Po ya te aes eer o petra See oo ede erat Peers Patiteraes LIBRARY Michigan State University PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due. MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE 2/05 p:/CIRC/DateDue.indd-p.1 COMSERVATION OF HidsRGY IN THB HO Thesis for Degree of liaster of Home Economics. wenn. nQemnnn noe IRA GERTRUDE THOL.PSON IRSLALD wren Bachelor of Science, Michisan Agricultural Collejze, 1900. manne Q anna 1913. THESIS. CONSERVATION OF ENERGY IN THE HOLE; Its Beneficial Effect on the Fauily. First, our definition of energy in its deepest sisnificance, taken from the philosophy of Aristotle: "Actuality; renlization; existence: state of being no lonzer in tne serm but in life". Thus we consider Our problem, not 2s tne mere savin: of footpounds of work, out 3s conserving the vital svark of life itself. To tnis end we must look for enligntenment in botn poetry and practicality. We must apnoroach witn open winds, clean hearts, and strong; hands; for tne way is unaccustomed, and the by=paths are nanye Next, let us decide upon tne meanins of home. Ils it a nouse with its usual equlisinent of furnishin.ss, and time-honored systea of duvies; its ninster, iistress, and their probable offsuring? Or, is it, ina broader, better sense, a home: a living, workinz, inspiration for the best there is in human bein:zs? We naturally choose the latter wnen it is so boldly put before us, and discover that the elewnents of such a hoine cannot be -l1- 400231 summoned in a day or a year; but that sone of tnem must come down the ages; others must be born of endeavor; and still others burst into beinz as the rose unfolds to the warmth of the sun. Thus the deeper we delve into our problem tne greater we learn are its complexities; and in order to consider the conserv2tion of tne ideal we have cnosen, we must presuppose its creation. A word, however, as to the influences th2t tend toward the making of this ideal home, and the perpetuation of its living organism. I once heord a father who scornfully refused his foureyenar-old boy's request for a doll; saying tnat boys should olay with dogs and guns; tnat only little girls should vlay with dolls. The lad was crestfallen and, creeving uo to the nursery, wnen ne thougnt that no one was lookinz, bent over his sister's doll and kissed its rosy cneex. Can we expect an anpreciation of tne sweetness and santity of fatnerhnood wnen we teach boys to scorn tne first instinets ia their innocent cnild play? Then, too, tnere is a tiwe in a boy's life when he takes to clean collars and bright ties of his own accord for the venefit of tne curly heired miss who sits behind him in school; but tae teasing of nis fanily at nome and jeers of school- mates outside will, as a rule, cnenzven and destroy tiis very real boy sentiment, and turn an influence for good into channels of coarseness and vulgsrity. Later, when the growing youtn feels the virility of youn:; inanhood urging nim to exploit his health and strength; God pity the motner or sister wo dis- courages his fads and restrains his natural, whole- some imnvulses; for tne current of the stream will force it on: if tne right way is damued up, it will find anotner wey: too often seeking lower levels for its eesier orogress. The world would be a cleaner place in which to live if motners could only realize tnat their sons might better be killed by tne cnerisned autosodile or drowned from tne coveted canoe than drift into 2a life tnat is not only a shane and a sorrow to tneir fanilies but also a menace to themselves and ell they stend for in reletion to Hhumanitye “Ye must not repress Nature's forces; we must harness tnem. We inust study tne needs of the fatners of tne race and, by sudstitution of healtti-q ful exercise and interesting orojects, lead Nature to fulfillment in tne sagnificence of ner strength, ratner than force her to the ignominy of weakness. Ages of prudery and convention have established = traditions of life in tne isinds of women, rather than actual knowledse, even in the face of exverience. They have believed to be true what preceeding senerations nave told them, end few have dared to question the vital s issues or to seek new interpretations of tseir own enotions. ‘This is a problem in itself deeply signifi- cant to tne building and perpetuation of tne ideal home. To this end .sust the education of girls and woinen be considered, not only the trai::ing of tne mind and tne perfection of the body, but a clarifying of the sex soul too long steeved in tne suverstition of fatality. This soecalled “woman's iot" should be glorified in its »vossibilities for triumph rather than its probabilities of martyrdom. Our sreatest fault in tne training of girls from childhood seans to have its root in our own ignorance of tne meaninz of little thinss, our failure to get the child's point of view, Secrecy, suppression of facts, wilful misinterpretations on our pert lead to miscihievious curiosity and, in the end, to misinforn- ation, estabdlis:in.; false ideas, cheap senti:nents, and a wholly distorted view of the iiost sacred association of human lives. In its first inclination the matings instinct of girls shnovs itself only in the silly, romantic desire for wudiuiretion, attention, and caresses. Tneir ideas are vet:.ered from cooks, pleys, picture snows, and tre exseriences of olcer cirls told in tne usuel conventional ter:ss where the story ends "When they sot mcrried end lived happy ever cefterwerd." Beyond that tie maiden mind must not vresuine to ~o.e. The gre:.tuystery of iife and centn remains 2a mystery to millions of women even cfter tneir children ere born. "It is a woman's Lot crid i.ust be sorne, if not with forti- tude, et leswst with resiensation." These women, throvugn no fault of tzelr own, are only helf hunan; Their lives sre dreb end ineffectunl; Their cnildren «re not born of love wut of Submission to an inexorzoie fute. Risr scnool and colie;e courses for ,irls snould be planned to ericoursc#e and develop onysical perfecte jon and mental poise. Girls must h:ve experiences thet will teach tiem to tnink. They must have initiative end voractical trainin; in business tran- sactions. They should be teugnt to understend and use conmon forms of vanking, transferring of property, insurance policies, #diuinistration of wills end deeds, end, above all, shoulca be drilled to « fine sense of honor in business as well as in personal relations witn other Numan beings. Our social fabric is very freil end thin in tnis one quality of womennood. Girls who fib 2nd resort to tricks to ».in tl.eir enads wlll grow uy to ve vomen who cheat at ganes and lie to their desrest friends, believing tneu- selves to te wise end clever. Our double stondard of morality demands, of the :znin, that nis word snell be 2s sood 28s nis bond and, of tne worsen, tnat no breeth oF sus:icion snall rest against her fidelity Or virtue. Hither may sin with lipunity esainst the sex law of tne other. “hen the time comes for a youn, wonan to plan 2 heme, let rot her eyes be blinded witn too much fine sewing, vut rether be opened to the beauty and truth of the power sne holds in tne hollow of her hand. Let there be no mystery Or misunderstanding about the s:eanins of merriegee Youth should meet it with smiles and ar.ws full of resese “Wut wnen e girl hes been humped over fine sewins for months, tnen rushed tnroush a season of sccial events, end torn to shreds vy dressmakers and tailors, what has she left of strength or spontaneity with which to mest the greet edventvure?