oks under men's names.
Women's work and conduct has been largely restricted by this
adjustment to men, with the result that not only their mental capacity
and work-power has suffered, but their attention has been fixed, for
the most part, to the enhancing of the attractiveness of their persons
as an aid to hold men to their service. The feminine mind and
interests have been set so strongly towards personal display that they
will not easily be diverted. The clothes-peg woman is familiar to all:
she gratifies any whim, well knowing that it is her male protector who
will have to pay, not she. She will, on occasions, use her children
for such base ends. She knows the game is in her hand. Even if the man
resists her for a time, she understands how easily she can break down
his objections by a seductive display of silk stockings! The character
of woman as the inherent coquette is very deeply rooted. It is only a
little more baneful to the freedom of the sexes than that opposite
pernicious side of woman as a sort of angel-child, which we all know
to be such a preposterous pretence.

Nor do I think that the change from these conditions can, or will, be
easy. Women may, and do, protest against the triviality of their
lives, but emotional interests are more immediate than intellectual
ones. Human nature does not drift into intellectual pursuits
voluntarily, rather it is forced into them in connection with urgency
and practical activities. It is much easier to be kept, dressed, and
petted, than to work. Women have not participated in the mental
activities of men because it has not been necessary for them; to do
this has been, indeed, a hindrance to their success. The contrast
between the sexes in this respect has been well compared by
Thomas[323] to the relation of the amateur and the professional in
games. "Women may be desperately interested and work to the limit of
endurance at times; but, like the amateur, they enter into the work
late, and have not had a lifetime of practice.... No one will contend
that the amateur has a nervous organisation less fitted to the game
than the professional; it is admitted that the difference lies in the
constant practice." It is only in the case of woman that the obvious
conclusion is passed over for assumptions that cannot be proved.

The revolt against repression has taken amongst many women another
form of abandonment to lives of sexual preoccupation and intrigue.
Scan the history of woman