when 1 this matter was called lately to the attention at attention at- at of the training physical-training instructress instructress instructress tress of the Blackburn Education Committee Committee Com- Com jj near London the instructress 1 said in effect that she was glad of it u w She went further She added that after S observing many hundred super modern athletic girls she noticed the girt girl 4 whose leisure is devoted to healthy outdoor outdoor out out- door sports has neither the time nor the to powder her het nose or to wonder if she is sufficiently attractive to men tSo So there now z zAnd And Mrs 1 Joan Rosita Forbes the explorer explorer ex ex- topped this by declaring declaring intrepid intrepid pid soul as she is that is-that that good comradeship men and women has tal taken talen en the the tho r. r place Jac of flirtation Flirting is out out of date ate W WITH ITH this of the flirtatious flirta flirta- Y puff powder girl ringing dis- dis mally dis-mally in your your- ears its it's a a. cheering thing Ito to talk the matter over over with Lady 1 F Robertson Forbes before a softly glowing t coal cannel coal cannel fire in the library of her herL 1 L London house on Bedford Square As an er can mar married married- to an Englishman Englishman- and as an enthusiastic and capable tennis tens ten ten- nis s player horsewoman swimmer and golfer the former Gertrude Elliott of Rockland Me l sees this mannish girl question from so to speak both sides t s of of the Atlantic Only except as an exotic exotic exotic ex- ex otic growth springing up occasionally here and there she doesn't see the tha ther r mannish r girl at all I. I Really your fears ought to have been set at rest by the reflection that Lady if g f Robertson Forbes can not only win a tennis ten ten- nis nIS ms match but can also create an Ophelia Ophelia Ophe Ophe- lia ia who is the embodiment of womanly jj charm appealing and tender An Ophelia Ophe Ophe- lia ha too who didn't go mad because she Ii was congenitally minded feeble-minded as as most actresses seem to suppose Still as youve you've often noted to your oUr dismay s theres there's a vast difference between the F way ir way a woman looks on the stage stag and andi i l off and having heard so much about 71 1St Lady Robertson's Forbes-Robertson's devotion to outdoor sports you naturally concentrated concen concen- immediately upon her nose L U A profound sigh of relief shook your frame That nose had been powdered It It had been powdered so exactly right y you'd ud never have thought abo about t it except except except ex ex- that at the moment you couldn't fo think about anything ing else Moreover though Fj-though though she goes in m for athletics Lady Robertson Forbes was smartly and not noti i mannishly dressed in in a black frock i trimmed with deep gray fur above which E k and above a distinctly feminine string of pearls there were noticeable such items as a radiant complexion the fak faI far fa- fa I k r- r mows brilliant dark eyes and dark hair hah fashionably bobbed and beautifully waved Lady Robertson Forbes-Robertson who has three daughters one of them a aM M bride last spring looks about 22 But I never heard anything so 50 terri tern terrifying terrifying said Lady Robertson Forbes-Robertson when the news neW about the scrapping of t the the puff powder-puff was reluctantly broken sand and the only optimistic feature of itis it is is that like so many other terrifying i r things it isn't so i r The modern girl English or Ameri- Ameri s 1 i can is probably the most athletic girl ithe the the world has ever seen She is also the best dressed As for neglecting the puff powder she was never more devoted to it than now In fact when the modern modern modern mod- mod ern girl gets a mannish haircut and k mannish clothes the only way to tell f her from a man at first glance is is by the I if fact act that her nose isn't shiny N Nor r doIS do 1 I IS believe that outdoor sports ports deprive a 5 girl of the time for flirting You can trust her I think to find time me for it somewhere on her schedule t The suggestion was off offered red that it takes two to make a flirtation If the modern mannish girl tries t to flirt will the modern man flirt back I haven't heard any complaints on that score from English and American girls Lady Robertson Forbes-Robertson answered thoughtfully nor from any other girls anywhere else for that matter And an anyway way the modern athletic girl i isn't nt usually mannish Usually no no matter how athletic she may be the modern girl isn't really mannish even as to her sports clothes They may have a mannish mannish mannish man man- nish cut to make them more suitable for tennis or riding but they are distinctly