The 19th century was a period of change for women of all classes and ethnic backgrounds. As the nations economy grew and changed so to did the roles that women had grown accustomed to during colonial times. Middle class Americans had rising incomes, expectations, and living standards (Woloch, 2002, p. 71). While for the working-class, employment was precarious and only a thin line separated the “respectable” or “worthy” poor from the destitute (Woloch, 2002, p. 95). The Doctrine of ‘women’s sphere’ reflected changes in these middle class home (Woloch, 2002, p. 71).
With the emergence of a middle class in the early 19th century, “home” became a private retreat from the world and a refuge from commercial life, where women stepped into roles once …show more content…
The doctrine of sphere, as expounded in the Ladies magazine and other publications, celebrated the new status of the middle class woman, along with her distinctive vocation, values, and character (Woloch, 2002, p. 72).
Middle class women were expected to devote themselves entirely too family life, to the “chaste circle of the fireside” and to maintain an alternative world with separate values (Woloch, 2002, p. 72). Only with substantial support could a married woman adopt the nonproductive role once reserved for the wealthy; few women could completely escape either home production or physical work. Middle class women and those who aspired to that status remained active albeit unpaid contributors to the family economy through household labor (Woloch, 2002, p. 72).
According to popular literature of the time, the doctrine of woman’s sphere encompassed a now important social institution, the home, which linked all women together in a valuable vocation—domesticity and child rearing (Woloch, 2002, p. 73). In traditional society household work and child rearing had never drawn much notice, but by the early 19th century they were gaining social significance (Woloch, 2002, p.
With the emergence of a middle class in the early 19th century, “home” became a private retreat from the world and a refuge from commercial life, where women stepped into roles once …show more content…
The doctrine of sphere, as expounded in the Ladies magazine and other publications, celebrated the new status of the middle class woman, along with her distinctive vocation, values, and character (Woloch, 2002, p. 72).
Middle class women were expected to devote themselves entirely too family life, to the “chaste circle of the fireside” and to maintain an alternative world with separate values (Woloch, 2002, p. 72). Only with substantial support could a married woman adopt the nonproductive role once reserved for the wealthy; few women could completely escape either home production or physical work. Middle class women and those who aspired to that status remained active albeit unpaid contributors to the family economy through household labor (Woloch, 2002, p. 72).
According to popular literature of the time, the doctrine of woman’s sphere encompassed a now important social institution, the home, which linked all women together in a valuable vocation—domesticity and child rearing (Woloch, 2002, p. 73). In traditional society household work and child rearing had never drawn much notice, but by the early 19th century they were gaining social significance (Woloch, 2002, p.