Women want
something; they are determined to have it, too; and doubtless they
would get it if only they knew what it is that they want. They are
struggling to arrive at something, but opinions differ widely as to
what that something ought to be; and the result is that they have
divided themselves into three classes, not exactly distinct: they
dovetail into each other so nicely that it is hard to say where the
influence of the one set ends and the other begins. There are, first of
all, the women who in their struggles for political power have done so
much to unsex us. They have tried to force themselves into unnatural
positions, and the consequence has been about as pleasing and edifying
as an attempt to make a goose sing. They clamour for change, mistaking
change for progress. But don't let the puzzling dovetail confuse you.
The people I speak of are not those who have so nobly devoted
themselves to the removal of the wrongs of women, though they work
together. But the object of all this class is good. They wish to raise
us, and what they want, for the most part, is a little more common
sense--as is shown in their system of education, for instance, which
cultivates the intellectual at the expense of the physical powers,
girls being crammed as boys (to their great let and hindrance also) are
crammed, just when nature wants all their strength to assist their
growth; the result of which becomes periodically apparent when a number
of amiable young ladies are let loose on society without hair or teeth.
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