Docsity
Docsity

Prepare for your exams
Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity


Earn points to download
Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan


Guidelines and tips
Guidelines and tips

The Cult of True Womanhood: Women's Roles in Mid-19th Century America, Schemes and Mind Maps of Religion

The image of the ideal woman in America during the mid-19th century and the societal pressures that enforced traditional gender roles. The essay discusses how women were expected to prioritize their homes and families, with religion being a key component of their identity. The document also touches upon the experiences of enslaved women and working-class women who were unable to conform to these ideals. Furthermore, it highlights the emergence of activist networks and social reform organizations that challenged the norms of true womanhood.

What you will learn

  • How did activist networks and social reform organizations challenge the norms of true womanhood?
  • What impact did the absence of men during wars have on women's roles and lives?
  • What were the experiences of enslaved and working-class women during this time?
  • What were the societal expectations for women during the mid-19th century?
  • How did religion influence women's roles and identities?

Typology: Schemes and Mind Maps

2021/2022

Uploaded on 09/27/2022

albertein
albertein 🇺🇸

4.8

(4)

240 documents

1 / 60

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
The Cult o f Tru e Wom a nhood:
W o m en o f th e M id -n ine tee n th Centu ry
and t h eir Assigned Roles as Reflected in
Con tem p orary W ritin g
By:
Laurie Bonventre
Presented to the Am erican Culture Faculty
at th e U niversity o f Michigan - Flint
in partial fu lfillm e nt of the requ irem en ts for th e
Master of Liberal Studies
in
American Culture
July 2005
First R eader
Second Reader
pf3
pf4
pf5
pf8
pf9
pfa
pfd
pfe
pff
pf12
pf13
pf14
pf15
pf16
pf17
pf18
pf19
pf1a
pf1b
pf1c
pf1d
pf1e
pf1f
pf20
pf21
pf22
pf23
pf24
pf25
pf26
pf27
pf28
pf29
pf2a
pf2b
pf2c
pf2d
pf2e
pf2f
pf30
pf31
pf32
pf33
pf34
pf35
pf36
pf37
pf38
pf39
pf3a
pf3b
pf3c

Partial preview of the text

Download The Cult of True Womanhood: Women's Roles in Mid-19th Century America and more Schemes and Mind Maps Religion in PDF only on Docsity!

The Cult o f True W om anhood:

W om en o f th e M id-nineteenth Century

and th e ir Assigned Roles as Reflected in

C ontem porary W riting

By: Laurie Bonventre

Presented to the American Culture Faculty at the University of Michigan - Flint in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Liberal Studies in American Culture

July 2005

First Reader

Second Reader

Precis

Women of the mid-nineteenth century found themselves in a

unique position brought on by changing social and economic

structures. Technological advances and changes created opportunities

for men to work outside of the home, earning enough money to

support their families without assistance from their wives. This led to

a push for women to stay in the home, as exemplars of four very

important qualities: piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity.

These qualities were extolled through magazines and other writings of

the tim e. There were voices speaking up against this new ideal, but it

lasted intact until the advent of the Civil W ar when it began to change

because of circumstances beyond the control of average Americans.

In some form, however, some of the ideals are still encouraged even

now.

Introduction: The Lady of the House

"Welcome home, dear! Can I get you something to drink or

would you like your pipe? How was your day?"

Settling down into his comfortable leather armchair, the weary

husband replies, "Thanks, honey. A nice dry martini would be lovely.

I am worn out. We had three office meetings this morning and I met

with two new clients after lunch. How are the kids?"

"They are great. Junior got two hits at his baseball game this

afternoon and little Sarah made a finger painting during our craft time

this morning. She says it is a picture of the pony you promised to buy

her for her next birthday." Laughing she continues, "I'm not sure that

we'll be able to find the one she wants, though. The one in her picture

was pink, had a lavender mane and had one horn made out of mother-

of-pearl."

After chuckling good-naturedly, Sarah's fond father says, "That

little minx. What's for dinner?"

