Too Lady-like to Attract Men?

Idealized images of the ultimate “lady-like women,” shopping for gloves in a 1906 Ivory soap advertisement.

TOO LADYLIKE?

We note that the new coffee club is to have “no smoking” rule; also that dominoes, crokinole, and like ladylike games are to be provided. We don't know much about coffee clubs and perhaps our advice is foolish; but we do know a great deal about the sort of men who hang around saloons, and if it is the purpose of the coffee club to attract these men it is our opinion that the less ladylike and Sunday-schooly its atmosphere, the better. 

These men will not go where they are not comfortable. Most of them like to smoke a pipe and those of them who do not would feel uncomfortable in a place where it is forbidden. They may not care much to play cards, but they would feel more comfortable if card-playing were permitted and some of them might be kept from gambling if there were a decent place available to play cards without gambling. 

Even a rule against swearing, if enforced very strictly, would make the place uncomfortable to men to whom an occasional “damn” is part of their daily vocabulary. If these are the men that are wanted, and if there is any serious purpose to compete with the saloons in providing a pleasant and comfortable meeting place, it would be a mistake to enforce Sunday school morals or church-parlor manners. If this is not the purpose, of course that is a different matter. A ladylike: coffee club doubtless has its uses. But it will not keep anybody away from the saloons.– Fresno Republican, 1906

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