The other day I was idly glancing at a popular novel of the last century, when the following sentence caught my eye:—“We heard, with amazement and horror, that Claire had left home to take up the duties of a nursery governess.” I smiled with all the superiority of the enlightened year 1932 and sketched an outline of the pathetic careers of numerous “Claires”—forced by circumstances to employ their talents for pecuniary gain—in the only way then permissible—that thankless, pathetic position of a poor little nursery governess. Of course, occasionally the insignificant sweet young thing did attract the attention of the dashing son of the house or faithless husband, who tried to steal a kiss behind the nursery door—for which she was dismissed by an outraged mistress; but all too often she had to sink into the awful obscurity of some country home—though her gifts were many. Perhaps she could paint with a magic brush—what use? No woman slipped across to the Artists' Paradise, Paris, and struggled for fame in the Latin Quarter. Perhaps she had a quick wit and a ready tongue—exercised for the chastisement of her unruly charges; but not desired by the platforms and pulpits of the world. Politics! A strange and magic word to her. If she were of a literary disposition her genius was confined to a minute and carefully kept diary, or to lengthy amusing letters.

Do we realize, I wonder, the tremendous advantages of being born in the Twentieth Century, when every career has opened its doors to feminine devotees, when every talent you possess can be exercised, and, except at the moment, profitably.

A great number of the best novels of to-day are by women writers—no longer necessary to disguise one's sex under the masculine security of a George Eliot or an Acton Bell!

Women lead the way in artistic circles, in the “beau monde” of fashion, as dress designers, etc., and one of the most fascinating and interesting of all occupations has recently claimed its adherents from the ranks of our sex—the position of an “interior decorator.” Women, with their intimate knowledge of homes, are admirably suited for giving advice as to colour schemes, and architectural planning of a house for the convenience of the housewife.

We can say without exaggeration that almost every career once sacred to men has now been equally efficiently carried out by some women. Exceptions are page 58 engineering and mechanics, the Church and finance. Absurd to suggest that the more competent women should drive the less competent men from their positions, because for most women, the job is merely temporary. Yet equality of work should receive equality of remuneration, irrespective of sex. There are many careers for which, broadly speaking, men are more fitted, by reason of natural ability, than women, and vice versa. But a combination of the talents of both is ideal, and many business firms are carrying this into effect., employing women—where they can be useful and where they can execute a special section of the work—as architects, decorators, designers, buyers, demonstrators, secretaries and typistes. Everywhere we see them—at the universities, in the shops, in the offices—and still some in the homes!

The nursery governess of the nineteenth century, in her wildest moments, never dreamt of the liberty lying just beyond her reach. What, we wonder, will be revealed at the next bend in the road? “Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.”

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