In trying moments,
in hours of great interest, in times of rare experience, men and women
do the same work in the same way, and then the high quality which
ennobles their characters is human kindness. It is well that great
artists have painted the face of Christ so that it is as womanly as it
is manly. It is a beautiful way some persons have of thinking of God as
father and mother too.
But with all these resemblances of manliness to womanliness, there
is a difference which all may recognize if they will. Allow a boy to
stretch out his legs, climb spouts, jump gutters,--he is still perfectly
manly; but a girl cannot do these things in a community without censure,
unless necessity requires. I know that the custom which demands
different decorum for a girl is arbitrary, and not of divine origin. To
go unveiled is not allowed in some countries. But conformity is surely
enjoined upon us; and that, so far as it is reasonably observed, is
a really womanly trait. I cannot help thinking that girls are made
of finer material than boys, but of stuff that will wear just as well
as the stockier goods in boys. Inasmuch as a girl has more confided
to her keeping than a boy has, she ought to be so much the more
watchful. A girl ought to guard purity, modesty, patience, hope, trust,
because she has had these things given her in large measure.
What can there be more beautiful than womanliness! The next time you
see the Sistine Madonna, look behind all the mother in the lovely face
for the woman in it.
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