Snapshots from History

Social Development

The English lady in the age of Queen Victoria walked with measured steps and avoided mixing with the other sex; young men and young women were permitted to meet only in the presence of the aged elders... And the street carriages were reserved for men alone... The first signs of release and freedom did not appear until the end of the nineteenth century, when the practice of outdoor sports came into vogue among fashionable young ladies — above all, riding the bicycle. From that time on, woman has been in continuous struggle, until she now has all the broad social rights that men have.

Cultural Development

The entry of the European woman into the universities dates back a hundred years. As for compulsory primary education for both sexes, it is among the merits of Queen Victoria's age — that is, 1875. In 1925 the Englishwoman came to have seats among the university professors; in 1946 women attained posts as ministers of state, members of Parliament, and even judges in the mixed courts, and they gave proof of a competence that deserves respect.

The Development of Relations Between the Sexes

The relation between a young man and a young woman, wherever they met, once went no further than the idea of love and marriage. Now, however, they take part together in work and in undertakings; they cooperate and discuss together the solving of their family, social, and political problems. It is a relation of mutual understanding. Man's view of woman is no longer the view of a male toward a female whose whole end is pleasure; it has become the view of the comrade who respects his companion, lends her words an attentive ear, and cooperates with her to overcome the difficulties of the age and to come out of its psychological, spiritual, and material crises with the smile of the strong victor.