American Motherhood Ideals

Women’s right has been a problem throughout the nineteen century. Women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were women's most significant professions, in the 19th century; however, women won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities. Women were long considered naturally weaker than men. Prior to the American Revolution the women were viewed as weak and unable to perform hard work. Also, women place were the house, take care their children, clean the house, organized the house, cook, and take care animals. During the American Revolution many women faced a lot problems because they

The Role Women Played in the Social Reform Movements of the Antebellum Period Comprehending the lives of American women and their roles is fundamental for understanding the entire antebellum period in America. The period 1820 to 1870 in the United States was marked by a forceful and widespread debate on woman's roles and their proper vocation whether this be in the home or outside the home and becoming wage earners. This was, however, still a time in which females were encouraged to be pure, dutiful, domestic and compliant by men and the government. On the other hand, due through this, the evident truth was ignored that was that women’s roles were steadily beginning to reach outside the family and

The new republic of the 1830s-1850s was a society that devalued the role of women. By comparing men and women against each other, giving men a superior status, making their differences more evident, and allowing men to demand more rights, to think and do freely, this society has been created to view women as less than. Women are viewed as the weaker vessel and property to their father, or husband that need to be protected and should be wifely, child bearing, motherly and dedicated to their homes instead of viewing women as their own beings.

Sentimentalism in marriage changed the idea of the marriage between man and woman from one that was traditional and gave men the ownership of a woman to a more loving, compassionate marriage. Around this time, Republican Motherhood, the idea that women were responsible for bettering the future of society through raising children, became popular. During the Second Great Awakening in 1820, women began to hold more authoritative roles. Through religious roles in the Second Great Awakening, women found opportunities in church-sponsored academies. The right of education became more and more popular as women stepped into society and out of the home. Women activism proved successful after the Civil War. In 1920, the 18th amendment, suffrage for women, was brought into society. With suffrage, women would continue to lead themselves into an empowerment many had never seen before. From the 1700s to modern day society, women have held more of an equal role in society with the rights of suffrage, education, and reproductive rights given to them through Roe V. Wade in 1973, which aided women in their transition into the professional world. Although women hold a more equal stance than in 1700, there is still a subtle, more “invisible” subordination present, negatively effecting women in America.

"Motherhood is a great honor and privilege, yet it is also synonymous with servant hood. Every day women are called upon to selflessly meet the needs of their families. Whether they are awake at night nursing a baby, spending their time and money on less-than-grateful teenagers, or preparing meals, moms continuously put others before themselves and enjoy doing their jobs as mothers." (Stanley) . According to Betty Rollin 's essay, "Motherhood: Who Needs It?", Rollin argues that mothering, preconceived as a biological necessity, is in fact, a psychological desire. Rollin quotes psychiatrist Dr. Richard Rabkin: "Women don 't need to be mothers any more than they need spaghetti... But if you 're in a world where everyone is eating spaghetti, thinking they need it and want it, you will think so too." (Rollin 102) Although one 's society may have the power to influence his or her eating habits, a mothers desire to have children is an entirely different issue. Many women often want to have children and go through motherhood because of social pressure, to please their spouse, and to be "happy".

The term Republican Motherhood is not misleading; women during the revolutionary war raised their family to be patriotic towards the republic. They attended social gathering and conversed with and influenced politicians from around the world. Women involved with the Republican Motherhood were just as important in building this nation to what it is as the men were.

Before the generation, American women as improved their educational standing , to secure additional legal rights, and acquired greater access the manufactured by the 1800’s. Women had participated outstanding in the religious revivals known the second Great Awakening and the swept across the floor. The result of the religion , american women mostly north became involved in numerous reforms efforts, including temperance, the abolition of slavery, the colonization of former slaves, and important of poisons. But majority of american women still led daily lives that to focused on their family, household, gardens and crops. The night before the war , most women in the U.S. lived in rural areas and regularly performed exhausting, physical work and around the homes.