"I made your favorite! Beef Wellington with glazed carrots and

my special mashed potatoes. We have cheesecake for dessert!"

"That sounds lovely. Are the kids in bed?"

"They were just exhausted and went to bed about a half an hour

ago. I promised them that I would send you in to kiss them

goodnight."

"All right. Well, I am famished. Shall we eat?"

"I'll have it on the table in no time. You just relax over there

and I'll get everything ready for you."

After sharing smiles, the couple settles down to a nice dinner

and calm evening at home, the husband relaxed in his castle and his

wife happy in her roles as caregiver and nurturer. Of course, her hair

is perfectly styled and her makeup is flawless. As she brings her

husband his after-dinner drink and dressing gown, she is careful to

ensure his absolute comfort. Her job is, after all, to ensure that her

husband, children and home are well cared for and immaculate.

The picture of the young housewife wearing her pearls and

cashmere sweater while cleaning or preparing dinner is an ideal that

one might imagine has permeated American society for ages. Though

it may seem as though it began in the 1950s, this image of the ideal

woman as one who stayed in the home taking care of her husband and

family dates back as far as the beginning of new world settlement.

Chapter 1: True W om anhood in Context

In the beginning of the 19th century, America was changing at a

faster pace than it ever had before. The population was growing

quickly and the physical landscape of the country had more than

doubled with Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The

advent of the industrial revolution was also creating many new jobs

and opportunities for American families. For a country less than fifty

years old, these swift changes brought instability and uncertainty.

American society had to find balance and a center upon which to base

itself. One center was found in the roles women played in the lives of

their families. A modified ideal of true womanhood developed as a

response to a rapidly growing population, expanding frontiers and

industrial developments and the effects they all had on society and the

family.

The population exploded during the first haif of the 19th century.

As the inset table snows, the census of 1820 reported an aggregate

population of 1 0 ,0 8 6 ,0 1 5 (ICPSR 2). By the census of 1850, the

aggregated population had more than doubled to 2 3 ,0 5 4 ,1 5 2 (ICPSR

2). With such rapid growth in population size, established structures

like government bodies and industries had to adapt and expand to fit

the growing needs of the citizenry. Small businesses began to develop

to m eet the requirements of the newly prosperous middle class and

organizations like social and leisure clubs expanded to include new

members.

1820 4,060.379 3,917,920 10,086,

183C 5,481,675 5,311,228 12,785,

184C 7,417.640 7,119,240^ 17,018, 185C 10,166,440 9,687,112 23,054,

Data from Tnter-Umversity Consortium for Political and Social Research, Study 00003: Historical Demographic, Economic, and Social Data: U.S., 1 790-19/0.

Growing industries brought many new jobs which meant that

men no longer had the time or the need to produce many of the things

their families consumed. Since families still used the same goods like

food and clothing, new businesses which included factories, retail

stores and grocers began to develop with the sole purpose of providing

these things. Though there had always been a m arket for them , it had

their standard of living, health and fam ily status.

The change was not only restricted to population size and

economic opportunity. The country was growing very quickly

geographically, as well. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 more than

doubled the country's size and provided vast new frontiers for the

booming population to explore. There was more land for growth of

both farming and industry. Purchased from Napoleon Bonaparte,

Emperor of France, for about fifteen million dollars, the land cost only

a few cents per acre. The new frontier suggested that opportunity was

unlimited.

As men went into the working world and became better able to

earn enough money to support their families, the families no longer

needed to make as many of the items they needed in order to survive.

As a result, some traditional gender roles were altered or became

unnecessary. Women, who had often formed cottage industries and

traded services like cloth-making and sewing with their neighbors,

were told that they no longer needed to do so.

