The Cult Of Womanhood By Barbara Welter

During the Antebellum age of America, new values and ideals began to arise. These ideals were reflected in the households of middle class citizens and grouped together to create the “Cult of Domesticity.” The cult helped form the foundation of female inferiority in the male dominated society. As “slaves” to the home, women were to uphold morals that were no longer relevant in the new industrialized world. The ideas that led to this treatment of women were drawn from religion, “scientific studies”, and the Industrial Revolution.

This article from “The Real Truth about the Female” by Barbara Ehrenreich targets many beliefs that women were underestimated. The main theory suggested in this document is that, women had to follow the traditional duties. Early theories are being questioned as a result to women proving many things over the years that were often overlooked. Ehrenreich states in his article, “it does strongly suggest that in the Stone Age family, Dad-the-hunter was not the only provider.” There is a great amount of evidence that suggest the theory that women worked as hard as men. Adrienne Zihlman and Nancy Tanner stated “among surviving “hunting” peoples, most of the community’s calories—up to 70%—come from plant food patiently gathered by women.” This fact

The United States of America gained a large reputation of equality and social democracy. This was much better at the time than Europe which had less opportunity and was much harder to rise in social status unlike the United States. Although, an entire section of the United States population was cut off from these great improvements and those were women. After the revolution, “republican Motherhood”, the vision of women passing on knowledge to the youth was put on hold in the United States society. The “Cult of Domesticity” had taken women back to their homes to just not do work outside of home. Many people embraced the “Cult of Domesticity” and Republican Motherhood” in order to be apart of a ideal American motherhood. Although, blacks or even lower class women were unable to achieve this because of either economic or public restraint. Educated women that were in the middle or high class had a hard time moving up social class and slaves were often separated from their families holding them away from all of that. A Reformer in (doc 4), Margaret Fuller, is trying to have social and economic equality but it is held back by the “Cult of Domesticity” and “Republican Motherhood”.

Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but since technological and medical advancements in the area of hormones and brain functions it was just called shell shock syndrome. The treatment plan was known for two portions seriously: the rest and the seclusion. Those who were prescribed the rest cure were confined to bed for weeks to months at a time and completely cut off from family members and friends. However, this treatment of confining patients to their beds and cutting them off from family members was mainly used for women. On the other hand, men who were prescribed the rest cure were given two options: “to rest or to travel to remote areas and undertake rugged, outdoors life”. Dr. Mitchell was influenced by the ideas of the 19th Century also known as “The Cult of True Womanhood”. According to the “Cult of True Womanhood” in order to be a “true

The next requirement for being a “true woman” was submissiveness. According to society men were superior to women by “God’s appointment.” If they acted otherwise they “tampered with the order of the Universe” (Welter 105). A “true woman” would not question this idea because she already understands her place. Grace Greenwood explained to the women of the Nineteenth Century, “True feminine genius is ever timid, doubtful, and clingingly dependant; a perpetual childhood.” Even in the case of an abusive husband, women were sometimes told to stay quiet

During the middle of the nineteenth century, a so-called "cult of domesticity" arose in the United States and Great Britain predicated upon a number of assumptions regarding the proper role of women in society, and it served to protect male hegemony during a period of historical upheaval. According to Godey's Lady's Book, one of the most successful magazines of the period, "the perfection of womanhood... is the wife and mother, the center of the family, that magnet that draws man to the domestic altar, that makes him a civilized being... the wife is truly the light of the home." A woman's appropriate role was that of a wife and mother, and they were expected to follow certain cardinal virtues that contributed to the perpetuation of this role, which formed the basis of the cult's ideological work. The cult of domesticity was an ideological construct which served to support the dominant authorities of the time, and only by examining the cult of domesticity (and the "angel of the house" which served as its focus) as points of intersection between religious, political, and economic power can one begin to understand how the role of women in the nineteenth century was regulated in response to historical developments that threatened male hegemony, namely, nationalist anxiety following the American Revolution and the ascendance of capitalism as the overarching political and economic structure.

