It is difficult for me to write about women’s rights because I am not a woman and have never had to deal with the type of inequality that women faced in the nineteenth century. I think the key to really understanding and loving history is to draw a personal and emotional connection with the events. I guess I’ll just have to use my imagination this time.
From the beginning of the colonial period of American history, women always filled a very necessary role. The pilgrims and other folks weren’t moving into a nice, new, developed neighborhood across the Atlantic. They were settling an unsettled (at least by their European standard) land. They were fighting for survival and everyone was needed. Men worked hard and women worked hard and equality was generally enjoyed. Any legal inequalities that surely existed between men and women were not likely to be pressing aggravations because both genders had to work so hard to build and maintain society.
As the colonial period ended and the new nation got to its feet, the feminine role underwent a shift. The concept of Republican Motherhood was born, and women were valued because they had the power to bring new Americans into the world and raise them to be model citizens. I’m sure that women’s rights activists from any era would have much to say about Republican Motherhood for good or for bad, but I’m not going to guess or address what such activists might say, nor pass any judgment on Republican Motherhood. Frankly, I don’t know enough about it to determine if it created any significant or oppressive inequality between men and women. The point is, women still enjoyed a respected role in society and were considered useful in that role.
After a few decades, the novelty of the Revolution and new government and the accompanying concept of Republican Motherhood seemed to wear off. By this time, European-settled America had a two hundred-year history and survival was no longer an issue (excepting those on the frontier). All along the East coast, intense labor on the part of both genders was no longer necessary for the economic well-being of the nation and society became economically/politically/et cetera dominated by men. From these conditions evolved a new concept to define the role of women (I wonder what concepts were created to define the role of men): the cult of domesticity. In this new way of looking at femininity, women were still on a pedestal, but no longer considered useful. Men considered their wives to be angels to bless and/or decorate their homes. Women received little education other than in the womanly arts taught at finishing schools. These finishing schools were not designed to help women contribute to society or enlarge their minds, but to help them win a man to put them up on that beautiful, feminine, pedestal. In other words, with the advent of the cult of domesticity, women found themselves in a situation that was undoubtedly unequal. The equity they enjoyed for almost or about two hundred years of American history was abolished.
Once women became aware of their diminished position in society, it was not long before the women’s rights movement began to form and mobilize. Remarkable women demanded and obtained education for themselves and worked to extend that same blessing to the rest of their sex. They gathered and spoke and protested and marched and wrote and the rest is history.
But the question arises, “why did it take so long for the women’s movement to begin and pick up steam?” The answer (at least my answer, however legitimate it is) can be found through the history of the female gender role in America. Whether or not they were legally equal, the necessity of female labor for the survival of early American society resulted in general equality between men and women. Women were useful, needed, and therefore equal. The usefulness of women continued until the nineteenth century when society had changed to the point that women were no longer as useful. This highlighted the legal inequality that was likely already in existence. Once women realized the inequality they suffered, they were quick to speak up, but it took two hundred years of history before that inequality became apparent.
I guess that's why it took so long!
Here's a song from Shrek the Musical that also deals with issues of (in)equality and standing up for one's rights. While I don't agree with the political subtext of this song (I'm sure most of you know exactly what I mean) but the message at face value is pretty good and it's just such a fun song to listen to and watch! Enjoy:
--Christian
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