Patriarchy In The 19th Century

Whether it is now in the 21st century or as early as the 19th century, there was a lot expected from women. Their main roles had always been carrying mothers for their children and loving wives for their husbands. However, where did this idea come from and how did it change throughout the years if they were expected to be goodwives? In a world of patriarchy, how did women find other roles besides domesticity? Women started with barely any rights in the colonial America but as decades went by, more and more women had the courage to impact the nation in their own way. Although domesticity and republican motherhood were the only roles of women in America, some women, like Marry Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Catherine Beecher, Dorothea Dix, and Sarah Grimke, became public speakers, writers, abolitionists, and some other influential role players during the early and mid-19th century.
Women like Marry Wollstonecraft stood out because they refused to follow the typical American woman path. She was the author of “Vindication of the Rights of Women.” This was a response to a French philosopher, Jean Jaquez Rousseau’s ideas about women’s rights. Although she never came to America, her book was published and widely spread among many states. She thought that people will understand her ideas better if she published what she had to say
publicly. During those times, when people strongly believed in “the cult of true womanhood,” it was rare for a woman to stand up for her rights. Wollstonecraft believed that women can still be pious, domestic, and pure; but they needed education. According to her beliefs, if women could get the same education as men did, they would be as smart and “useful” as men. Some people supported in her ideas until they found out that she had a baby from a man that she was not married to. They stopped duplicating her books and refused to read them because she was not a typical goodwife that the society expected her to be.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, another very powerful woman in the history protected women’s rights. In 1848, there was a meeting in Seneca Falls in New York where important people, like Cady Stanton, James Mott, Fredrick Douglass and some other 350 members, decided that women should start to think about their limitations. Cady Stanton who was a popular political writer decided to write an essay on women’s rights. Hence, some married women (deputy husbands) were given separate estates; though, they were not allowed to sell or rent it to someone else. Women’s suffrage began after this convention. This officially marked the beginning of women’s right to vote. Also, there was another movement that slightly changed women’s daily lives. They no longer had to wear corsets over their dresses to have the illusion of a curvier figure. This lead to women’s dress reform because more women dressed differently. They started to wear shorter dresses and sometimes even pants which they were not allowed to wear before, because they did not look as feminine.
Another very significant woman was Catherine Beecher.
A writer who published stories/essays in “Godey’s Ladies Book” about how to keep their homes as beautiful and neat as possible. She was an inspiring woman for many others. The idea of a “goodwife” tuned into a “housewife” around this time, in the early 1800s. She believed in women’s education and that it was their obligation to raise educated children for the future generations. Her guidelines helped many women around the country and she was well respected. Often times, female writers like Beecher, used their pen names because of the restrictions they had for writers in those
days.
Probably one of the most inspiring women was Dorothea Dix whose main focus was on hospital reform. She thought it was necessary to have nurses to take care of the wounded soldiers in the Army; so, under her supervision, young women were trained to become nurses and help soldiers in the frontlines. Hospitals were built, which then gave the idea of orphanages and homes for aged women. More women became interested in becoming doctors but at the time, the feminization of teaching was not as widely known, therefore the health care reform didn’t include as many women as men. However, at some point in time, women were allowed to sit in the back of the classrooms and listen to lectures. The hospital reform saved many lives and Dix was accredited for it. These young women who were being trained to be nurses were supposed to dress in simple, black or brown dresses with no jewelry or nothing that would make them stand out. Though, not many women were as true to their characters as nurses as others. Prostitution was still a huge part of working with men in the Army and those women were called “fallen women.” Hence, Magdalene Society was created in Philadelphia to prevent the reform of prostitution. Moreover, Dix came up with the idea of having separate hospitals for mentally ill people instead of imprisoning them.
Sarah Grimke was a well-known abolitionist. When her father was ill, she took him to the northern part of the country to get him more advanced medical help. There, she attended one of the meetings about anti-slavery movements and she was very inspired by it. When she returned to South, she decided to publicly tell stories about slaves and spread the word about the abolition movement. Even though her father told her that she would either stay in his home and stay quiet or leave if she ever talked about slaves, she was brave enough to have public meetings and teach others about slavery. Meanwhile, there were other women that tried to help, like the Penny Society that would collect money for preachers to travel around the country and spread the word. Those stories were about field and house slaves and how their owners would torture them especially of they tried to run away. The American Anti-Slave Society was also created for the same cause and they would often have meetings to teach and raise awareness about slaves.
Even if it was as big as changing the society’s view of slavery, giving women the right to vote, or as simple as not having to wear corsets, these women impacted others in some way or another. They are some of the important women that should be recognized for their bravery to speak up as a minority in a patriarchal government. Not all women were given the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone or leave the “goodwife” tag behind and demand for their rights. Domesticity and republican motherhood did not stop these powerful women from making changes. Some of them became anti-slavery abolitionists, public speakers, nurses, and influential writers.