120 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



gxlltxjv^s $aWe. 



" THE NEW WOMAN'' AND THE 

 PROBLEMS OF THE DAT. 



AS there is a new everj^tbing in 

 J\ . these days, we suppose it was 

 inevitable that there should be a ''new 

 woman '' ; though why a new woman 

 more than a new man it might not 

 be easy to explain. For our part we 

 believe but faintly in " new " woman ; 

 we believe in woman. "We believe in 

 progress ; we believe that new times 

 call for new measures ; we believe 

 that these are new times, and that it 

 behooves both men and women to 

 prepare themselves to meet the de- 

 mands which tbe age is making on 

 them. 



What is really new in the world 

 is knowledge. We see the practical 

 outcome of the new knowledge in the 

 ti*ansformation that has taken place 

 in the arrangements under which the 

 life of society to-day is carried on. 

 With the new knowledge there has 

 come a vast enlargement of human 

 power in all directions and a vast de- 

 velopment of human individuality. 

 Custom, though still powerful, is no 

 longer such a ruler of men's lives as 

 it used to be. Men and women every- 

 where have been roused, we might 

 almost say stung, into a sense of 

 individual existence ; and, looking 

 round on their changing environ- 

 ment, they are asking a thousand 

 questions to which as yet no very 

 certain answers can be vouchsafed. 

 Woman is awake because man is 

 awake ; the keenness of the times 

 has roused them both ; and from 

 both we seem to hear the inquiry 

 made by the jailer at Philippi, when 

 startled from slumber by the trem- 

 bling of the earth and the flashing 

 of a strange light : " What must I 

 do to be saved ? '' The difference be- 



tween the so-called "new woman" 

 and woman without that qualifica- 

 tion is that the latter would wish to 

 be saved with man and the former 

 apparently without him. The new 

 variety emphasizes the fact that she 

 is a woman, and in that capacity is 

 going to do wonderful things ; where- 

 as woman without the " i\q\^ " is con- 

 tent to know herself a woman and to 

 feel that with her it rests to accom- 

 plish her equal part in all the best 

 work of the future. 



The great change, as we have said, 

 is that there is more knowledge in the 

 world and that the rule of custom is 

 to a large extent broken. Things 

 that once had all the authority that 

 convention and routine could give 

 them are now open to every one's 

 criticism. Morality no longer rests 

 in absolute security upon dogma. 

 The time has come which Voltaire 

 predicted would be the end of all 

 things, when the people have taken 

 to reasoning. Fortunately, there is 

 no need to agree with Voltaire ; but 

 it is necessary to recognize that some- 

 thing is needed to give wise direction 

 to the emancipated thought and action 

 of our time. The dogmatic morality 

 of the past was in the main sound ; and 

 the problem of to-day is to secure a 

 sufficient sanction for whatever rules 

 of conduct are necessary to the well- 

 being of individuals and of society. 

 That much in the way of wise coun- 

 sel and true inspiration may be 

 expected from the increased reflec- 

 tiveness of women we most gladly 

 recognize ; but we do not feel dis- 

 posed to call a woman who thus 

 responds to the needs of the time 

 a ''new" woman, seeing that for 

 generations past, and particularly 

 in times of emergency, women 



