THE CELIBATE WO Hi EN OF TO-DAY 551 



There have always been women living apart from family life, at 

 least during the historic period. For obvious reasons, men have almost 

 universally considered female celibacy a matter of reproach, and they 

 have even invented such makeshifts as child marriage in India and 

 sealing among the Mormons that unfortunate or undesirable women 

 might be spared the disgrace of dying unmarried. At times, a lack of 

 dowry has condemned the least attractive women to live alone ; and the 

 offices of religion have imposed celibacy for at least a part of life upon 

 groups like the Vestal Virgins in Eome and for the entire lifetime 

 upon nuns and other Christian recluses. In none of these cases, how- 

 ever, did women choose to live alone because they hoped thereby to 

 realize a fuller life than they could find in the married state. In the 

 religious orders, they dedicated their virginity to the service of the 

 Deity, and at most hoped to profit in the life to come for their loss on 

 earth. 



This is the great difference between celibate women of the past 

 and those of the present time. With our enormous number of unat- 

 tached men, it would be foolish to imagine that the great majority of 

 single women in America could not marry if they wanted to do so. 

 Man proposes, but woman dictates when he shall do it. Why do so 

 many women elect to walk through life alone? 



Doubtless the growth in democratic ideals, which has been steadily 

 working among women since 1870, has had much to do with it. Women 

 have ceased to be merely "the sex"; they have become individuals. 

 Under simpler conditions of life, such as prevailed in our colonial 

 period, if a woman found a man of her race, religion and social posi- 

 tion, who was personally agreeable to her, little more was necessary to 

 insure a happy marriage. But now a woman seeks fulfillment not only 

 for her personal liking, but for all the qualities of her varied personal 

 life. She has not only racial, religious and social interests, but she 

 has an intelligent attitude towards the whole of life; she has musical, 

 dramatic or literary tastes ; she is interested in social justice or in the 

 vested interests of caste ; she cares for travel or she desires a quiet home ; 

 and in a hundred other directions she is an individual. Such a com- 

 plex individuality does not easily find its complement. A person who 

 merely likes music can generally find it; a person with a cultivated 

 musical taste must search for music that suits him. 



All this uncertainty is emphasized by the examples of marital un- 

 happiness that intrude themselves on every hand. We have in our 

 midst nearly a million divorced people. The deserted wife and mother 

 is one of the greatest and most common problems that confront social 

 workers. Our funny papers find the majority of their humor in de- 

 ceived and deceiving wives and husbands. The drama and the novel 

 burden us with sex problems. Yellow journalism lives on the tragic 



