Carrie Law Morgan Figgs, "Why Slight the Working Girl?" (1920)
I wish some one would tell me
Why the working girl is slighted?
She may be as good as Virgin Mary,
But to grand affairs she's not invited.
She works for an honest living,
She appears both clean and neat,
But when the (so-called) best men meet her
They snub her on the street.
They'll see her coming up the street,
They'll stare her in the face,
Perhaps they'll speak,
But to lift their hats they consider it a disgrace.
Every girl hasn't had the same chance,
Some come from humble homes,
But they are just as pure and womanly
As queens upon their thrones.
Does it make her any smaller
Because she must work and face the world ?
If her character is good, don't slight her
Because she's a working girl.
Ofttimes she is a jewel,
Sometimes a valued pearl,
Just give her a chance to prove it,
And don't slight her, because she is a working girl.
Published in Poetic Pearls, 1920