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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1957)
7 ' "' ' : r '" v v r . rlw3 M fA Ji, Jf Si i , - ' V and first-class John is tall, 35, nnd single. Ilostosses love him. Married men envy him. Society generally considers John a gay and extra-special person, for al most everyone loves a bachelor! I happen to be John's cousin. I'm also tall, 35, and single. But I happen to be female. As a result, hostesses fret about me. Relatives worry about me. Society in general considers me an extra, for almost everyone pities a bachelor girl! I'm sure I'm speaking for thousands of women like me when I say, "Your Pity is poisonous and undeserved, and so is your guilt!" For most single Family Wtekly. August 25, 195? women lead busy nnd happy lives, and most of us have actually chosen our pattern of life not because we're opposed to marriage, but because we're unwilling to settle ty second-rate mates or second-best unions. When I decided to live alone, I also decided to like it that is, until the right man comes along! I've done just that liked it! By day I'm a busy executive secre tary with a firm that manufactures children's wear. My salary and it's increased steadily over the years provides a comfortable apartment, good books, nice clothes, vacations and holidavs By ,ght I n, a hostess to my friends, a hospital volunteer, an amateur paint er and a sports fan. Between my work dmy ply,lhave neUher time mchnat.on to bask in self-pity Unfortunately, society is far J comfoi table about m , 1 w ., lam "P. a,:"-"' ",e " cent G.o friend, ?u "'""T' "P1"1.- You ow you can care for voursclf. slip by." iHow Stance and tnCleS " THT M,ke " ' enchantment') extent to which married women "Hnmm," says my brother "so vouY Z"l fi"ancial dePpndence Roing to be a well-tailored ma" kulin Ut Shm-ply whe" 8 life" eo, man killing insurance company surveyed dozens of career girl!" (Well-tailored, perhaps, but some of the most feminine and understanding women I know are single.) "Hey," ask the men I date, "how come you've never married?" (That question is reversible, too, but I have the prudence not to ask it.) At least once a week a woman friend will call to ask me to a party. "Alice, dear," she will say, "I feel terrible, but I can't dig up an extra male." Or, "Alice, dear," she will whine, "I've a date for you not very' attractive but, well, a man!" To all hostesses, relatives, and friends let me say: "Alice, dear, doesn't expect to get married every time she goes out! There is nothing wrong with me! If all I want ed was a man, I'd have mar ried long ago!" I will add further that this is 1957 and not the 19th cen tury. In Jane Austen's day a single daughter might have been a family worry, an ex tra mouth to feed, a clinging vine. But today's spinster what an ugly word! can face with pride the prejudice of modern society Take my friend Lois, for instance, who grew up in an era "when nice cirls didn't work." Lois did, however. She had to work to help put her five brothers and sisters through school! First she taught. Then she took special training in child guidance. Years ago she opened one of the first girls' camps in America. Today that camp flourishes and so does Lois. Contrary to being a "family worry or a clinging vine," Lois is the backbone of her large family, the beloved and resptcted aunt who has helptd brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, and now frMt-niecas through school, ctmp, collg, and an assort ment of problems. Of course. Lois will admit that marriage, with the love and companionship of a husband and children, is the best possible way of life. But it is not the only way of life. For Lois, and for me, there are real satis factions in managing a single life well. A pay check, for instance, is ally a certificate of oitt's worth, a periodic pat on the back. "Alice," a friend said re cently, "in some wavs vnu'rp lnckv!
