The conditions of the women in the United States during the nineteenth century, woman were basically expected to obey their husbands and pressure the role of housewife. "The Cult of True Womanhood" by Barbara Welter allows a person to understand the life for a woman during this time. Most women write about fighting for women’s right in the nations, where Welter decided to take a different approach. The purpose of “The Cult of True Womanhood” was to educate people about the life of a woman in the 19th century. According to Welter’s article, she provides information about womanhood and the life of domestication with occupation as the ideal housewife.
Welters provide a sufficient amount of information on womanhood in the United States during the 19th century. According to Welters, back in the day women were expected to assume the role of housewife; the men had the role of providing for their family. Women seemed to have been predestined as homemakers. Jokingly, it was thought to be in their blood. In this article Welter mentioned that a woman was expected to be religious in order to be considered a “true” woman. “One reason religion was valued was that it did not take a woman away from her ‘proper sphere,’ her home” (Welter 174). A woman’s life also revolved around their faithfulness to God. Above
…show more content…
“Purity was as essential as piety to a Young woman, its absence as unnatural and unfeminine. Without it she was, in fact, no woman at all, but a member of some lower order” (Welter 175). Welter talks about the way the woman were treated by their spouses, which was not in slightest morally right. According to Welters the wife should never leave and “obey” her husband no matter what the consequences were, even if they were abused, cheated on or
In this essay, we will examine three documents to prove that they do indeed support the assertion that women’s social status in the United States during the antebellum period and beyond was as “domestic household slaves” to their husband and children. The documents we will be examining are: “From Antislavery to Women 's Rights” by Angelina Grimke in 1838, “A Fourierist Newspaper Criticizes the Nuclear Family” in 1844, and “Woman in the Nineteenth Century” by Margaret Fuller in 1845.
For over centuries, society had established the societal standard of the women. This societal standard pictured the ideal American woman running the household and taking care of the children while her husband provided for the family. However, between 1770 and 1860, this societal standard began to tear at the seams. Throughout this time period, women began to search for a new ideal of American womanhood by questioning and breaking the barriers society had placed upon them.
“The Pastoralization of Housework” by Jeanne Boydston is a publication that demonstrates women’s roles during the antebellum period. Women during this period began to embrace housework and believed their responsibilities were to maintain the home, and produce contented and healthy families. As things progressed, housework no longer held monetary value, and as a result, womanhood slowly shifted from worker to nurturer. The roles that women once held in the household were slowly diminishing as the economy became more industrialized. Despite the discomfort of men, when women realized they could find decent employment, still maintain their household and have extra income, women began exploring their option.
However, it introduces the nineteenth century idea of “the cult of domesticity”. Historian Barbara Welter wrote an article on the idea in 1966 that explains this early nineteenth century ideology that a woman 's role at home should focus on: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity (Welter 151). The cult of domesticity roughly breaks down to it being a woman 's duty to be respectfully religious, sexually pure before marriage, accepting of male dominance over women, and the overpowering idea that domesticity will preserve a woman from her own wandering
Prior to the twentieth century, men assigned and defined women’s roles. Although all women were effected by men determining women’s behavior, largely middle class women suffered. Men perpetrated an ideological prison that subjected and silenced women. This ideology, called the Cult of True Womanhood, legitimized the victimization of women. The Cult of Domesticity and the Cult of Purity were the central tenets of the Cult of True Womanhood. Laboring under the seeming benevolence of the Cult of Domesticity, women were imprisoned in the home or private sphere, a servant tending to the needs of the family. Furthermore, the Cult of Purity obliged women to remain virtuous and pure even in marriage, with their comportment continuing to be one of modesty. Religious piety and submission were beliefs that were more peripheral components of the ideology, yet both were borne of and a part of the ideology of True Womanhood. These were the means that men used to insure the passivity and docility of women. Religion would pacify any desires that could cause a deviation from these set standards, while submission implied a vulnerability and dependence on the patriarchal head (Welter 373-377).
