96 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



many who, like the girls quoted below, choose the purely feminine 

 type. 



Girl of ten : " I would most like to resemble Elsie Densmore of 

 whom I have read in the ' Elsie Book.' because she is pictured to be 

 as near perfect as it is possible for any one in this world to be. She 

 is pictured as a true Christian woman, and while she is accomplished 

 and belongs to the ' upper ten ' of society, she does not neglect her 

 home duties, and does not look down on those about her. She spent 

 much time in charity." 



Girl of fifteen : " Agnes Wickfield. Because she was kind, good 

 natured, gentle, unselfish, loving and had very good manners." 



Girl of fifteen: "I would like to resemble the Lady Rowena. 

 Because she was a very handsome woman of the Saxon tongue and 

 every body admired her." 



But, as is shown by Charts III and IV, among the girls of six- 

 teen, fifty-one per cent choose male ideals, and fifty per cent em- 

 phasize as ideal those characteristics which twenty years ago would 



Chaet No. IV. — Masodline Virtues. 

 Boys m^^^^m^^ Girls - - - — 



have been considered pre-eminently masculine. Under the head- 

 ing of Chart IV, "Masculine Virtues," are masked intellectual 

 ability, patriotism, and the desire for freedom, adventure, war, 

 leadership, fame, discovery, and invention. On the whole, nearly 

 as many girls as boys find in the purely virile type their ideal. 



This tendency can be attributed partially, no doubt, to the " Zeit- 

 geist/' but it must be remembered that the historical instruction in 

 our public schools presents only male characters, and that it deals 

 almost entirely with conquest and war. It is more difficult for the 

 girl than for the boy to make connections with the outside world. 



