Page:Side talks with girls (1895).djvu/25

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The Social Life of a Girl
13

"fast," or "free and easy," or different from the other girls.

The girl in society who is a bit shy may envy that other girl who is boisterous and rough, who laughs very loudly, who tells and listens to stories and jests that are not quite nice, and who is particularly at ease in the society of men. The shy girl may wish for her composure, but if the shy girl could look into the hearts of the men who are about this girl she would realize that she has no kingdom, and that never for a minute has she been a queen except in her own imagination. Men, when they want comrades, seek other men. What they desire in a young woman is a companion, and one who is totally different from themselves in her ideas and her manner of speech.

IN THE SOCIAL WORLD

You are just beginning to go out; you are twenty years old, and you would like, as is perfectly natural, not only to have the love of women, but the genuine admiration of men. The admiration of all men is not worth having. You believe that you are pleasant to look at, but when you meet strangers you are abashed, the blood rushes to your face, and you don't know what to say. Now a little bit of that is due to self-consciousness; more of it to inexperience.