Throughout time women have always been seen as the weakest of the genders, while men are seen as superior. The Cult of Domesticity was an ideology society had about women during the nineteenth century. They believed a woman was supposed to be pious, pure, submissive and domestic to be considered a true woman. Some stories that show women in this ideology are The Yellow Wall-Paper, The Storm, and The Story of an Hour. These three stories portray women living under the Cult of Domesticity or at least trying to fulfill it.
Women were confronted by many social obligation in the late nineteenth century. Women were living lives that reflected their social rank. They were expected to be economically dependent and legally inferior. No matter what class women were in, men were seen as the ones who go to work and make the money. That way, the women would have to be dependent since they were not able to go to work and make a good salary. No matter what class a woman was in, she could own property in her own name. When a woman became married she " lost control of any property she owned, inherited, or earned" ( Kagan et al. 569). A woman's legal identity was given to her husband.
Women “were expected to bear children, stay home, cook and clean, and take care of the children” (Cobb 29). They were expected to be weak, timid, domestic, emotional, dependent, and pure. Women were taught to be physically and emotionally inferior in addition morally superior to men. During this time, women were ostracized for expressing characteristics and wants that contradicted those ideals. For women, the areas of influence are home and children, whereas men’s sphere includes work and the outside world” (Brannon 161).
states that men are to work and make money for the family. A woman's goal was to
True Woman or Free Woman? The United States in the mid-19th century held women to a specific standard of behavior that both differs and resembles those of today. “True Womanhood” meant a middle class female was expected to be pious, pure, domestic and submissive. This meant being obedient, selfless, innocent, and motherly.
Before the Women’s Rights Movement women were viewed less than men in every aspect. Pre- Civil War women were viewed as the source of life but viewed less than men intellectually . In the 19th century the ideal women was submissive, her job was to be an obedient, loving wife . There were two important thing that ruled the way that women were treated. One of these was the most important out of the two during this time period this was the Cult of Domesticity, which basically said that women were supposed to do all of the domestic work in a household 3.
The 19th century was a time of male dominance more extreme than has been seen ever since. Dew portrays the woman as a weak and dependent creature that needs to be protected by "the shield of woman", Man. Therefore, she is to be confined to a sphere of her own: Home. This reflects two of the cardinal characteristics of True Womanhood (as defined by men, of course), the ideal woman of this period. Those are submissiveness and domesticity. It was widely believed that women were created inferior to men, and should therefore be commanded "within the domestic circle".
As centuries pass by, generations also pass their traditional values to the next generation. some people still think the way their ancestors thought and believe in what they believed in. During the beginning of 1890 people couldn’t have premarital sex, women had to be the caretaker while men were the breadwinner. During this century, those perspectives have changed, argued Stephanie Coontz, the author of “The American Family”. Coontz believes women should have more freedom and there should be gender equality.
The roles of men and women were clearly defined during the Nineteenth century. Society relied on men to support the women and children, while the women held the responsibility of maintaining the morality of America. Women were judged by four main characteristics: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. According to most literature of the time written by both males and females, a woman without these was nothing, but with them she could attain happiness and power (Welter 102).
The late nineteenth century was a critical time in reshaping the rights of women. Commonly this era is considered to be the beginning of what is know to western feminists as “first-wave feminism.” First-wave feminism predominately fought for legal rights such as suffrage, and property rights. A major hallmark of first-wave feminism is the concept of the “New Woman.” The phrase New Woman described educated, independent, career oriented women who stood in response to the idea of the “Cult of Domesticity,” that is the idea that women are meant to be domestic and submissive (Stevens 27). Though the concept of the New Woman was empowering to many, some women did not want to give up their roles as housewives. These women felt there was a great dignity in the lifestyle of the housewife, and that raising children was not a job to scoff at. Mary Freeman's short story “The Revolt of 'Mother',” tells the story of such a domestic woman, Sarah, who has no interest in leaving her position as mother, but still wishes to have her voice heard in the private sphere of her home. Freeman's “Revolt of Mother,” illustrates an alternative means of resistance for women who rejected the oppression of patriarchy without a withdrawal from the domestic lifestyle.