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The Cult of Domesticity. Pre-industrialism and the Second Great Awakening in 19 th Century America . The Cult of Domesticity 19 th -Century America (1840s – 1860s). Defined an ideal of perception of “womanhood” for the middle class Influenced by pre-industrialism and religious movements
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The Cult of Domesticity Pre-industrialism and the Second Great Awakening in 19th Century America
The Cult of Domesticity19th-Century America (1840s – 1860s) • Defined an ideal of perception of “womanhood” for the middle class • Influenced by pre-industrialism and religious movements • Propagated by literature intended for women • Established a woman’s roles, social mores, and even fashion
Historical context:Pre-Industrialism • Middle Class America • Introduction of industrial capitalism • Increased production of goods • Men entered the workforce • Women remained at home
Social Context:The Second Great Awakening • A national drive to reestablish religious fervor • Based on Armininan theology • Everyone could be saved through revivals • Advocated a return to a purer form of Christianity
Tenets of the Cult of Domesticity • Piety • Purity & Virginity • Submissiveness • Domesticity
Tenet 1: Piety • Belief that women had a propensity for religion • Woman is the new Eve, working with God to save the world through her pure, passionless love
Tenet 2: Purity and Virginity • A woman’s virginity is her only treasure • Purity is a weapon used to keep men in control of their sexual needs • Women (good) lead men (evil) to God
Tenet 3: Submissiveness • Women should be passive, submissive to fate, duty, God, and men • Clothing emphasized passivity • Corsets • Layers of fabric
19th Century Purity Fetishes • Limbs, not legs • White meat, not breasts • Cover table and chair legs • Separate male and female authors • Stork and cabbage patch stories of babies • No references to bodily functions
Tenet 4: Domesticity • Housework is an uplifting task • Needlework and crafts were approved duties • Women make the home a refuge for men so that they can escape from the immoral world of business and industry
Godey’s Lady’s Book • Most widely circulated ladies magazine in America • Encouraged motherhood as a religious value • Paintings and pictured depicted women in each of the four virtues • Fashion stressed to make women attractive to husbands
Godey’s Proclamation: “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, a social Christian."
A Woman’s Rights The right to love whom others scorn, The right to comfort and to mourn, The right to shed new joy on earth, The right to feel the soul's high worth, Such woman's rights a God will bless And crown their champions with success.
Truisms about Women • “A woman has a head almost too small for intellect but just big enough for love.” • “True feminine genius is ever timid, doubtful, and clingingly dependent; a perpetual childhood.”
Enduring EffectsPost-Industrialism to Antebellum America • Men worked producing goods and services • Women were weak and delicate and should stay home • The family became insulated; kin and community less important • Science was used to support beliefs
Scientific Support:Physical Inferiority of Women • Physically smaller than men • Less stamina—they faint more • Menstruation physically incapacitates; can cause temporary insanity • Delicate nervous system • Prone to fatigue because of the reproductive system
Scientific Support:Physiological Weaknesses of Women • "It was as if the Almighty, in creating the female sex, had taken the uterus and built up a woman around it.“ • Reflex irritation: any imbalance, infection, or fatigue would cause a reaction elsewhere in the body. • If a woman was sick anywhere, it was assumed that the problem originated in the reproductive system.
Scientific Support:Intellectual Inferiority of Women • Smaller brains than men • Size of brain to body weight • Abandoned when it was discovered that female brain to body rate yielded a higher ratio • Brain weight to body height • Female brain inferior and more primitive than male brain • Phrenology—the art of reading the skull
Scientific Support:Human Sexuality • Human body has finite amount of energy, which must be regulated • Sexual instinct is primitive • Sexual drive is strong in men but absent in ladies • Feared in women because they would be like vampires and drain the man of his energy
Scientific Support:Women: Puberty to Menopause • Women must channel their energies into reproduction • Discouraged from intellectual activity b/c blood was needed for reproductive organ development • Pregnant women must not strain brains or the unborn child would be harmed • Avoid strong emotions
Scientific Support:Sex is required for a woman’s health • A woman’s organs must be bathed occasionally with a man’s vital force if she is to remain healthy. • Spinsters and celibates have shorter lives and are more prone to insanity
Scientific Support:Men: Puberty to Adulthood • Men must focus their life forces on getting ahead in the world and must reserve sexual energies • Frequent sex would lead to insanity and death
Unexpected Reactions to the Cult of Domesticity • Abolitionists • Suffragettes • Temperance movement • Medical reforms • Educational reforms
20th Century Perceptions:Ongoing Influence of Domesticity • Despite modern influences, women continued to be perceived primarily as: • Homemakers • Nurturers • The physically “weaker” sex • Intellectual inferiors
Modern Influences • Matriarchal duties • Women’s literature & magazines • Media (films & television) • Fashion industry • Politics • Religious systems of belief
Essential Question • In what ways can our understanding of the historical and sociological foundations of the Cult of Domesticity assist us in our analysis of American literature written during the 19th Century?
