A LIBRARY ATTENDANT
All this is now a matter of history, and is recalled only for the purpose of showing the contrast between her former outlook and her present one. Except in a few ultra fashionable communities in the United States, the social position of a woman in business is not affected unhappily by her work. Provided she has the qualities requisite for social recognition and consideration, her business is no detriment. She has the same general opportunities for social recreation that offer themselves to a man of business, and it often happens that her work gives a zest to the enjoyment of such opportunities, unknown to women of idler habits. The writer has in mind, as an example, an engaging young woman who serves most acceptably as attendant in the public library of a western city. Her duties keep her from nine in the morning till six in the evening, but they have not, in the least, obscured her charmingly agreeable personal quality. She is much in demand. The number of her masculine admirers is large enough to excite the envy of many a girl whose father’s bank-account is a large one. The attention she gives to her work seems to impart an added vivacity to her playtime.
BUSINESS IS BUSINESS
Notwithstanding the fact, however, that a woman may enjoy the leisure she has for social demands as much after entering business life as before, she must not carry the little graces and amenities of society into business life. Business is business with a woman as well as a man, and the woman who succeeds in the calling she has chosen is the one who does not attempt to mix its details with matters of a more recreative nature. She must not expect to win favors by any but the straightforward method of doing her work well. The prejudice which so long existed among men against women in business relations was partly caused by the thought that they could never forget that they were women, could never discuss work or business relations on impersonal and rational grounds. The first lesson a woman must learn in making her own way financially is to appreciate the fact that the office, the shop, whatever be her place of employment, is no place for superfluous courtesies. The cultivation of a cool, matter-of-fact, unsentimental way of looking at the work in hand, is the only path to honorable achievement.
GOOD DRESSING IMPORTANT
What a woman wears, cheap moralists to the contrary, is always important. It is especially important in business relations because the impression she creates is, to a considerable degree, dependent upon it. The self-supporting woman, when about her work, should not dress elaborately or conspicuously. Bright colors, jewels, extreme hats should be rigidly barred from her wardrobe. She should be dressed quietly but becomingly, with exquisite neatness and, to a reasonable extent, in the prevailing mode. A quiet elegance in style, care in the manner of putting on her clothes,—these go a long way toward creating the proper appearance for the woman in business. Human nature being as it is, the properly gowned woman of business has a far better chance than the one who is dowdily dressed.