Some women continued to work, however, as women that were

not living in middle-class families with comfortable homes and

gainfully employed husbands had no other choice but to work outside

1 There is very little documentation to clearly define all o f the roles women were expected to fill. However, there is evidence that they often took part in home industry. For example, when women needed to make fabric, one member o f a group would card wool, the next would spin thread and the last would weave the cloth. A ll o f the women received part o f the finished product as payment for their labors (Collins 70-80).

of the home. Although "the urban female labor force included self-

supporting wom en-those who had to work to survive, prostitutes,

vagabonds, and widows" and had included them from the beginning of

colonization, they were not visible as a social group, and were not

distinct in their own right. In the larger cities, women in the working

world were, for the most part, considered to be beyond the pale of

polite middle-class society as they were usually of poor, African-

American or immigrant descent (Weiner 14).

In smaller communities, thousands of white rural women were

able to work, at least on a temporary basis. But unlike the urban

poor, such workers retained a "domestic ideology." These young

women lived in paternalistic structures as either servants in family

homes or in the "pseudo-homes" of boarding houses and mill owned

dormitories (Robinson 4 8 ). Some women lived as domestic assistants

to the ladies of the house for the years between their educations and

their marriages. These women were often seen as surrogate

daughters and used the time spent in employment as a time of

training for the lives they would lead after they married and obtained

families of their own. Social order could be maintained through this

association with a fam ily-like living situation (Weiner 14).

That would change, however, as immigration increased during

the middle of the nineteenth century, and working women found more

competition for the jobs in their communities and the jobs that were

families' comfort and peace. There was no length too great for them

to go if it would better serve their husband and children. Any outside

interests were to be sublimated in deference to home and family. If a

woman became distracted by any activity outside of the home,

whether educational, or otherwise, she was damaging her family.

One early edition of Godey's Lady's Book, known at the tim e as

Ladies Magazine and Literary Gazette illustrates well the jobs assigned

to women. One of the magazine's readers wrote in to the magazine to

ask for advice on how to best influence her husband in positive ways.

Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the magazine, published one of her own

poems to answer this question.

TO THIRZA

The stars o'er heaven are burning bright, And from her urn, of purest light, The moon pours down, on vale and height, Such living beams, That, Thirza, 'tis a glorious night For poet's dreams!

But truth, for once, shall guide my muse, And that sweet silvery theme we'll choose, Which, like the gently dropping dews On summ er flower, Comes o'er the heart, till few refuse Its spell of power.

Luna! thou hast been deemed divine, And now thy beams divinely shine, Yet tem pt they not one wish of mine Abroad to roam, Fool must I be, could I repine, So rich at home.

Yes, rich, but not from India's spoils, Nor yet from Slavery's bleeding toils- Mine is the wealth that care beguiles, Affection's tone, And friendship's soft benignant smiles, These are mine own.

Folly the happy home may spurn, And from its kind endearments turn, and Fashion's glittering trophies earn, And gaily shine; But virtue there will lessons learn, And truths divine.

"Creation's Lord"-his lofty name, Man rides the wave and rules the flame; The sage's patriot's hero's fame Is his alone- Woman may dearer empire claim, The heart her throne.

There she will reign-Man cannot fly The sceptre of her sympathy, He turns to her gentle eye, In joys or cares- His earliest smile, his latest sigh She soothes, or shares.

While men the world's proud places roam, Some search for gold, for glory some; But doubt, disgust, and darkness come And hope would cease, Did they not hail the star of home, That guides to peace.

Then in that Home their all of bliss, That's worth the name of happiness, Will dwell-if faith and friendship kiss, In holy mood; But these are joys the bad must miss, And oft the good:

Yes, oft the good -for nice the part, To strike the chords that thrill the heart; Yet let no jarring passion start

But not the superficial mind, Can pure, domestic pleasures find- When studies, as the hearts, are joined, And calm as even, Thought from each bosom flows refined- Then Home is heaven!

Yet naught so difficult to hit, As the just mean of woman's wit- if shining in proportions fit, Of sense and grace, From Mind's eternal Fountain lit, The world to bless.-

'Tis pleasant as the gales of spring, That waft no cloud of shadowing, But life, and joy, and beauty bring, And mould and warm, While music wakes, and odors fling Their holy charm.

