Culture Of Domesticity: Cult Of Womanhood

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Essay 1: Cult of Domesticity
The Cult of Domesticity, also known as the cult of true womanhood, is a term identifying a 19th century ideology that women’s nature suited them especially for tasks associated with the home. The term first originated in discussions of women’s nature and their proper roles, and became prominent in Western society in the early 1800s. Side effects of this ideology and its views remain part of our gender ideology today. It identified four characteristics that were thought to be central to women’s nature and identity: piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness. This paper will discuss these four characteristics, as well as the implications of this ideology in today’s society.
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Piety is a term which describes the idea that women were more religious beings than men, and were thought to be the moral guardians of the family. Women were thought to be more appropriate for this role because they were supposed to be spiritually pure, and therefore closer to God. Women remained pure because they stayed away from the harsh and degrading environment outside of the home, which was thought to ruin innocence and purity. It was said that moral purity could not withstand the brutality of the world. This idea also implied that, since men were constantly outside of the home and participating in “worldly actions”, they were not as pure as, and therefore spiritually inferior to,

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