The colonial bride, marrying into Industry, brought her full
economic value to her husband.
The modern bride, marrying out of Industry, leaves most of her
economic value behind. And the greater that value was, the
sharper is the shock of the contraction of resources.
Of course, the case of the department-store buyer and the
teamster is irrelevantly extreme. But aren't there thousands and
thousands of cases which, while less advanced, are pointed in the
same direction? The more a woman earns, the fewer become the men
who can support her. How can the clerk support the cloak
saleswoman who has had eighteen dollars a week of her own? How
can the barber support the manicurist who has had twelve?
The cloak saleswoman may talk flippantly about it, but, at heart,
isn't she seriously right? She has pulled herself up to a certain
level. Except in response to a grande passion she will not again
drop below it. She will bring up her children at a point as close
to her present level as she can. That is instinct.
Meanwhile, she isn't married. But what can you do about it? She
went to work, like almost every other working woman, because she
had to.
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