I have watched young ladies curtsy until their spines ache and speak in whispers to hide their thoughts. They learn that a trembling hand is charm, but I see it only as fear. When I look at children playing without regard for an audience, or the nobility who command money yet move with a stiff, practiced ease, I understand what real dignity looks like. It is not the polished surface that catches the light of a drawing room, but the inner strength that remains steady when no one watches. A woman must stand on her own feet before she can offer herself to another, for dependence breeds weakness and artifice.

Tell me, reader, do you allow your daughters to choose their own path or do you train them merely to please men? If you wish them to be strong, stop teaching them that their value lies in their ability to amuse. Let them read history and philosophy so they may form sound principles on a broad basis. Demand that they cultivate an independence of spirit, for without it, any grace they display is only a mask hiding a fearful soul.