Page:Book of Etiquette, Volume 2, by Lilian Eichler.djvu/201



There was a time, not so very long ago, when woman's activities were confined to the home. For a woman to be actively engaged in some business or profession of her own meant one of two things: either she was an "old maid" or she was "queer." Naturally, the social standing of such women was rather doubtful.

But to-day, with the equal franchise that has given woman her long-denied vote, she has allowed her talents and capabilities to find outlet in other wider fields than those limited merely to the home. There are women in law offices, women in courts as reporters and interpreters, women in the stock exchange, women editors, women directors—women in every conceivable branch of art, industry and commerce. That they are succeeding, admirably so, is evident in their social status.

Years of blind adherence to false tradition have robbed woman of her proper development along business lines. That explains why there is still a difference in the business status of men and women. Then, of course, there is the sex difference; and advanced though she prides herself on being, woman is still considered mentally inferior—for the simple reason that she is a woman. It may take many years of slow development before woman is con-