ABSTRACT
Public feeling on the matters is indeed changing; but as a whole the ideals of the man-made family still obtain. This chapter considers the growth of the family in humanity; what is its rational development in humanness; in mechanical, mental and social lines; in the extension of love and service; and the effect upon it of this strange new arrangement—a masculine proprietor. The error is that this great social instinct, calling for full social exercise, exchange, service, is considered masculine, whereas it is human, and belongs to boy and girl alike. The petty despot of the man-made home is hindered in his humanness by too much manness. A normal home, where there was human equality between mother and father, would have a better influence. The effect of this on the woman has been inevitably to weaken and overshadow her sense of the real purpose of the family; of the relentless responsibilities of her duty as a mother.
