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University Daily Kansan Wednesday, March 13, 196.
The American Woman Has Marriage Worries
WASHINGTON—(UPI) — Fifteen and 45 are two critical ages for the American woman. At 15 she begins to worry about whether she will get a husband. At 45 she starts worrying about whether she is losing her looks and her husband.
The U.S. Census Bureau has put into cold figures the odds in the matrimonial sweepstakes. Without carrying every figure to the last decimal point, here are the marriage prospects for American women:
UNTIL SHE REACHES age 24 the odds are nine to one in favor of her getting married eventually. At 25 and 26 they drop to a little better than seven to one. The odds decline until age 31 when it becomes a fifty-fifty bet. At 40 the odds fall to four to one against her and at age 50 they are almost 16 to one.
The magic age seems to be 23. Any American girl reaching that age can be cheered by the fact that she has one chance in five to be married within a year. In 10 years her chances will drop to about one in 15.
The impulsive things that women write and say support the cold statistics. Almost every American newspaper carries letters seeking counsel and advice, and 80 per cent of them come from women. Miss Mollie Mayfield of the United Feature Syndicate gets about 12,000 letters a year; teen-age girls and women past 40 write a high percentage of them.
OUT OF THIS wilderness of gray hair, sagging chin and lost waistline there has emerged a sort of goddess whom many American women either envy or applaud. She is Mrs. Rudolf Sieber, married 39 years ago and now a grandmother. For the purposes of her public appearances she uses the name, Marlene Dietrich.
Miss Dietrich is an actress-singer with a voice that will never cause her to be summoned to the Metropolitan Opera and an acting range that sometimes seems to be limited to the provocative arching of an eyebrow.
Yet she is in constant demand for appearances all over the United States, Europe and South America, and the fact of the matter seems to be that she is making a career by growing old gracefully.
HER FACE IS unlined, her figure has the approximate proportions it did 30 years ago, her classic legs are international institutions and she faces the dread age of 60 and sell-out audiences in Las Vegas, London and Paris with the same calm confidence. Almost every article written about Miss Dietrich manages to include Shakespeare's eloquent tribute to Cleopatra: "Age cannot wither her nor custom stale her infinite variety."
Her secret is not easy to come by. Thousands of words have been written about her, and she has recently put out a book of her own. But nowhere is there a recipe or formula to produce instant agelessness, and the suspicion must be entertained that maybe there is no secret.
Spring fashions will be modeled at a fashion show at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, in the Kansas Union ballroom.
Fashion to Be Shown In Spring Prevue
The fashion show is sponsored by the University Women's club and the University Newcomer's club. The show is the ninth annual presentation.
Mrs. Betty Broat will be the fashion show narrator.
Mrs. Edward Smissman and Mrs. Monte Johnson are in charge of the arrangements.
Admission is $1.
Cars Feature Female Touch
CHICAGO — (UPI) — The woman's place may be in the home, but she also plays an important role in the styling and engineering of American automobiles.
One automobile president put it this way:
"BECAUSE OF THE AMERICAN woman, each year's automobiles become driver-proof, easier to handle, contain more safety features and have more elegant appointments."
Auto executives pay close attention to women's suggestions and incorporate many ideas in the new models because woman plays a deciding role on what kind or type of car to buy.
Stevens said that in the past, the family car was purchased by the man "who based his selection on his private and expert knowledge of seven bearing crankshafts, horsepower, gear ratios and other things."
But women, unlike years ago, now drive the family car as much as their husbands. And they want a voice in what kind of car the family gets.
Sorority, Dorm Parties Planned This Spring
Women's organized houses are planning a series of parties guaranteed to take the fellows' minds off studies for an evening.
Lewis and Hashinger Halls will host a formal dinner-dance May 4. The banquet will be at Hashinger and the dance is scheduled at Lewis.
CHI OMEGA sorority plans to have its spring formal at a Kansas City hotel April 27. Decorations will be spring flowers.
May 11 is the date the women of Delta Gamma sorority have chosen for their annual pinaforte party. The women wear full skirts and pinafores. Their dates wear short pants and sailor hats.
The dance will be held in the house dining room. Decorations probably will follow a nautical theme.
Theta sorority. Delta Delta Delta sorority is planning an informal get-together March 29. The occasion will be a western party with guests wearing blue jeans and other western attire.
Spring will be the occasion for another formal dance on campus. Sellards scholarship hall has planned its formal party for May 4.
Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi sororities have named March 24 as the date for their Monmouth Duo, a party to celebrate their founding. Both sororites were founded at Monmouth, Ill. The Kappa Kappa Gamma women have invited their dads to campus for father's weekend March 22.
Women are the baggage of life. They are troublesome and hinder us on the Great March. — Sir John Suckling