Women Waking Neighbors Up
The late 1700s were a time of social progress and reform for women. Women were confined to the domestic sphere and were only given education to pass on to their sons while their daughters were taught domestic necessities. Some women wrote to express their challenges to the patriarchal society and spread more progressive ideals. Judith Sargent Murray and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were two such authors. Murray’s work “On the Equality of Sexes” and Stanton’s works Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences, and the “Declaration of Sentiments” fought for women’s education and against preconceived notions about their place in society. Murray counters stereotypes of women's intellect using four categories and demands educational …show more content…
Women were stereotyped to be inferior to men and had restricted roles in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Only certain actions would suit a lady. Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s founding fathers espoused what he believed these activities should be in his letter to Nathaniel Burwell. “The ornaments too, and the amusements of life, are entitled to their portion of attention. These, for a female, are dancing, drawing, and music” (Jefferson 503). This suggests Jefferson’s view that women should be strictly ornamental and asserts that women’s educations should be confined to these areas. This connects to the notion of republican motherhood. Republican motherhood is the idea that the republic is built by the mother because it is their duty to educate the children, male and female. This is important because the children will grow up and participate in the government by voting, they need an educated citizenry. Jefferson supports this idea when …show more content…
Women were confined to the domestic sphere. Many women were complacent and even enjoyed their role as a homemaker. Catharine Beecher was one of these women and advocated for women to be subordinated to men. “There must be the magistrate and the subject, one of whom is the superior, and the other inferior There must be the relations ... each involving the relative duties of subordination. The superior in certain particulars is to direct, and the inferior is to yield obedience” (Beecher 186). Beecher insinuates that to maintain order in society there must be a filial relationship. This might be fine if a woman chooses to be a homemaker but there is no option to become something else. The reason there is no option is because men demand it. As Gorn writes in Constructing the American Past: “By the early nineteenth century, the role of wife and housekeeper was indeed being upheld as the ideal for middle-class women” (Gorn
The late 1700s were a time of social progress and reform for women. Women were confined to the domestic sphere and were only given education to pass on to their sons while their daughters were taught domestic necessities. Some women wrote to express their challenges to the patriarchal society and spread more progressive ideals. Judith Sargent Murray and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were two such authors. Murray’s work “On the Equality of Sexes” and Stanton’s works Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences, and the “Declaration of Sentiments” fought for women’s education and against preconceived notions about their place in society. Murray counters stereotypes of women's intellect using four categories and demands educational …show more content…
Women were stereotyped to be inferior to men and had restricted roles in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Only certain actions would suit a lady. Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s founding fathers espoused what he believed these activities should be in his letter to Nathaniel Burwell. “The ornaments too, and the amusements of life, are entitled to their portion of attention. These, for a female, are dancing, drawing, and music” (Jefferson 503). This suggests Jefferson’s view that women should be strictly ornamental and asserts that women’s educations should be confined to these areas. This connects to the notion of republican motherhood. Republican motherhood is the idea that the republic is built by the mother because it is their duty to educate the children, male and female. This is important because the children will grow up and participate in the government by voting, they need an educated citizenry. Jefferson supports this idea when …show more content…
Women were confined to the domestic sphere. Many women were complacent and even enjoyed their role as a homemaker. Catharine Beecher was one of these women and advocated for women to be subordinated to men. “There must be the magistrate and the subject, one of whom is the superior, and the other inferior There must be the relations ... each involving the relative duties of subordination. The superior in certain particulars is to direct, and the inferior is to yield obedience” (Beecher 186). Beecher insinuates that to maintain order in society there must be a filial relationship. This might be fine if a woman chooses to be a homemaker but there is no option to become something else. The reason there is no option is because men demand it. As Gorn writes in Constructing the American Past: “By the early nineteenth century, the role of wife and housekeeper was indeed being upheld as the ideal for middle-class women” (Gorn