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 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

19 th 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 Effects Post-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

Phrenology

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

20 th 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 19 th Century?