Social Reforms in the 19th Century - Report Example

The Cult of True Womanhood and Social Reforms in the 19th Century Introduction Women have been on the forefront of social reforms for centuries now. This struggle started in the 18th Century and peaked in the 19th Century but still the women are not being given the equal treatment they have been lobbying for. The Cult of True Womanhood is an ideology that developed during the early 19th Century and had a great bearing on how women became involved in social reform in that century. It was also crucial in shaping the agenda of women social movements in the late 19th Century. This paper discusses the ideology of the Cult of True Womanhood and examines how it changed the way women got involved in the society. The paper seeks to show how the ideology sparked the zeal for change and how it in the end changed the women’s life for the better. The Cult of True Womanhood The Cult of True Womanhood is an ideology that spruced up in the early 1800s. It is an ideology based on the doctrine of separate spheres. The separate sphere ideology tends to divide the world into many spheres; according to this view the women’s sphere is at home while the men’s is at work. It thus confines women to the private domestic life, while the men in public work life. The Cult of Womanhood advanced the ideas of femininity. According to its proponents, “the woman’s role was to perform domestic duties in her home on behalf of her family,” (Clarke, 152). The ideology was upheld by the women and men in the middle and the upper social classes who are whites. Through this ideology a picture of a “true woman” was painted. The true woman was supposed to stay at home, cook for the family, sew, rear children and take care of her husband. As such, women were not allowed to vote or go to work. They were instead expected to adhere to the 4 virtues that define a true woman. These values were as follows: a) Piety- This virtue demanded that women value religion as opposed to economic and academic endeavors. According to its proponents, religion does not separate the woman from her home unlike being “gainfully employed” or pursuing education. b) Purity- A woman was expected to be pure. Virginity was highly advocated for and treasured. All women were expected to keep it till after marriage. c) Submission- The true woman was supposed to be submissive to her husband. The reason advanced was that the husbands were appointed by God to be the heads and, consequently, are invariably superior to the womenfolk. d) Domesticity- The home was defined as the women’s sphere and so the women were expected to perform the domestic chores. These chores included cooking, sewing, laundry, tending flowers and many others. They were supposed to put their best efforts in making the home a sanctuary to her family. Historical Context The Cult of True Womanhood ideology started and spread in the early 19th Century; from 1800 to 1820s. This was a period immediately after the civil wars and the US economy was recovering, experiencing a boom. As a result, industries started sprucing up and so did associated careers such as industrial managers, doctors, engineers, teachers and many others. It gave rise to a more powerful upper and middle class society. Men started going to work while the women remained at home to take care of the children and the home. This gave the notion that the men were solely responsible for providing for their families. The most significant view, however, was that the world is a harsh place where women cannot survive since they are weak and delicate. The popular opinion was that they should stay in their sphere; the home. In the early 1800s women were not allowed to vote in most of the states, they effectively occupied the legal status of minors. The situation got even worse for married women who were not allowed to purchase and own property; all the family property belonged to the husband. The single women on the other hand could own properties. Finally, “a married woman could not contract without consent from the husband. They could not get out of the marriage via divorce or even create a will without consent from the husband,” (Thomas). In 1810, the percentage of married women in the workforce was a meager 4.5%. This is in contrast to the 40.5% of those women who were single. By 1820 women were already agitated objecting the use of this ideology to support men preferential treatment. They thus sought to institute social reforms to challenge this social exclusion. Impact in Shaping Social Reforms and Agendas As noted earlier, women in the early 19th Century were not allowed to work, pursue education or vote and these were attributed to the Cult of True Womanhood. The ideology was depressive to women since it portrays men as superior to women. But as Clarke observes, “Man is not superior to woman, nor woman to man. The relation of the sexes is one of equality, not of better and worst or higher and lower,” (Clarke, 13). Women, therefore, started movements aimed at bringing the reforms in education, work and voting. Social reforms in Education In education reforms, women were opposed to the idea of