Imperial Valley Press

WE the Women
By RUTH MILLETT

It is a wonder anybody ever worries or fears things women do will take away their femininity.

And yet there is always talk of their losing "femininity" if they go into politics, if they are too successful in business, if they join the armed forces, or go to work in factories.

But isn't their essential femininity something they can't lose?

Take this little news item for example:

Lady Astor, sharp-tongued member of the British Parliament, was fined $240 for violating rationing rules. It appears that a fur jacket seemed "like heaven" to her and she wrote a letter asking a Red Cross employee to bring her one from the United States. She also wanted such other feminine finery as silk stockings, gloves, evening shoes, a fur-collar dress, an evening gown and a white skirt. Officials decided such a request was illegal and the fine was her punishment.

Now if a woman of Lady Astor's power, prominence, experience and age can be tripped up by her feminine love of clothes, can write "A short-haired soft winter jacket sounds like heaven to me," there isn't much use of our worrying for fear that wearing a uniform or working in over-alls will do anything to the femininity of American girls.

They'll probably be just as feminine when the war is over as when it started. And when they get to be Lady Astor's age—they'll probably still be feminine enough to speak of a fur coat and heaven in the same breath.