The Photo-Play Journal (Jul 1919-Feb 1921)

20 Photo-Play Journal Hartsook, L. A. BLANCHE SWEET received the shock of her eventful young life when she visited Paris this fall. She was approached by a delegation of ladies who wanted to know when they could expect the first shipment of young men from America. "Shipment of men!" Miss Sweet exclaimed — "What do you mean — 'shipment of young men?' The war's over. You're not getting any more American men." "Oh, yes we are," they told her. "It's all arranged. There is a society in our country co-operating with a society in your country to get husbands for us. You have too many men over there, and we haven't nearly enough, so you have to share up, you see." They seemed surprised that a "prominent American" didn't know all about this great international enterprise. Miss Sweet asked them where they got their information, and, upon investigation, found that they had all paid money into a matrimonial agency which had "kidded" them into believing that their great sister republic was generously going to share her husband-material with their bereaved land. "They had them divided into grades," said Blanche, "according to what they could get out of them. The ones who had paid 500 francs or more were to have the first pick of the first shipload ; the ones who had paid 400 francs the second choice; the ones who had paid in 300 francs the third choice; and so on, until the ones who had spent only 25 francs could take what were left, if any. They had waited quite a while for these bridegrooms, and were becoming anxious about them. _ "When they found they had been duped, their disappointment was pitiable. I felt downright sorry for them. I should have been moved to go out and recruit husbands for them myself if it hadn't been for certain persuasions they used which effectively hardened my heart. National pride is a peculiar thing. When I am at home, I am like every other American. I criticize our habits of life and thought; I denounce the con The Superfluous American Male By MARY EDITH BUTLER temporary administration if I like, when I like and as severely as I choose. But when I am abroad — let anyone criticize Americans or American institutions, and every hair on my head bristles with indignation. "It was so at this time. These women began telling me how little American women appreciated their men, how indifferent they were to them, how little they understood 'making ze mans happy!' Said the spokeswoman: 'You say to ze hosbond — 'You lay down, zen I walk on you. You roll over when I crack ze whip. You jomp through zis hole ! ' " — and she made a hoop of her thumb and forefinger. 'You teach him he is only great, clumsy dog, which can stay in ze house only if he learn nice tricks and perform for you and for guests what you tell him.' She said that if we really loved our men we would not have endorsed prohibition — 'ze one leetle pleazure ze mans had!' — and wound up by stating that from now on American women wouldn't need men, anyway, as they had the vote and economic independence well in sight. "By the time she got through with the oration," said Miss Sweet, "I wouldn't have let her have one single, solitary American if I had to trail him and nail his coat-tails to the pier. All Europe seems to be convinced that American women are 'spoiled' and that American men spoil them. The fact is that American men and women are both 'spoiled' when compared with Europeans of the same sphere of life. But the spoiling has come chiefly through our national prosperity. We simply have more, have been raised to expect more, to provide ourselves and others with more comforts, pleasures and luxuries than old-world families ever dream of. When it comes to down-right 'spoiling' if there's any worse spoiled male in the world than the American male, I'd like to find him. "It is true that he is not spoiled in just the way the European male is — and thank God for that! The normal American man does not aspire to be 'bought and paid for.' He has a horror of becoming a 'squaw-man' or a 'mollycoddle.' Nor does he want to be pursued, caught and held by some sugary, honey-pot of a woman who has nothing to offer but a steady diet of cloysome Witzel, L. A.