The American Revolution, which happened during the last half of the eighteenth century, reshaped many aspects of life in America. The desire of the Founding Fathers to make America a republic played a very significant part in changing the role of women after the Revolution. The role of women as wives became more important as an emphasis on virtue was established; women were encouraged to find virtuous husbands and utilize their seductive nature to keep men virtuous. The roles of women as mothers also became more important in the republic, as patriarchy loosened and mothers were depended on to educate their children in the republican way. And finally, the role of women in politics was theoretically reduced due to the increasing demands of

Women’s role in the family before 1815 was based around the idea of Republican Motherhood. Republican Motherhood is the idea that children should be raised to uphold the ideals of republicanism, making them the ideal citizens of the new nation. Mothers were obligated to raise “perfect Americans”. With this belief being enforced by the males, it was impossible for the females to have the

The ideals by the Republicans which came into the limelight after the Revolutionary War would set into motion a revolution not just in the United States but in many countries across the world. Linda Kerber’s ‘Women of the Republic’ is a demonstration of the paradigm shift in relation to the US social and political structures after the American Revolution. Kerber observes that not only did the war provide more opportunities to women but also set a platform for women to chart the way forward politically. This important role is what came later to be known as the Republican Motherhood. The concept of Republican Motherhood demonstrates the important role that woken played politically in addition to attending to their traditional roles of domestic responsibility.

The common belief was that women belonged in the home, cooking, cleaning, doing housework, and taking care of the children. They were not allowed to vote and when married, could not own property, write a will or keep the money they earned, to name a few restrictions. Politically, women wanted to be equal to men. Domestic Industry suggested that women could work and develop their minds and the Market Revolution allowed women to work in factories, but not much changed because they were paid less, and when they married they were required to do to household chores (Doc 5). Economically, the Lowell System allowed women that were not slaves to work in factories, so they could maintain the idea that they were equal to men (Doc 7). Men fooled women into believing that they were in control of their own lives by allowing them to work if they so desired, however, those positions were in no way permanent for them in

Women from all over the world have been faced with many difficult problems since the beginning of time. Women in the past have had to fight for their rights of education, freedom, sexual choices, and their freedom to work. Women today still face problems because of their gender, but times are slowly but surely changing. Before the Revolution women had no say in any activities they participated in. Women had to obey their husbands, give them sex whenever they wanted, had no choice over reproductive patterns, were strictly in charge of taking care of the house and children, and were not allowed to leave the homestead. Joan R. Gundersen argues that the women of the American Revolution gained more than they had lost. She believed at that time the greatest changes appeared enhancing the lives of everyday women.

During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women’s efforts during the 1800’s were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women’s place in society.

During World War II and shortly after, millions of American women experienced new freedom as they lived and worked in the public sphere due to the federal government’s campaign to recruit them to produce goods for the war effort. This new rhetoric directly differed from traditional ideology of republican motherhood and paternalism in which the man is the head of the household, works in the public sphere, and women live in the private sphere instilling virtue into the children while maintaining the household. With the United States’ immediate entrance into the Cold War following World War II, came a dramatic right shift in American politics and rhetoric. This included a return to republic motherhood in which political discussions and the media, through shows like “Father Knows Best”, encouraged women to express their patriotism by staying at home and raising families. Naturally, this right shift led to the continuance of discrimination based on gender. The National Organization of Women (NOW), an organization of the New Left, challenged such discrimination. The organization’s 1966 Statement of Purpose states, “The time has come for a new movement toward true equality for all women in America, and toward a fully equal partnership of the sexes, as part of the world-wide revolution of human rights now taking place within and beyond our national borders… The time has come to

At the end of the 18th century and during the 19th century, there were many changes to public ideology that affected the way that women perceived their roles in society. Prior to these changes, women had adopted the beliefs of separate “spheres” separating work into public life and their duties as mothers at home1. Women stayed at home to take care of the children and provide a warm, welcoming home for their husbands to take refuge from public life. Women became aware of their lack of legal and political power after the American Revolutionary War ended as they were denied the right to the same freedoms that granted the right to vote to the white, property-owning male population2. Despite granting women more liberty to run businesses, farms,