But step not nature o'er-the state That she assign'd us, cultivate; Nor "Rights of W om en," vindicate With logic art- Our empire's surest, longest date Lives in the heart.

Bewildered in the subtle schools, Some master-spirit's simple tools, And not more infidels than fools, Men sometimes dare, To spurn religion's sacred rules, With heaven to war.

But woman-no, it cannot be That she will scoff at piety! From such, even Atheist men would flee- For they would trust To her for love and constancy, Who worshipped "dust!"

Perhaps you are his angel, sent To woo him kindly to repent!

Still use no holy argument To prove each fact; But let him rather yield assent As his own act.

Even should he slight your faith, most dear, Nor aught that's high and holy fear; The mild reproof, the tender tear May yet prevail; A sigh will sometimes win the ear, When sermons fail.

O, knew our sex their m oral power , And would they use that heavenly dower, How short were crime's triumphant hour Or boast of guilt! The forfeiture of Eden's bower Would scarce be felt.

But Luna's beams no more descend, And my dilated song must end- Blest if it teach thee how to blend That charm of life, The mistress gay, the improving friend, The faithful wife.

Hale made little attem pt at subtlety in her poem, adding italics

to emphasize the points she believed were the most significant.

Women of the middle class were to find their joy and fulfillment in the

home where they were all-im portant to their families. They provided

religious guidance and provided for all of their family's physical needs,

as well. This had become even more important in a society dealing

with massive changes at a rapid pace. Society needed a stable base

to rest upon and saw women as the key to maintaining that base. The

pressure that it began to place upon women was strong and extended

to many areas of life, including economic and social.

C hapter 2: The Cult of True W om anhood

The rapidly changing social and economic situations in America

brought altered role assignments for many women but those roles

would have been meaningless if they had not been communicated to

the women that were affected by them. The first step in

communicating the new ideal was to inform women of the traits that it

embodied. According to Barbara W elter, an American History scholar

from the City University of New York, there were four major parts of

this new ideal of womanhood. They consisted of piety or religiosity,

purity, submissiveness and domesticity (W elter 152). "Put them all

together and they spelled mother, daughter, sister, wife-woman"

(W elter 153). These characteristics, which were thought necessary for

all "good and proper wom en," laid the groundwork for a growing group

of middle class women and their families, giving a much desired

stability during otherwise turbulent, quickly changing times (Lavendar

1). These vital qualities were then communicated to women through

magazine articles and editorials as well as in the serialized novels

found in popular magazines.

Religion, or piety, was considered to be the source of strength

for women, the "core of woman's virtue" (W elter 152). Considered to

be a gift from God to women, religion was hers by divine right. Men

were strongly encouraged to choose a pious woman for if she were

that, all other desirable qualities were bound to follow (W elter 152).

Women were warned not to let literary interests or intellectual pursuits

take them away from God and their relationship with Him (W elter

154).

Sarah Josepha Hale an editor at Godey's Lady's Book "spoke

darkly of those who, like Margaret Fuller2, threw away the 'One True

Book' for others, open to error" (W elter 154). She used stories about

women who had done so as "proof that 'the greater the intellectual

force, the greater and more fatal the errors into which women fall who

wander from the Rock of Salvation'" (W elter 154). Religion was "a

salve for a potentially restless mind, an occupation within woman's

proper sphere - the home" (Lavendar 1).

2 Fuller claimed that she had known from childhood that she was not “‘bom to the common womanly lot,’ and she spent her life exploring the territory beyond that ‘lot’” (Mitchell 1). Eventually, Fuller became a leader in transcendentalist circles, a Goethe scholar, the first editor of The Dial, a literary magazine and literary critic (Mitchell 2). She presented her arguments for the rights of women in a witty style that startled her readers and left them unsure as to how to classify her (Von Mehren 3). She said she loved being a woman but was stifled by the limitations that came along with womanhood (Von Mehren 4). Her independence and steadfast determination to follow her own path kept her enmeshed in scandal and gossip for all of her life. She went on to publish several works arguing for women’s rights including Woman in the Nineteenth Century.