The Pittsburgh Press (September 21, 1946)
Ferguson: Men the cause of it
By Mrs. Walter Ferguson
A noted psychiatrist says women are 20 percent crazier than men. Never did we doubt it.
We’re crazier because it’s such a strain trying to figure what men expect of us. The gentleman of the ‘80s was head of his house and laid down a few rules for his wife. They included abject obedience and a strict application to household duties.
Today this paragon no longer satisfies the modern husband. His wife must master domestic and maternal arts, and at the same time get herself up to look like Hedy Lamarr when he takes her out. He likes to think that his Little Woman hasn’t a head for figures – just as Grandpa did – yet he expects her to keep a household budget and account for every penny he gives her.
She has to be a good listener when he wants to talk and a sparkling conversationalist if he has friends to impress. She is expected to be a chauffeur, an expert marketer and dietitian, a gracious hostess, a sociable drinker, a swell dresser on what’s left of the housekeeping allowance and a moral guide for the family.
All this, besides holding his wavering affections, is bound to give any woman a split personality, a sure sign of mental illness.
The saner sex also runs our political business as if it were a football game. National fate often hinges upon which demagogs can outshout the other. Men love the game and play it well while lecturing women on civic duty. Now and then they break the monotony with a big bloody war, and ask us to help them. Between times they construct new weapons and think up new ways of adding to the difficulties of living.
It’s now wonder we’re crazy.