Author Barbara Welter in her article, The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860 discusses what one may argue is true womanhood and why it is necessary for woman of society. There are multiple ways that one may look at Welter’s text, the first, being within the time frame that it was written, and what it says about society at the time the text was written. The other, is out of context and discussing it as a whole within the feminist movement.

In antebellum America there was little tolerance for autonomous women. Usually females, spanning all classes, were attached to households, dependent on males for status and wealth. Society demanded that domesticity be the woman’s domain, any deviations from this constricting edict was met with disdain. The cultural myth of the model genteel women permeated the fabric of 19th century life. However, with the advent of the Civil

Women in America in the late 1800’s were treated poorly because they did not have any rights to an education or equal marriage, and they eventually started to refute back to overcome the stereotypes men gave women. Women started going to college, getting divorces, and taking stands against men for their rights. The late 1800’s for women was a life changing time. Women were fighting against what society holds of them. “At the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, there was a Women's Building that displayed items of art, crafts, and inventions by women; this represented an early achievement in the feminist struggle for suffrage and equal rights” (Manning 2013). Women were not just stay at home mothers and housewives. They represented that they can make something of themselves just as men do.

In the 18th century wealthy families invested in their sons education, however the only purpose women served was to learn how to be suitable wives. A women that was well educated was strange, and not suitable for marriage. Puritan women in the Massuhtushes bay colony could not participate in ordinary town meetings. They were viewed as instruments of Satan, and the children belonged to their father. If any child was disobedient he/she could receive ten lashes. Hum! What does this remind us of. Married women where not allowed to posses property, sign contracts, or conduct business. If widowed as well as not remarried they could own property, and conduct business. Women found guilty of immodest dressing where

This article discusses the changing role of women in America during the 1920s. It talks about the transition in the role of women from their wartime jobs during WWI to their jobs in their homes working as housewives. The article also describes the new norm of women that says women should be nurturing their own children in contrast to women who would hire nursemaids to care for their children. Moreover, the article also describes the new view of women as the topic of sex became less taboo during the 1920s. This article was retrieved from a reputable online database, Explora, but is originally found in the book Failure is Impossible by Martha E. Kendall. In addition, the book this article is found in was published in the 21st century, which contributes

Thesis: A “true women” in the 19th Century was one who was domestic, religious, and chaste. These were virtues established by men but enforced and taught by other women. Women were also told that they were inferior to men and they should accept it and be grateful that someone just loved them.

The first half of the 19th century characterized evolvement of women’s roles within the society areas touching on occupational, moral as well as social reform. Various efforts resulting from factory movements, reforms on social issues as together with women rights movements led to realization of women aims and realization of foundations (Kessler-Harris 67). The changes of roles of women within the American society serves as a major representation of change in contemporary culture as the traditional perceptions perceived women as only limited to household roles. The change presents a significant value to women across different societies throughout the world as it served as a reference point for the changes

Women during the 19th century were held up to four virtues of a true woman: “Piety, Purity, Submission and Domesticity.” Piety was valued because religion did not disrupt the roles of women, and the church is an intuition that instills gender ideologies. The purity of a woman is her greatest assets and shows commitment to their future husbands. Women were to be submissive to their husbands as men to God and lastly, a proper place for a woman was her home. The home is the center of the family where children and men alike, are taken care of, along with any other household duty. Other characteristics that describe women were soft, weak and passive. However not all women were subjected to the same standards across the U.S. The upper and middle classes have been submitted to these virtues more so than the lower or working class. Nor was women in the South, whose “slave mastery and patriarchal

Simone De Beauvoir in The Second Sex suggests that to resolve the tension between bad faith and authenticity, people must regard women as subjects and not objects. They must also collectively fight against the idea of womanhood in order to remain authentic to themselves.