"Girlsterousness" is the excess attendant on that virtue, the shadow which
accompanies that light. It is more visible in England than in France, in
America than in England.

It is to be observed, that, if a girl wishes to be noisy, she can be as
noisy as anybody. Her noise, if less clamorous, is more shrill and
penetrating. The shrieks of schoolgirls, playing in the yard at
recess-time, seem to drown the voices of the boys. As you enter an evening
party, it is the women's tones you hear most conspicuously. There is no
defect in the organ, but at least an adequate vigor. In travelling by rail,
when sitting near some rather underbred party of youths and damsels, I have
commonly noticed that the girls were the noisiest. The young men appeared
more regardful of public opinion, and looked round with solicitude, lest
they should attract too much attention. It is "girlsterousness" that dashes
straight on, regardless of all observers. Of course reformers exhibit their
full share of this undesirable quality. Where the emancipation of women is
much discussed in any circle, some young girls will put it in practice
gracefully and with dignity, others rudely. Yet even the rudeness may be
but a temporary phase, and at last end well. When women were being first
trained as physicians, years ago, I remember a young girl who came from a
Southern State to a Northern city, and attended the medical lectures.
Having secured her lecture-tickets, she also bought season-tickets to the
theatre and to the pistol-gallery, laid in a box of cigars, and began her
professional training. If she meant it as a satire on the pursuits of the
young gentlemen around her, it was not without point. But it was, I
suppose, a clear case of "girlsterousness;" and I dare say that she sowed
her wild oats much more innocently than many of her male contemporaries,
and that she has long since become a sedate matron. But I certainly cannot
commend her as a model.