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 WOMAN

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WOMAN

and admission to all public offices. As soon as the leading proposition, though it contradicts nature which knows no sexless human being, is conceded, this corollary must be accepted. Father von Holtzen- dorff says truly: "Whoever wishes to oppose the right of women to vote must place the principle of parliamentary representation upon another basis ... as soon as the right to vote is connected only with the individual nature of man, the distinction of sex becomes of no consequence" ("Die Stellung der Frauen", 2nd ed., Hamburg, 1892, 41).

The men of the French Revolution forcibly sup- pressed the claim of the women to the rights of men, but in so doing condemned their own principle, which was the basis of the demand of the women. The conception of society as composed of individual atoms leads necessarily to the radical emancipation of women, which is sought at the present time by the German Social Democrats and a section of the women of the middle class. In her book, pubhshed in 1792, Mary WoUstonecraft advanced this demand with a certain reserve, while Jolm Stuart Mill in his "The Subjection of Women" (1869) championed the unnatural position of women unconditionally. At the present time the English suffragettes have made a practical appUcation of Mill's views as the standard work of radical emancipation (cf. "A Reply to John Stuart Mil] on the Subjection of Women", Philadel- phia, 1870).

The introduction of these ideas into practical life was promoted chiefly by the change in economic con- ditions, particularly as this change was used to the detriment of the people by the tendency of an egotis- tical Liberalism. From the beginning of the nine- teenth centiu-y manufacturing by machinery changed the sphere of woman's laboitf and of her industries. In manufactui'ing countries woman can and must buy many things which were formerly produced as a matter of course by female domestic labour. Thus the traditional household labours of woman became limited, especially in the middle class. The necessity arose for many daughters of famiUes to seek work and profit outside of the home. On the other hand, the unlimited freedom of commerce and trade fiu'nished the opportunity of gaining control of the cheap labour of women to make it serve machinery and the covet- ousness of the great manufacturers. While this change reUeved the woman who still sat at home, it laid upon the homeless working-woman intolerable bm-dens, injurious alike to soul and body. On account of smaller wages women were used for the work of men and were driven into competition with men. The s.vstem of the cheap hand led not only to a certain slavery of woman, but, in union with the rehgious indifference that concerned itself only with mundane things, it injured the basis of society, the family.

In this way the actual modern woman question, which is connected at the same time with the liveli- hood, education, and legal position of woman, arose. In most European countries, on accotmt of the emi- gration arising from the conditions of traffic and occupation, the number of women exceeds that of men to a considerable degree; for instance in Germany in 1911 there were 900,000 more women than men. In addition, the difficulties of existence cause a con- siderable number of men not to marry at all or too late to found a family, while many are kept from marriage by an unchristian morality. The number of immarried women, or of women who not with- standing marriage are not cared for and who are doubly burdened by the cares of the home and of earning a livelihood, is therefore constantly increas- ing. 'I'he last census of occupations in Germany, that of 1907, gave 8,243,498 women who were earning a living in the principal occupations; this number shows an increase of 3,000,000 over 1895. The statis-

tics of other countries give proportionate results, although there are hardly two countries in which the woman movement has had exactly the same develop- ment. The southern countries of Europe are coming only gradually under the influence of the movement. A regulation of this movement was and is one of the positive necessities of the times. The methodical and energetic attempts to accomphsh this date from the year 1848, although the beginnings in England and North America go back much farther. The attempts to solve the woman question varied with the point of view. Three main parties may be distinguished in the movement for the emancipation of women of the pres- ent day: (1) the radical emancipation which is divided into a middle-class and a Social-Democratic party; (2) the moderate or interconfessional conciUatory party; (3) the Christian party.

The radical, middle-class emancipation party re- gards the Women's Rights Convention held 14 July, 1848, at Seneca Falls, U. S., as the date of its birth. Complete parity of the sexes in every direction with contempt for former tradition is the aim of this party. Unhmited participation in the administration of the country, or the right to the political vote, therefore, holds the first place in its efforts. The questions of education and livelihood are made to depend upon the right to vote. This effort reached its height in the founding of the "International Council of Women", from which sprang in 1904 at Berlin the "Inter- national Confederation for Woman's Suffrage". "The Woman's Bible", by Mrs. Stanton, seeks to bring this party into harmony with the Bible. The party has attained its end in the United States in the states of Wvoming (1869), Colorado, Utah (1895), Idaho (1896)", South Dakota (1909), and Washington (1910), and also in South Au.stralia, New Zealand (1895), and in Finland. In Norway there has been a Umited suffrage for women since 1907. In 1911 Iceland, Denmark, Victoria, California, and Portugal decided to introduce it. In England the suffragists and the suffragettes are battling over it (cf. Sirs. Fawcett, "Women's Suffrage. A Short History of a Great Movement", London, 1912).

In Germany in 1,847 Luise Otto-Peters (1819-1895) headed the movement, in order at first with generous courage to aid the suffering women of the working- cla.sses. Her efforts resulted in the "Allgemeiner deutscher Frauen verein " (General Union of German Women), which was founded in 1865, and from which in 1899 the radical "FortschrittUcher Frauenverein" (Progressive Women's Union) separated, while the Luise Otto party remained moderately liberal. In France it was not until the Third Republic that an actual women's movement arose, a radical section of which, "La Fronde", took part in the first revolution. From the start the Social-Democratic party incor- porated in its programme the "equahty of all rights". Consequently the Social-Democratic women regard themselves as forming one body with the men of their party, while, on the other hand, they keep contemptu- ously sejiarated from the radical movement among the middle-class women. August Bebel's book, "Die Frauund der Soziahsmus", went through fiftyeditions in the period 1879-1910, and was translated into four- teen languages. In this work the position of woman in the Socialistic state of the futun' is described. In general the radical middle-cla.-;s emancipation agrees with the Social-Democratic both in the political and in the elhical siilieres. A proof of this is furnished by the works of the Swedish writer I'.llcn Key, especially by her book "t^ber Ehe imd l.icbe", which enjoy a very large circulation throughout the world.

This tendency is not compatible with the standard of nature and of the Gospel. It is, however, a logical consequence of the one-sided principle of individual- ism which, without regard for (iod, came into vogue in what is called the "Rights of Man". If woman is