Daybreak; A Romance of an Old World Part 35

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

THE EMANc.i.p.aTION OF MAN.

After an exhilarating ride, in which the doctor and I, certainly, were not troubled by any over-sensitiveness in regard to such robust horses, we returned to the house and soon found ourselves seated in the music room listening to one of their famous dramatists reciting his own words through the phonograph. Next we had some music, and then a poem, from the same prolific instrument.

When this entertainment was over, and after lunch, Zenith, at our urgent request, seconded by Thorwald's solicitation, resumed her narrative.

"We read," she began, "that during the time when men were grudgingly bestowing the right of suffrage on our s.e.x, woman was making rapid strides toward a position in society fitted to her talents and aspirations. One occupation after another became available, and it was no longer a disgrace or hardly a peculiarity for women to be earning their living instead of depending for support on their fathers or brothers. This tended to create in them a feeling of independence, and in many employments they had every right to be proud of their attainments, for, with so little training, they often surpa.s.sed the men at their own trades. Even then, however, some of the old prejudice against the s.e.x seemed to remain in force, since women were discriminated against in the matter of wages. When they did the same work and did it better, still their pay was less than that of men. But this was a temporary injustice, which disappeared, as it was bound to do, when woman had acquired her full freedom and had been in the field long enough to prove her right and ability to stay.

"The work at which women excelled was that requiring a quick intelligence, nimble fingers, and the faculty of easy adaptability. In the realm of physical strength woman was not a compet.i.tor, but there was another field in which she more than made up for that loss, and in which she early began to show great native ability. That was in all pursuits demanding the education of the mind. Here is where she was to look for the greatest of her victories. Nature had endowed man with a superior strength of body and muscle, but woman with a higher order of mind."

"I must interrupt you here, Zenith," said the doctor. "This is a.s.suredly an instance where your race differs materially from that of the earth, for with us man has by nature the stronger mind."

"How do you know?" asked Zenith.

"It has been proved so in all ages."

"Yes, but does not the expression 'all ages' include with you only the ages in which man has been the ruling spirit, and woman has been kept down and allowed but little opportunity to show the strength of her mental faculties? You know our history takes in not only a period similar to that covered by your whole career, but also other ages which we believe correspond with the years yet to come for the inhabitants of the earth. It has been during the latter era, a time which you have not yet seen, that woman has proved the truth of my a.s.sertion."

"I wish to make myself understood," said the doctor again. "I am willing to grant the equality of the s.e.xes, as far as natural rights go; that is, that every man and every woman ought to have the opportunity to develop all their talents, untrammeled by any edict or convention of society. Perhaps I would agree with you also in believing it would be better to treat men and women alike, with open-hearted, sincere courtesy, and use equal ceremony in showing respect to individuals of either s.e.x. But it seems to me that there is a vast difference between all that and your latest position. There are many people of our generation on the earth, and their number is rapidly increasing, who believe in the essential equality of the s.e.xes, but I never heard one put forward anything approaching the claim you make, that woman was created with a higher order of mind than man--I believe that was your expression; and this is why I say that in this particular your race differs greatly from ours."

To which Zenith replied:

"I am not so sure of that, my dear doctor. It would seem hardly fair that man should be given both physical and mental superiority. But please tell me again why you think man has the stronger mind."

"Because he has done the thinking of the world. The intellectual achievements of woman, though occasionally brilliant, are not to be compared with those of man. This is true in every department throughout our history--in science and art, in religion, in literature, in government, and in everything that I could name. It is hardly to the point for you to say that woman would have done more if she had possessed a fuller freedom; perhaps it is true, but it seems to me a matter of conjecture. Neither is it a complete answer for you to say that in the years to come woman, being wholly enfranchised, will revolutionize the world by her unexpected powers. We can judge only by what she has done. Excuse me, Zenith, for trying to uphold my point.

It is rather discouraging, when I can see by your face that you can demolish my argument in a moment, whenever you choose to attempt it."

We all laughed at the doctor's want of courage, and Zenith answered:

"I beg your pardon; I am greatly at fault if I have any such expression in my face. My confidence, if I have any, is not in any supposed ability I may have in conversation, but in our experience here on Mars. Your history matches ours so well up to your generation that I cannot but think the likeness will continue; and if it does, then woman, in your near future, will prove the truth of my statement. But before I proceed to tell you what she has done in this world, let me ask you if your women have shown any mental peculiarity which distinguishes them from men."

"Yes," answered the doctor, "their intuitive perceptions appear to be more developed than those of men, probably because they use them more.

A man may reach a certain conclusion by a course of reasoning, while a woman will often arrive at the same point much quicker by intuition.

That is, a man will tell you why he knows a thing, when a woman simply knows it because she knows it."

"Is that faculty akin to anything else with which you are acquainted?"

"Yes, we call it instinct in animals."

"Is not the possession by woman of that quality a silent but powerful suggestion to you of the fact that she was treated like an animal in the dark days of her inthrallment?"

"I had not thought of it," returned the doctor, "but it certainly may be looked upon as a sad commentary on that rude age."

"Do you consider this instinct an advantage to woman?" asked Zenith.

"Certainly; it is a great help to her, often serving with much success in place of other faculties."

"Would it be a valuable quality to add to man's mental equipment?"

"Yes, indeed, if he could retain all his other powers of mind."

"Well, now let me ask you what would come to pa.s.s if the women of the earth, possessed already of that quickness of thought, that ability to discern the truth by direct apprehension, should, by thorough education and many years of patient training, acquire the power of reasoning, the judgment, the strength of mind, and all the intellectual powers now held by your men?"

"That is a very large 'if,' and I cannot tell you what would happen,"

answered the doctor.

