Beating one's head against the walls of
custom and convention accomplished nothing. All sane people agreed
concerning the injustice of one person paying the price of the sin of
two people; all normal ones admitted that what was wicked in a woman
was wicked in a man, but agreement and admission were terms of
speech. Translation into action would have meant a bigger price than
even sane and normal and righteous people were willing to pay. Men
could hardly be blamed, but women should be, for the continuance of
old points of view. Women are no longer ignorant or dependent, and
the time for silence and acceptance is past. Perhaps the women of
Lillie Pierce's world are not so much to be despaired of as some of
mine and other sheltered worlds; the soulless, spineless, selfish
ones who cannot always justly draw their skirts aside, and yet do
draw them with eyebrows raised, and curling lips, and gesture that
means much. I, too, have been a coward. I, too, have been long
asleep. But there were other women who had been making splendid
fight while I was wasting time, and at thought of them came courage,
and under my breath I prayed God to make it grow.
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