Woman's Problems

Political demands may differ from one state to another, and economic and military problems may differ. But the demands of woman are one and the same in every land. That is because woman concerns herself with the immediate human problems bound up with natural social life, and they are for that reason common to all nations. It behooves the woman, then, to keep pace with the activity being exerted by her colleagues in every country, so as to remain in close touch with this joint activity for raising the social level of the world.

This past summer a conference of 840 women of the Labour Party met in Britain to examine the most important social problems of today which women consider to be corrupting the working of the social order in the nation. Here are some of the problems it treated and the proposals it advanced for their solution.

First — the problem of the breakdown of married life, which leads either to divorce or to a silent inner tragedy played out behind the curtain. These problems usually arise from one party's ignorance of the foundations of sound married life, or from causes of health, or from other causes upon which science can shed light. This conference therefore proposed the appointment of special branch offices whose purpose would be to give sound guidance to the person intending marriage before he marries, and to carry out a medical examination of those seeking marriage to make certain of their soundness. Such offices could forestall many problems before they occur.

Second — this conference treated the problem of the motion-picture films that expose children from their earliest years to scenes which may harm their psychological growth; it was therefore proposed to place a special censorship over the films that minors may be permitted to see.

Third — to prevent the spread of diseases in society, the government must keep strict watch over the cleanliness of food in public establishments.

Fourth — the government must concern itself with providing foodstuffs for children, so as to secure for tomorrow men and women of sound bodies.

Fifth — the government must strive to lower house rents so that large, crowded families may find adequate dwellings for themselves.

These are some of the demands of the women's conference, and they do not differ from the problems that face the woman among us, which she strives to solve through the women's associations. For the problem of woman is one human problem in all nations.