not educating the girl child. The few that were getting the education were doing so in largely male-tailored education systems. The girls had to be integrated into the male systems. The proponents for the boys-only education system argued that the woman’s brain is inferior to that of a man in quality. But the women at the time had proof that they can outperform men in the men-dominated field and thus could not see the logic behind being “insulated from the harsh realities” of the world. Clarke concurred: “The presumption is that if a woman, subject to a masculine training, arranged for the development of a masculine organization, can equal man, she ought to excel him if trained by a feminine training arranged to develop a feminine organization” (Clarke, 16) Emma Hart Willard opened the doors for women to pursue education by opening the first institution dedicated to women education and growth- Troy Female Seminary, in 1821. Social Reforms in Economic Activities The Cult of True Womanhood provided that the ‘true woman’ is that who stays at home and take care of her husband and children. However, this proved to be detriment to the womenfolk as many a times they were left without a source of income when the husband passes away. The women activists, therefore, started lobbying for more women to be included in the labor force. Consequently, women are thought to be the change agents that brought about capitalism in the US. As Boydston (183) states in his analysis, “Female wage earners occupy a crucial position in the story of transition to capitalism in the US,” He further states that “Women labor tended to be more flexible than the labor men performed- they were more easily adapted and redeployed to meet the changing needs of household economies,” (Boydston, 186). The women were flexible and more hardworking, rivaling men in performing economic activities. As a result, a brand of new single independent ladies came into being. They made the statement to the society that a woman is just as capable as a man and should not be considered as inferior. Social Reforms in Politics Arguably, the most significant social reforms instituted by the women of the 19th Century came in the field of politics. In the early 19th Century women were not allowed to vote. However, as dissenting voice to the values advanced by the Cult of True Womanhood grew, more states started granting the woman the right to vote. This was the democratic right to influence change in the society by making voting decisions. As Clarke points out, it is not fair to grant voting rights to one sex since “both sexes are bound by the same code of morals, both should feel the duty and have the opportunity, to do their best” in making life decisions (Clarke, 11). The division of the world into spheres had adversely affected women’s power in the society. The granting of voting rights was seen as the main avenue towards attaining equal treatment between men and women in the society. Women such as Abigail Adams, Anne, Hutchinson, and the Grimke Sisters led the challenge against male authority. These ladies were tired of being excluded in the social systems and decision making. They, together with many others, started the first wave of feminism to agitate for the women to be granted the right to vote. They disseminated this message through holding public lectures and publishing booklets and magazine articles. In 1848 they also convened the Seneca Falls Convention where they made a declaration of sentiments. These women claimed that the Cult of True Womanhood was restraining the women from exercising their special moral leadership. A demand for women suffrage was thus born. However, this suffrage was not to be attained in some states until after the turn of the century when in 1920 the 19th Amendment was ratified in the US constitution giving women the social right to vote and hold leadership positions. Conclusion To date, women have not yet fully recovered from the effects of the Cult of True Womanhood. Though the effects are not as severe, they are still viewed as socially weak creatures that should stay at home and do domestic chores. The struggle for social reforms is still ongoing as women seek equal treatment to their men counterparts in all spheres of life. In the end, there should be only one sphere. The Cult of True Womanhood encouraged women to pursue social reforms because it made clear how men, and some women, viewed the womenfolk. The ideology which presented women as delicate and weak was in the long run detrimental to the women and therefore necessitated more radical actions to be taken (Thomas). It is therefore true to state that this ideology sparked the women movements in the 19th Century gunning for social reforms. Work Cited Boydston, Jeanne. “The woman who wasn’t there: Women’s market labor and the transition to capitalism in the United States.” Journal of the Early Republic 16.2 (1996): 183-206. Print. Clarke, Edward. Sex in education: Or, a fair chance for girls. Boston: Houghton Miffling and Company, 2006. Print. Thomas, John. Female education, December 1830. Accessible Archives, December 3, 2012. Web. February 28, 2014. Read More