On Men and Women: Partially Relevant

Who is to blame? The woman,
Just for being there
Simple and human?
The man who wants to look at her,
And slightly turns his chair,
And as he likes will watch her faintest stir?

I wonder if he guesses
How his causal stare
Stabs and oppresses

The woman dreads to raise her eyes

Or even touch her hair;
All seems a pose to which his gaze replies.

The thing is hardly level:
Woman, if you glance
You’re called a devil;
For hours he tempts you and you endure
Behold the world advance:
You’re paying now for Cleopatra’s lure.

(Nettie Palmer, In The Concert Hall, 1914)