Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/407

 Everywhere the old order of things is slipping away, everywhere the new and unexpected is asserting itself. Perhaps one of the greatest modern developments is that which has taken place in regard to the position of woman in England. The steps whereby she obtained her "emancipation" have already been noted. Today society is still somewhat bewildered over her new status. Due to a series of uncontrollable circumstances, she has found herself independent, and often forced to support herself by finding labour in the overcrowded markets of our great cities. Emigration has not yet appealed to the women of England as it has to her sons, hence the extraordinary numerical inequality of the sexes at home. But in physique and general happiness the girl of the present is an infinitely happier being than her predecessor of some fifty years ago. She is better fed, better educated, better developed, and altogether better fitted for the great struggle of existence wheresoever it may lead her. Athletics, indeed, are common to all in these days. Their popularity has increased with astounding rapidity during the last decade, and in the absence of military training for purposes of national defence common to other