"I have only described," continued Zenith, "what actually took place on our planet. When the movement for giving woman a higher education began, men looked at the subject just as you do now. Women were supposed to be of inferior mental capacity, and it was thought to be a foolish thing to attempt to educate them. 'Better educate the boys,' men said, 'and let the girls learn to cook and sew and to play the piano; that is all that will ever be required of them.' But, in spite of every discouragement, the girls improved their opportunities so well that they were soon taking the prizes away from the boys. Broadminded philanthropists of both s.e.xes endowed schools for them, and the highest inst.i.tutions of learning opened their doors to them. When the young women, almost from the start, began to be successful in compet.i.tive contests in different departments of scholarship, it was generally thought that such cases were exceptional and would not be apt to be repeated very often. But this was a great mistake. These instances proved to be no exception. It was found that woman's facility of thought and native acuteness gave her an immense advantage over the masculine mind in mastering any ordinary course of study. But this was surface education. The reasoning power and the solidity of mind for which men were distinguished in mature life came later, but they came.

"At first, only here and there a girl was fortunate enough to be offered a liberal education; but when it was found that in almost every instance they brought great credit on themselves, the number increased with rapidity, until a college course was the customary and expected close of almost every girl's school-days. For it was not the rich only that had this advantage, since by this time education was free, being provided either by the public or by universities richly endowed.

"All this time the boys seemed to find a great attraction in business and the trades, and appeared to be willing that the girls should have a monopoly of the higher education. One circ.u.mstance that greatly helped this state of things was the extraordinary furor that prevailed just then in the matter of manual training. This system had received more or less attention from educators for many years, and it had been introduced into schools as an addition to the regular course of study. That was a material age. Men desired first of all to be practical, and the new method of teaching, being eminently practical, became exceedingly popular with the boys. The parents, not dreaming where it would end, and seeing the eager interest with which their sons now crowded into the schools, encouraged them in it.

"Schools of technique, in which the literary branches were entirely subordinate, sprang up on every hand, and two or three years spent in these inst.i.tutions took the place of a college course. The old universities tried to meet the changing sentiment by paying more attention to science, by giving the students a free choice of studies, and by shortening the course when desired. But the mechanical idea in the new education seemed to be the attraction. The boys were seized with a pa.s.sion for doing something with their hands, and their inventive faculties were quickened, increasing in a remarkable degree their interest in their work and studies.

"For a long time this movement was thought to be a great advance in education. It was such an improvement on the old way, to find the young men learning something useful, rather than wasting their time over the dead languages and other things they would never need after finishing school. And it must be acknowledged that all this industrial impulse was of advantage to the world in its way. It multiplied labor-saving machinery, added to the people's comforts in many ways, and increased the general prosperity and well-being of society as far as material improvements could do it.

"But there was another side to the picture. So much time could not be given to training the hand and hardening the muscle without detracting from the attention due to the cultivation of the brain. To be sure, the brain was active enough, but it was receiving a one-sided development, which boded it no permanent good.

"I have spoken at such length of this almost universal rage for technical education, because it was a chief factor in turning the world over."

We all smiled at this expression, and the doctor asked:

"How did it overturn the world?"

"By aiding in taking the real brain work away from the men and giving it to the women."

"Did this actually happen?"

"Certainly it did. Not in a day, but in the process of time. How could it be otherwise, when the women alone had been for many years going through that long, patient mind-drilling which is the only preparation for a thorough education? When the young men observed that a civil engineer, a superintendent of a factory, or even a skilled mechanic could earn a larger salary than a college graduate, it took away much of the incentive for the old-fashioned education, and they were perfectly willing to see their sisters take what they had not time for.

"And so it came about that the women began to crowd into the learned professions; and, as there was not one which they could not adorn, the prejudice against them soon wore off, and before many years they were competing with men in all the grandest fields of human action. Even in the matter of government woman's power was felt. Men were so engrossed in the endeavor to develop to their fullest extent the material resources of the planet that they became careless of the higher duties of citizenship, especially after the women began to take control of things. They saw affairs were well managed, and seemed to be relieved to have them taken out of their hands, not dreaming that they were forging chains for themselves which it would take long years to break. Although the world was constantly growing better, it was far from a perfect age.

Human nature was still a synonym for selfishness, and with men and women measuring swords on every intellectual battlefield a contest for supremacy was inevitable.

"Man was absorbed in his chosen work, he was indifferent to public affairs, and he was, in his way, proud of the position woman was taking in the world, but he could not let her a.s.sume his place as acknowledged leader without a struggle. He said he had given her her rights, and now she wanted to deprive him of his rights.

"There was too much truth in this, for society had not reached a state where the s.e.xes could live in perfect equality. It was admitted by all that there must be a head, both in the household and in the state, and it long remained a question which should rule. But was there ever a struggle of long continuance on the earth in which mind did not triumph at last?"

"I must answer in the negative," replied the doctor, "although I perceive it will help your argument."

"Why, this is not an argument," continued Zenith. "It is simply a story of what has taken place on this planet. If you have any doubt of it, ask Thorwald. You have known him longer than you have me, and, perhaps, would have more confidence in what he would say. He ought to have told this part of the story himself. I know you think I am exaggerating, because you see I am making my s.e.x come out ahead."

Zenith said this in a playful manner, which showed she was as far as possible from being offended, but the doctor pretended to take her seriously, and replied with feeling:

"Do forgive me, Zenith, for my thoughtless expression, and pray do not stop in your narrative at this interesting point. I will tell you how I came to use the word to which you object. While you were talking I was thinking how one would be received on the earth, who should attempt an argument to show the probability that anything like what you are telling us should ever come to pa.s.s there."