distinctly distinctly dis dis- fem feminine nine in air air as as you'd see if you tried to make a man wear wear the same things I In fact there never was a girl so careful about her appearance as the modern athletic young woman She is smartly dressed whether going in for athletics athletics' or ready in the evening for forthe forthe forthe the ballroom The girl of today is ver very independent but she sho never goes so far faras faras faras as to imagine that she can afford to be unattractive to men I know of only one young oung woman in London who re refuses refuses refuses re- re fuses to powder her nose nose She is on the stage too too- Her nose nose frequently shines shines- but she wont won't use a powder I wish she would She's my daughter Upon a table stood the photograph photo photo- photograph photograph photo photo- graph of three charming girls one of them the bride blide who bears a striking striking striking ing resemblance to girls Athletics have taught her how how to stand and walk and get about wit without h 0 u t knocking hocking the furniture over I 1 suppose se it will be pretty generally ly admitted admitted ad ad- that the woman who doesn't take any any pains about how she looks is the really unfeminine unfeminine un- un feminine type Certainly Certainly Certainly the charge of dowdiness cannot be brought against the tha average athletic girl Not only are her sports clothes chic to a a degree degree degree de de- de- de gree but when her nose gets shiny in a tennis game she remedies remedies reme reme- dies that defect at the at-the the ithe r earliest possible possible mo- mo mo moment mo ment Its It's the old- old fashioned stay-at-home stay type of woman woman- who often was S. S rn ill r t if J. J 1 S. S i. i t. t 41 S S. S f ti j- j I Maxine Elliott Lady Robert Forbes sons son's sister another young so ni nicknamed because her fluffy hair stands out around her head like Ilke a furze bush and the middle one the lady who declines to powder though powder though her no didn't shine on the day her picture was taken Its a great mist mistake ke to think that athletics make a girl masculine masculin Lady Robertson Forbes went on in reality they make her more feminine than ever because they give a supple grace which too many girls would ordinarily lack Haven't you noticed the almost complete disappearance e of the awkward rd age in dowdy uninteresting and frequently dis dis- contented The fine thing about the modern mod mod- ern err girl is that she can and does take as vivid an interest in her home when she gets it as she does in her golf score and without neglecting either one of them Far from g growing glowing owing masculine because of the varied activities athletic and otherwise of modern life Lady Forbes Forbes- Robertson proceeded modern girls are arc insisting a little too much on being fem fem- Instead of shelving the powder powder- puff as you frightened me by suggesting suggest suggest- ing they go in for lor it a trifle too much from an artistic point of view I M y n r j Iii 4 I r 5 5 5 h 5 f Z 5 ld 5 S' S 55 es Ip S 5 i R raft a r S 6 I f The modern American and English girl is the most athletic bit of femininity the world has e ever er r seen says Lady Forbes Forbes Robertson and she is just as devoted to the puff powder-puff and the gentle art of flirting as ever despite the cries of the alarmists I come from irom New New England you you know from way down East as we used to say and I can distinctly remember when to use any sort of make up was about the worst thing a woman could do da d. d People People People Peo Peo- were horrified at a suggestion of powder and rouge put a woman if I Imay Imay Imay may say so beyond the pale in more ways than oneIll oneIll one Ill never forget the first white dead-white face I saw saw saw-it it was in New York York with with witha a red gash of a mouth I stopped in amazement to look at it Unfortunately this extreme up make-up isn't so rare now as as it was then but its it's always always-a a shock hock to the beholder s Strange isn't it how the fad for up make-up has swept the world Of course the skinned dark Latin races always used a great deal of powder I suppose the fad came first from hom South America And I for one am gl glad d it came from somewhere Because while the overuse of of up make-up is terrible the lack of a a proper touch of powder is a failure to be bewell bewell bewell well groomed If a white dead-white countenance coun coup is unattractive so also is a countenance gleaming like a a ne new new tin kettle Good health comes from athletics but so does a shiny nose nose Modern women need both the athletics and the powder powder- puff While Im I'm old-fashioned old enough notto notto not