Delegate. Oh, I didn't mean to say—
Thérèse [interrupting him] But it's not true—they are not your inferiors. If they believe they are, it's because of the wrongs and humiliations you've imposed on them for centuries. You men stick together. Why are we not to do the same? If you start trade unions, why may not we? As a matter of fact, as regards work, we're your equals. We need our wages; and to get hold of the jobs that we're able to do we offer our work at a cheaper rate than you do. That is competition; you must protect yourselves from it. If you want no more competition, keep your women at home and support them.
Delegate. But that's precisely what we want: "The man in the workshop, the woman in the home."
Thérèse. If the mother is not at home nowadays, it's because the man is in the saloon.
Delegate. The men go to the saloons because they're tired of finding the place badly kept and the supper not ready when they go home, and instead of a wife a tired-out factory hand.
Thérèse. D'you think it's to amuse themselves the women go to work? Don't you suppose they prefer a quiet life in their own homes?
Delegate. They've only got to stay there.
Thérèse. And who's to support them?
Delegate. Their husbands!
Thérèse. First they've got to have husbands. What about the ones who have no husbands—the girls, the widows, the abandoned? Isn't it better to give them a trade than to force them to take a lover? Some of them want to leave off being obliged to beg for the help of a man. Can't you see that for a lot of women work means freedom? Can you blame them for demanding the right to work? That's the victory they're fighting for.