Health and Ill-Health in Women.
By Lucy M. Hall
We are told that nature worships the female in all her varieties. We know that among four-footed animals the female has more endurance, often more strength and swiftness, than the male. The women of savage tribes and those of the lower orders of the peasantry dress as simply and work as hard or harder than the men, and remain as healthy as they. Statistics show that one-third more women than men reach advanced age; also that more male children die than female. It is also true that from the dawn of prenatal existence the female child has a more tenacious grasp upon life than the male. It is pretty conclusively proven that, in the great plan of creation, that portion of it destined to give birth to all its succeeding generations was endowed with a superior vitality. Does the present status of the health of woman fulfill this beneficent purpose of her Creator? That it does not is a fact so patent as scarcely to need affirmation. . . . There is no denying the fact that there are more ailing women, more women in the hands of physicians real and pretended, more women to whom the day brings suffering and the night weariness and pain, than there are men. . . . Then comes the question, Is lowered vitality in women necessarily the outcome of a high state of civilization, or is she thwarting the divine plan of her organization by needless artificialities and faulty modes of life which are entirely under her control? To the first part of this question we believe the answer should be, No. To the second, an unqualified Yes. . . . Probably there is no influence which affects so large a number of women of all classes to the injury or destruction of health as improper modes of dress. After this, lack of vigorous muscular exercise; in-door life; in the poor and middle classes, too much work and worry with too little recreation; in the wealthy, absence of suitable employment for mind or body. And we need not wonder that the doctors are overworked in trying to undo the results of these manifold evils arrayed against the health of women. . . . It is useless to say, as many have done, that women do not need to exert themselves for a livelihood, therefore they have no incentive for changing their modes of dress. There is an army of women working in our schools, another in our shops and stores, another in our manufactories, another in our kitchens, and a still greater one staggering under the double burden of maternity and household cares—all of them trammeled and made weary by this needless demand upon their strength. Worse still, there is an army of growing girls, all doomed to suffer, many of them irremediably, because of thoughtlessly conforming to established follies for which they are not responsible. The training begins with the toddling bit of feminine humanity at that interesting age when the unconditioned citizenship of babyhood has been outgrown. Then are brought to bear the many artificial distinctions which civilized woman employs to proclaim to the world that she has a being, not simply of flesh and blood, as is her boy, but one who is all sex, who must be thenceforward reared in accordance with this one predominating and all-engrossing idea. Nothing is more essential to healthy mental growth than unconsciousness of self; and yet, well aware of this fact, an intelligent mother will select and arrange the attire of her little daughter so as to attract attention and provoke comment upon all sides. The child's own mind is filled with thoughts of her clothes, because of this and of the inconvenience to herself of wearing and trying to be careful of them. Their style and becomingness are discussed in her presence, as are also her complexion, her eyes, her hair, and her prospects for beauty. If she grows vain and self-conscious—as who would not?—we say, "Oh, she is a girl, and it is the instinct of sex which we behold in her!" I once knew a young man, a vain, unpromising fellow, whose mother had kept him in long curls until he was a well-grown lad; "and that was what spoiled me," he was wont to say. Perhaps he was right, as by being thus an object of especial attention and remark his vanity and egotism were stimulated to a most unhealthy degree. The lesson should not be lost in considering what must be the effect upon the little girl of always being made a conspicuous object. . . . Many mothers who are wise enough to see that their little girls are out-of-doors for a part, at least, of each day, are forgetful of the fact that one-half the benefit which they might derive from this is lost because of the hampering effect of their clothes. I have now in mind a fine child of four or five years, dressed in the most faultless of costumes, marching solemnly up and down the sidewalk behind baby carriage and nurse. I never saw her skip or run, or even laugh, and I have watched her for a year. I see also another upon the same walk, running, as I have seen her do a hundred times, her body bent half double to keep the wind from raking the cumbersome high-topped hat, which, with the disengaged hand, she is trying hard to hold in place upon her head, while her high-heeled little boots threaten to throw her headlong at every careless step. And still another, indulging in an occasional skip when she can long enough forget the ribbons, feathers, and laces, the bracelets, chains, clasps, and lockets, with which her small person is decked whenever she appears upon the sidewalk. Poor little maids! Always to be told that they must never make themselves conspicuous, and at the same time be tricked out with so much nonsensical finery that they are forced upon the attention of all. A strong, simple dress, one which will not keep the rapidly expanding mind of the child turned upon herself and the frivolities of her attire, is what is needed; a dress in which she can romp and play in perfect freedom of limb and muscle, with no fear of tattered edgings, crumpled frills, or tumbled feathers. In short, keep her thoughts better employed than in contemplation of her foolish little self, and let her frolic at her own sweet will. See that she has plain, sensible food, plenty of good milk included; send her to bed at seven in winter and eight in summer; do not let her go to a fashionable children's party, as you value her nerves, her freshness, her sweet childhood. The little girl will thus grow strong and healthy in body and mind. The best of this simple, active life will be that when nature stirs the first flatterings of awakening womanhood in her, there will not be the sickly response of a creature with a mind already full of morbid fancies and over-stimulated sensibilities, with nervous system asserting itself in the foreground, and a weak circulation, feeble digestion, and puny set of muscles occupying some insignificant position in the shadowy background of her physical economy. In such case the all too prominent nerves, in their influence upon newly awakened functions, are sufficient to produce conditions neurotic in the extreme, and resulting in the complete overthrow of the physical balance. With a vigorous body and healthfully trained mind there is little danger of such disturbance at this or any other period of life, and surely at no time is physical and mental activity, purposeful and wisely directed, more necessary than now.—Lucy M. Hall, M. D., in Christian Union.