Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Hilda’s Home
A Story of Woman’s Emancipation
PUBLISHER’S PREFACE.
In the order of nature the ideal precedes theactual. In back-woods phrase, “The wind-workmust precede the ground-work.” “The ascent oflife is the ascent of ideals.” Ascent means action,change, involving effort, struggle, aspiration. Aspirationimplies or pre-supposes DISCONTENT.
The author of the story, “Hilda’s Home,”preaches the gospel of discontent—dissatisfactionwith the old, desire for the new. With Ella Wheelershe says,
The author of “Hilda’s Home” preaches thegospel of Freedom—equal freedom, the gospel ofLiberty coupled with responsibility. With Spencershe would say, “Every one has the right to do as hepleases so long as he does not invade the equal rightof others.” With Macaulay, Rosa Graul would say“The cure for the evils of Liberty is more liberty.”Hence she has no fears that under Freedom theHome and the Family would cease to exist, or thatwoman will be less loving and lovable, or that manwill be less manly and honorable. On the contraryshe maintains that only in the soil and atmosphere offreedom is it possible for true womanhood and manhoodto live and flourish.
While devoting considerable space to the subjectof industrial reconstruction, the central aim of“Hilda’s Home” is the emancipation of womanhoodand motherhood from the domination of man in thesex relation. “Self-ownership of woman” may becalled the all-pervading thought of the book nowoffered to the impartial and truth-loving reader.With Havelock Ellis in his “Psychology of Sex,”Rosa Graul would say:
“I regard sex as the central problem of life. Andnow that the problem of religion has practically beensettled, and that the problem of labor has at leastbeen placed on a practical foundation, the question ofsex—with the social questions that rest on it—standsbefore the coming generation as the chief problemfor solution. Sex lies at the root of life, and wecan never learn to reverence life until we know howto understand sex—So, at least, it seems to me.”
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