270 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



That rural social isolation is regarded as undesirable by coun- 

 try people is attested by several sets of events to be mentioned 

 without discussion : the flow of large numbers of persons from 

 country to city; the settlement of retired farmers in neighboring 

 towns and villages; the frequent testimony of intelligent rural- 

 ites to the irksomeness and the undesirability of the customary 

 social poverty; and the response to the introduction of social 

 facilities by practically every class of non-urban residents, in- 

 cluding the group we have alluded to as the passively rural- 

 minded. That the latter class respond is not inconsistent with 

 calling them passively rural-minded, since they may take ad- 

 vantage of privileges without participating in their establishment. 



Perhaps the most severe strain arising out of this situation is 

 suffered by the women of the farm homestead, especially by the 

 mother. Her sphere of practical action is within the confines of 

 the house, she cannot meet the neighbors at the borders of the 

 adjoining fields as city women may talk across lots, nor in the 

 exchange of tools and work does she have the opportunity to con- 

 verse as do the men of the farm, and her field of cooperative 

 exchange is limited. Neither does she go to the neighboring 

 town for marketing and repair purposes as often as the men. 

 Further, her work is of a routine nature, lacking the variety 

 and the occurrence of new situations that call for inventive 

 talent which the activities of the outdoor workers involve. That 

 farm women age much earlier in life than do the men is no 

 doubt partly due to the greater absence of intellectual incitement. 



The problem of rural isolation has attracted much attention 

 and naturally has brought forth a number of proposals for solu- 

 tions and panaceas. One of the most short-sighted and brutal 

 suggestions is what may be called "familism. " It is asserted 

 that the social activities and satisfactions of rural inhabitants 

 inevitably must be limited to the sphere of the family, since that 

 institution represents the scope of normal human association pos- 

 sible to country districts. This proposal flies in the face of 

 accomplished facts and is onl}* a dogmatic generalization from a 

 narrow range of data. It is doubtless true that the majority of 

 rural inhabitants realize the larger portion of their associational 

 life within the famil}- and that many will do so for some time to 

 come. But notwithstanding the fact that the family is a most 



