1935-09-28 — Page 7

No. 29

China Mail

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Introducing...

Children In Uniform

G

IRLS" schools throughout England are considering the introduction of brighter uniforms for their pupils.

"There has been a tremendons move in this direction recently," the headmistress of a leading girls” school told a Daily Telegraph re- presentative, "and there is no doubt that brighter colours. shorter sleeves and dresses which give the girls more freedom are the tendencr to-day

Drab And Depressing

In a letter to the Daily Tele- graph Lady Muriel Beckwith drew attention to the "dull, drab, and depressing uniforms which are so common in the girls public schools of to-day, and urged the adoption of more suitable costumes.

"The great advantage of uniform for a girls school is that, while all the pupili look businesslike, there can be no competition between them in matters of dress," said an ether headmistress.

"Uniforms are more economical than ordinary dresses; they do not vary with the fash.on, and their use avoids the possibility of wealthy pupils being better dressed than those whose families are less well- off.

"There is no doubt that some kind of uniform is desirable in most schools, but I entirely agree with Lady Muriel that many of them might well be improved.

"One or two schools lately have allowed their girls to wear shorts for games, but this is an innovation which seems unlikely to be widely favoured."

The expert in charge of the girls" school outfitting section at a lead- ing London, store, although not approving all types of uniform, con- siders that a uniform is an in- provement on individual methods of dressing.

She suggested that colours and line should be studied. She advo- cates a waisted tunic with flared skirt, as against the familiar box- The black pleated "gym” tunic. velours hat could be replaced by in smart felt or angora styles colours matching the outdoor coats.

Another firm declared themselves the pioneers of the brighter uniforms movement. Their expert thought that some mistresses were interested in the education of their pupils' minds to the disregard of. their outward appearance. "It im- ́proves no one's mind to be dowdy,"

she said.

She demonstrated the case and freedom of a skirt with a quick- fastener which enabled it to be slipped on and off with ease, and the innovation of shorts for gym and games.

HONG KONG, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1935

No. 29

Would Women Want War?

(By PHYLLIS JUBY)

SPEA

(PEAKING at a debate on the

status of women. before an assembly of the League Commit- tec' at Geneva, Madame Hilda Yen Chen, the Chinese represen- tative, said: “Give women а chance in the world and we might see better things. The present state of affairs could not be worse.** Madame Chen's

words are but another example of the firm attitude women from all parts of the world are tak ing in this time of crisis, despite the loud voice of dictators and would-be dictators, who still de- clare that woman should confine her activities to the limited sphere of the home.

Some weeks ago we had with us Mr. Teeling, who, in a lecture given at the Women's International Club, proved to have very little sympathy with the emancipation of women. After looking over that sad, man- made mess in which millions of people are silently or revoltingly suffering to-day and seeing the plight of the despairing masses, Mr. Tecking has, like so many others, hit upon the "desperately" good idea of saving the world by sending women back to the kitchen.

Is this the sole result of the in-

numerable economic conferences, costing millions, that have been beld since the armistice? Is this all our economists, trained in expen- sive universities, could accomplish? The sad part of it is that they, seeing the bopelessness of the idea themselves, don't make any effort to find some fairly intelligent argu- ment to substantiate it

Mr. Teeling declared that all the trouble in the world had-begun with Eve-perhaps, one might mggest, because she bore two sons who promptly, by an act of killing, introduced an element of war into the world. Coming down to our* modern times, Mr. Teeling apolo gises for the men who are unem- ployed: they cannot stand their idleness; they degenerate while their women go out to work for them. It should not be posable, he -declares, for the women to do that. It is not right, since women by their very nature can always find something to do; they have their

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children and a home that is a home no matter where' or what it may be. However, by admitting that he can find no solution for this employment problem more adequate than the dole, Mr. Teeling is admit- ting the dismal failure of his whole man-made system of politics. And yet he goes on to say that the one sphere in which women have de- finitely been a failure is in the political sphere.

Of course we may say that women's emancipation is only par tially complete; that her going into politics still usually depends on her husband's position, and so naturally men in politics still greatly out- number women. In all walks of life only a few individuals are outstand- ing, bence men in politics by virtue of their superiority in numbers stand a better chance of producing the few great. But, given a chance to express it, would not women have a very different conception of politics? Would they not in the first place do away with any pos- sibility of war?

The main stand-by of those who, advocate the "back to the kitchen policy is the biological factor; women's natural physical weakness. Apart from the fact that the weak- ness is largely the result of the system which has forced her to live a submissive life-a result that can be and is being remedied by a naturally emancipated life of greater freedom-it is that very biological factor, making woman the mother of sons, that renders her unwilling to see the destruction of her family. No matter what her profession, the family will always very naturally mean more to the woman than to the man. In using

the biological argument against her, pointing out her weakness, the emphasis is on the fact that she is not fit to be a soldier, she is not good war" material

Man's nature is saturated with bero-worship and he is proud of his idealism, while reproaching woman for her more materialistic outlook. He declares that it is woman's lack of this idealism that makes ber in- capable of greatness. At bottom, however, his idealism appears to be but a beautiful gesture for the sake of a gesture and often is merely sentimentality. Woman on the other band" makes a hard calculation. With the responsibility of produc- ing life, of motherhood, and of the care of the family falling on her shoulders, she is naturally inclined to be practical and rational would seem, too, that her more practical nature fits her to deal. with economic problems-those pro- blems 'which are most in need of satisfactory settlement to-day.

It

We come to think of the present situation and Signor Mussolini's be- haviour. Were the decision to rest with women, would they be willing to sacrifice husbands and sons for 2. doubtini colonial adventure? That is difficult to conceive.

Women, too, have a much higher standard of Besthetic appreciation fhan men, or, at any rate, a better- developed feeling for the decorative. Just as she knows how to select a drees or strike an attitude to suit. her personality, no woman politi cian would make the mistake of assuming the ridiculous Napoleonic She -pose of Signor Mussolini.

would be too well aware of how, inappropriate it was.