Whether this
desirable result is to be brought about by the gradual extinction or
snuffing out of the hitherto sterner sex by a process of killing
kindness, or by the discovery of a system of generation whereby women
only will be procreated, is not foretold by these seers of the future;
accordingly, while one might not be warranted in dismissing the theory
as untenable, its fulfilment may fairly be regarded as a remote
expectancy, and consigned to the consideration of real philosophers.
There is no doubt, though, that woman has been kept down for
generations, and has only just begun to bob up serenely, to hazard a
coloquial metaphor. The eyes of civilization are upon her, and there
is legitimate curiosity from Christiania to Yokohama to discover what
she is going to do. To me as a philosopher, and taking into account
one consideration with another, including Josephine's plaint, it seems
as though woman would have much plainer sailing in her progress toward
reconstruction if it were not that she is so exceedingly good-looking
in spots and bunches. Let her distinction as an ornamental factor be
totally negatived and overcome, and there is no telling how rapidly she
might progress. By ornament, I mean, of course, not merely beauty of
face and form, but sweetness of speech, delicacy of physique and
sentiment, captivating clothes, and all those distinguishing
characteristics which have tended to fasten upon the female sex the
epithet of gentle.
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