notto to like powdering in public just as I dont don't like manicuring the nails in public public pub pub- lic tic still a nose is less easily hidden than an nail And if a womans woman's nose i is shiny why shouldn't she remedy the evil as quickly but always al always al- al l ways as unobtrusively as possible Modern life with its athletics makes for alertness o oil on all subjects as rio no other era era has made for it An alertness as to toone's toone's toone's ones one's appearance is only a part of of the modern spirit Wouldn't it be absolutely appalling if modern girls had gone in vigorously for athletics before the in invention invention in- in venti on of ot the the puff powder-puff In regard to modern alertness by bythe bythe bythe the way Lady Robertson Forbes-Robertson said that on her latest trip to the Unit United d States she had noted even more snap and dash about American cities than they possessed before the war This was particularly particularly particularly par par- true of Boston Boston- When I went to Portland Me Ire she explained I could not help noticing how sweet the childrens children's voices s were Even when the youngsters were rushing out from school with what their Maine parents parents parents par par- would have regarded as shrill cries the voices were remarkably attractive Many South Southern n women have soft pretty voices though on the other hand there aVe arO certain districts in the South where the voices seem to be thin raspy shrill The New York voice and the New York accent is usually common even the voice voke voice and accent of cultured N New ew Yorkers Too often they cast forth the English language from their lips lip's as though they had some grudge against it People from the Middle West and aid from the Fa Far Fa- West are likely to speak too loudly and while New Englanders generally gen generally gen gen- generally slight sligh the r 1 in a word Westerners Western Western- ers invariably overemphasize it Scientists have said that the he Amer Amer- f 5 I I More Feminine I. I Than Ever EverIN EverN TN IN N SPITE of all that has been c charged h a r g e d against the modern girl Lady Robertson Forbes-Robertson born American-born the former former former for for- mer Gertrude Elliott of Rockland Maine Maine finds finds her her her- Physically y the strongest strong strong- est and mentally the keenest girl the world has ever produced Athletics make her even even m more mar o r e feminine t rather than masculine because they give her a supple I grace which too many girls ordinarily would lack dressed Best-dressed girl of all time whether its it's chic athletic g gar garb a r b or smart ballroom attire Takes as vivid interest inter inter- est in her home when she gets it as she does in her golf score and without without without with with- out neglecting either While very independent ent she never goes so far as to imagine that s she e can afford to be unattractive unattractive unattractive un un- un- un attractive to men And she still loves to flirt N Nt t g S 5 ican climate has a great deal to do with do-with with the American voice Well New England has certainly never never received much praise f for r its its' climate but in my opinion the average New England voice is about as attractive as any in the world Perhaps you think I 1 p pay y too much a attention at attention at- at to this matter of voice But to tome tome tome me it does seem a a. great pity that a woman who is parti particular ular abo about t her dress and her her- hair and her m manners manners doesn't give at least as much thought to her voice as she does to her skin She wouldn't think of going about with a askin askin askin skin harsh and unattractive Why does she allow her voice which can be trained at least as as' easily as her skin to remain unpleasing Speaking of powdered ses as wo we were she went on if the powdered nose is a sign of true femininity then the modern athletic girl is still a a- areal real girl She is physically the strongest t and mentally the k keenest enest girl the world hat has over produced and perhaps jt it ita a a small wonder that now and then somebody dy who has seen her in an moment may have qualms But theres there's one sure way of proving wh whether ther or not she is growing rowing mannish Do the they men avoid her Ive I've noticed that the modern athletic girl lacks a number of things said Lady Robertson Forbes-Robertson such as length ankle-length frocks waist waist- length hair and a tendency to polite h hysterics hysterics hys hys- s or swooning But Ive I've never noticed noticed noticed no no- any lack of popularity And that as some great thinker hasso has has' hasso so well put it appears to be that 5 l bv v f f ff |
