One sometimes hears from some lady the remark that very few people "in
society" believe in any movement to enlarge the rights or duties of women.
In a community of more marked social gradations than our own, this
assertion, if true, might be very important; and even here it is worth
considering, because it leads the way to a little social philosophy. Let
us, for the sake of argument, begin by accepting the assumption that there
is an inner circle, at least in our large cities, which claims to be
"society," _par excellence_. What relation has this favored circle, if
favored it be, to any movement relating to women?
It has, to begin with, the same relation that "society" has to every
movement of reform. The proportion of smiles and frowns bestowed from this
quarter upon the woman-suffrage movement, for instance, is about that
formerly bestowed upon the anti-slavery agitation: I see no great
difference. In Boston, for example, the names contributed by "society" to
the woman-suffrage festivals are about as numerous as those which used to
be contributed to the anti-slavery bazaars; no more, no less. Indeed, they
are very often the same names; and it has been curious to see, for nearly
fifty years, how radical tendencies have predominated in some of the
well-known Boston families, and conservative tendencies in others.
The traits of blood seem to outlast successive series of special reforms.
Be this as it may, it is safe to assume, that, as the anti-slavery movement
prevailed with only a moderate amount of sanction from "our best society,"
the woman-suffrage agitation, which has at least an equal amount, has no
reason to be discouraged.
On looking farther, we find that not reforms alone, but often most
important and established institutions, exist and flourish with only
incidental aid from those "in society." Take, for instance, the whole
public school system of our larger cities. Grant that out of twenty ladies
"in society," taken at random, not more than one would personally approve
of women's voting: it is doubtful whether even that proportion of them
would personally favor the public school system so far as to submit their
children, or at least their girls, to it. Yet the public schools flourish,
and give a better training than most private schools, in spite of this
inert practical resistance from those "in society." The natural inference
would seem to be, that if an institution so well established as the public
schools, and so generally recognized, can afford to be ignored by
"society," then certainly a wholly new reform must expect no better fate.
As a matter of fact, I apprehend that what is called "society," in the
sense of the more fastidious or exclusive social circle in any community,
exists for one sole object,--the preservation of good manners and social
refinements. For this purpose it is put very largely under the sway of
women, who have, all the world over, a better instinct for these important
things. It is true that "society" is apt to do even this duty very
imperfectly, and often tolerates, and sometimes even cultivates, just the
rudeness and discourtesy that it is set to cure. Nevertheless, this is its
mission; but so soon as it steps beyond this, and attempts to claim any
special weight outside the sphere of good manners, it shows its weakness,
and must yield to stronger forces.
One of these stronger forces is religion, which should train men and women
to a far higher standard than "society" alone can teach. This standard
should be embodied, theoretically, in the Christian Church; but unhappily
"society" is too often stronger than this embodiment, and turns the church
itself into a mere temple of fashion. Other opposing forces are known as
science and common-sense, which is only science written in shorthand. On
some of these various forces all reforms are based, the woman-suffrage
reform among them. If it could really be shown that some limited social
circle was opposed to this, then the moral would seem to be, "So much the
worse for the social circle." It used to be thought in anti-slavery days
that one of the most blessed results of that agitation was the education it
gave to young men and women who would otherwise have merely grown up "in
society," but were happily taken in hand by a stronger influence. It is
Goethe who suggests, when discussing Hamlet in "Wilhelm Meister," that, if
an oak be planted in a flower-pot, it will be worse in the end for the
flower-pot than for the tree. And to those who watch, year after year, the
young human seedlings planted "in society," the main point of interest lies
in the discovery which of these are likely to grow into oaks.
But the truth is that the very use of the word "society" in this sense is
narrow and misleading. We Americans are fortunate enough to live in a
larger society, where no conventional position or family traditions exert
an influence that is to be in the least degree compared with the influence
secured by education, energy, and character. No matter how fastidious the
social circle, one is constantly struck with the limitations of its
influence, and with the little power exerted by its members as compared
with that which may easily be wielded by tongue and pen. No merely
fashionable woman in New York, for instance, has a position sufficiently
important to be called influential compared with that of a woman who can
speak in public so as to command hearers, or can write so as to secure
readers. To be at the head of a normal school, or to be a professor in a
college where co-education prevails, is to have a sway over the destinies
of America which reduces all mere "social position" to a matter of cards
and compliments and page's buttons.