Page:The Woman Socialist - Snowden - 1907.djvu/73

 love of finery, not to be bought with a work-girl's wage; a sex-need, refused gratification in the ordinary way of marriage; a desire for freedom, obviously denied to the majority of wives, all these are the causes, the secondary causes of a degradation which seems worse than death. The primary cause is in the hateful system and the wrong ideals it engenders. But with a new order of society these will tend to disappear.

A living will be assured to every woman. Jewels and finery will not be valued as they are now; they will lose their value as they cease to be regarded as marks of special worth and importance, and when the power to acquire them becomes common. The death-rate among male infants is higher to-day than among female children. Careful Socialist mothers and nurses will rear the baby boys, then the adult sexes will be more equal in numbers, and marriage under honourable conditions be possible for those who need and desire it. And lastly, the opening up of new spheres of interest to women, in which they shall be well-paid and honoured, will help to lessen the undue sexuality which at present makes them an easy prey to men.