Thus on the one hand.
On the other: "The world is better served by the small family well reared than by the large one necessarily less well cared for." "Women are not merely the instruments of nature for multiplying mankind. They have a right to some time for living their own lives." "The maternal instinct has not faded, but merely come under control of a wisdom which directs that it shall not bring forth what it cannot care for."
And so on, with added arguments for either side.
In all these discussions of birth control the fathers or the husbands who desire not to be fathers are usually left in the background. As a matter of fact, however, men as well as women desire luxury and freedom from the care of a family. It is a general sign of the times, not a characteristic of one s.e.x alone. Men as well as women fear for their ability to care for and educate large families. With the demands of our present complex existence bearing heavily upon them, one can scarcely wonder at the hesitation of either man or woman to add again and again to their already pressing cares. There is but one remedy--not to cut off education for women, as some suggest, but to learn the joys of a simpler life which will afford people time and strength and means to bear and rear their young. To this end let us teach our girls and our boys something of the essentials of a useful and a happy life, and teach them how to eliminate the non-essentials which waste their time and spirit.
Who can best instruct the girl in what we may call the ethics of marriage? Her mother? Usually the mother"s viewpoint is too personal.
Her teacher? Most of her teachers are unmarried and know little more about the subject than she does herself. A specially selected married teacher? Perhaps, but only if she is a deep student of human nature and of marriage from a scientific standpoint.
An ideal course for every girl somewhere before her education can be considered complete would cover "woman"s life" as (1) industrial worker, (2) wife, (3) mother, (4) citizen, (5) civic force.
Here, without undue "dangling of the wedding ring," girls might study marriage as an important phase of woman"s life. Such a course, simplified or elaborated to suit the circ.u.mstances of the girls who partic.i.p.ate, might well be given in all girls" schools and colleges, in continuation schools, in settlement-house clubs and cla.s.ses, in rural clubs and neighborhood centers. For, reduced to its simplest terms, marriage in the tenement rests upon the same principles as marriage in the mansion.
Happily married, or happy unmarried, with her life work stretching before her, the girl enters upon her heritage of work. We have trained her to be a homemaker, but we need feel no regret in regard to her training if she finds her life work in an office or a schoolroom or a hospital. She may never "keep house," although we hope that she will some time help to make a home. But, whether she becomes a homemaker or not, a true understanding and appreciation of the value of the home and a knowledge of the principles underlying its maintenance will make her a broader woman and a better worker than she could otherwise be. In the home, or wherever she may be, she cannot fail to show the girls who are growing up about her what home means to her and what it means to the race. And in her hands we may safely leave the future of the home.
SUGGESTED READINGS
GENERAL BOOKS WHICH INTRODUCE THE READER TO THE LARGER PHASES OF THE WOMAN MOVEMENT
BRUeRE, MARTHA B. and ROBERT W. _Increasing Home Efficiency_. New York: Macmillan.
COLQUHOUN, MRS. A. _The Vocations of Woman_. New York: Macmillan.
GILMAN, CHARLOTTE PERKINS. _Women and Economics_. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co.
KEY, ELLEN. _Love and Marriage_. New York: Putnam.
SCHREINER, OLIVE. _Woman and Labor_. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co.
SPENCER, ANNA GARLIN. _The Challenge of Womanhood._
TARBELL, IDA M. _The Business of Being a Woman_. New York: Macmillan.
Some of these books are conservative, others very radical. They are recommended, not because the writer agrees with them, but because every mother and teacher who acts as a vocational counselor should know both conservative and radical points of view.
MORE DISTINCTLY VOCATIONAL BOOKS
BLOOMFIELD, MEYER. _Readings in Vocational Guidance_. Boston: Ginn & Co.
The following articles in this book are especially recommended:
"The Value, during Education, of the Life-Career Motive." By CHARLES W. ELIOT.
"Selecting Young Men for Particular Jobs." By HERMAN SCHNEIDER.
"The Permanence of Interests and Their Relation to Abilities." By EDWARD L. THORNDIKE.
"Survey of Occupations Open to the Girl of Fourteen to Sixteen Years of Age." By HARRIET HAZEN DODGE.
BREWER, J.M. _Vocational-Guidance Movement_. New York: Macmillan.
BREWSTER, EDWIN T. _Vocational Guidance for the Professions._ Chicago: Rand McNally & Co.
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D.C.
_Bulletin 1913, No. 17._ "A Trade School for Girls."
_Bulletin 1914, No. 4._ "The School and a Start in Life."
_Bulletin 1914, No. 14._ "Vocational Guidance a.s.sociation."
Papers presented at the organization meeting, October, 1913.
_Annual Reports_ of the Commissioner of Education: 1911, chapter viii, "A School for Homemakers."
1914, chapter xiii, "Education for the Home."
1915, chapter xii, "Home Economics."
1915, chapter xiv, "Home Education."
1916, chapter xvii, "Education in the Home."
BUTLER, ELIZABETH BEARDSLEY. _Women and the Trades._ New York: Charities Publication Committee.
----. _Saleswomen in Mercantile Stores._ New York: Survey a.s.sociates.
DAVIS, JESSE b.u.t.tRICK. _Vocational and Moral Guidance._ Boston: Ginn & Co.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR, Washington, D.C.:
_Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor._
Contains nineteen volumes on "Condition of Women and Child Wage-Earners in the United States." The most comprehensive study of conditions of women in industry before the war.
_Bulletin No. 175._ "Summary of the Report on the Condition of Women and Child Wage-Earners in the United States." Gives in condensed form the findings in the nineteen volumes.
GOWIN and WHEATLEY. _Occupations._ Boston: Ginn & Co.
HOLLINGWORTH, H.L. _Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and Methods._ New York: D. Appleton & Co.
LASELLE and WILEY. _Vocations for Girls._ Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
LEAKE, ALBERT H. _The Vocational Education of Girls and Women._ New York: Macmillan.
MCKEEVER, A. _Training the Girl._ New York: Macmillan.
PRESSEY, C. PARK. _A Vocational Reader._ Chicago: Rand McNally & Co.
This book shows the teacher the kind of stories that can be used for inspiration for grade-school girls.