iii. 16--iv. 1. _Moreover the Lord saith, Behold the
daughters of Zion are haughty, &c._
We have here a terrible denunciation of female pride and luxury.
Consider--
I. ITS COMMONNESS. In almost every age and country there have been
women such as are here described.
II. ITS CAUSES. There must be powerful causes to produce such a
wide-spread effect. Like all things that are wrong, these evil
things--the pride and luxury of so many women--are due to perversions
of things that are right,--mainly, to certain things which are among
the _differentia_ of the female sex, such as--1. A keener love of
beauty than is common among men. The love of many women for soft
textures and bright colours is as innocent, and free from all trace
of personal vanity, as is the love of children for flowers. 2. A
stronger yearning for admiration than is common among men. There are
vain men, always on the outlook for indications of admiration, and
they are simply contemptible. But it is an instinct of the true
woman-nature to desire to be loved, and to value highly all things
that tend to win love. 3. A recognition of the gifts of personal
beauty. As a rule, women have more to be proud of in this respect
than have men. If a woman is fair, she is simply a hypocrite if she
pretends not to know it. Then there come in, 4. Rivalry, which in
itself is a right thing, but becomes a harmful thing when women set
themselves to out-dress each other. 5. Timidity, one of the graces of
the female character, but that often leads to great evils. Few men
have the courage to be singular, and fewer women sufficient
self-reliance not to follow the fashion. But the pride and luxury of
women is largely due also to the folly of men:--(1) Most men esteem
and reward clothes more than character. Men are taken by such things
as are mentioned in our text, and the fisher is not much to be blamed
for adapting the bait to the taste of the fish. (2.) Even of those
men who condemn female luxury in the abstract, few have the courage
to banish it from their own homes. (3.) The lips of many men are
sealed on this question by their own vices. They have _their_
indulgences, and one of the prices which they pay for peace in their
pursuit is silence as to this indulgence on the part of their wives
and daughters. There is an unexpressed but wicked compromise on this
matter.
III. ITS CONSEQUENCES. 1. The intellectual degradation of woman, the
concentration of nearly all her thoughts on the question of dress.
2. The moral debasement of many women. For the means of gratifying
their craving for luxury and display, how many have sold their
virtue! 3. The destruction of that female influence which should
always be exerted, and when exerted is so powerful in aid of moral
nobility. Sensual grossness in men is at once a cause and consequence
of licentious vanity in women. 4. Commercial frauds, to which men
resort to provide the means for the maintenance of the luxury of
their homes.
Men and women are thus partakers in this sin, and as such, in the
days of visitation, they shall suffer together (ver. 17, 25;
iv. 1).[1]