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Femininity In Barbara Welter's The Cult Of True Womanhood

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What Tandom may suggest is that a female is a cultural creation formed by the community they originate from, fulfilling the expectation of the society by following the code represented by the enforced standards of appearance, behavior and thought. Performative roles imposed on women usually led to suppression of the essential needs for one’s development and formed an ideology which scholars relate to as feminism. The term itself involves a broad domain of the study of women’s rights and their multiple roles shaped by gender, politics, or economy. Feminist approaches have played a significant role in the femininity (re)creation while being a manifestation of female self-awareness and willingness of being approached as a respected group. Such …show more content…

Such a notion not only served it a greater social purpose as it gave more power to men who were seen as natural leaders, but at the same time formed gender identities while preserving the archetype of femininity and masculinity. According to Barbara Welter, a historian and author of The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860 (1966), the nineteenth century American society was a reflection of gender stereotypes where roles assigned to sex held women in the cultural manacles of subordination and limits. The work illustrates the gender boundary between men and women, while focusing on the hailed pure image of a housewife, who suppressed her instincts aspirations, and accepted the chores dictated by the cultural division supporting the policy governed by social hierarchy resulting in misogyny. In this fundamental for this thesis discourse, Barbara Welter provides various exemplars of limiting women’s development and pointed the route regarding little room for intellectual maneuver what translated into docile behaviour. The author writes that “submission was perhaps the most feminine virtue expected of

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During to the 18th century, women were taught they had a very specific place in a patriarchal society, and from an early age were taught how to achieve this place. Women were taught they needed to embody piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity according to Barbara Welter in her paper, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860,” published in 1966. A woman was told if she embodied all of these traits she would be a “true woman”. In 1798, Charles Brockden Brown published Wieland: or, The Transformation: An American Tale.

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Chapter 16 of Exploring American Histories shows us the diversity among women’s roles. For example, women in a household were expected to cook meals, can fruits and vegetables, as well as wash and iron clothes. In relation to Exploring American Histories, we are taught in Zipf’s book that the institution of Samarcand Manor also helped women incorporate the duties they were expected to do in their households. Women who obeyed were simply treated better than those who did not. Women who showed outstanding abilities in their field were given the right to participate in leisure activities.

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In doing so, these working women began to have the ability to support themselves, and, therefore, tended to rely less on men. However, these women not only defied the workplace’s principles, but also condemned society’s gender

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Around the late 18th to early 19th century, colonial American New England life was centered on living independently and being finally free from the British Empire after the Revolutionary War. Establishing control of a newly founded government with set functions and a first president, there were progressive changes that America had to act upon post-war. However, behind the political aspects that are greatly highlighted in American history, the roles of women in society, particularly midwives shouldn’t be cast aside. Although women were largely marginalized in early New England life because of their gender, nevertheless Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale is instructive because it demonstrates the privilege of men’s authority in society

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Between 1770 and 1860, the role of women in society transformed from their expected position as republican mothers to a new place as advocates for reformation. While republican mothers focused all their attention on domestic matters, the reformers of the antebellum era became public figures. Society persisted in its expectation that women be nurturing of others and dependent on men. However, female antebellum reformers defied society’s expectations by going outside the home in order to nurture a larger number of people in the society and promote the God-given rights they shared with men.

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In the nineteenth century, woman had no power over men in society. They were limited in their freedom, as their lives were controlled by their husbands. Some women did not mind this lifestyle, and remained obedient, while some rebelled and demanded their rights. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are short stories that exposes the lifestyle women lived in the nineteenth century. The protagonists from both stories, Jane and Georgiana, similarly lived a male dominated lifestyle.

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A portion of society may say that puritanism was the foundation for nineteenth century feminism in America. With the increasing popularity of women’s studies and gender background the feminist outlook is becoming very popular in historical interpretation of the puritan woman’s experience. Although women in early colonial times had major roles in their everyday lives they enjoyed being busy mothers and wives. Living in a male assertive world while providing and caring for their relatives ladies were mistreated and under-appreciated. Puritan women had difficult lives; they lived in a male-dominated society, had few legal rights and many responsibilities.

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Throughout history, there has always been a rivalry between the two sexes and in the end the women have always come in second place. Time over time it has been proven difficult for women to hold any type of power that they have wanted except for the tasks that they have been given due to their gender. In society and in their own homes, it has been difficult for women to grow and sustain their power beyond the limits that they have been given. Women have been differentiated from men and have been discriminated with regard to jobs and other types of privileges that they have wanted. Throughout the course of history, they have been denied many freedoms that every man has and they want to be equal to their counterparts.

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The Cult of True Womanhood in “The Yellow Wallpaper” In her essay “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”, Barbara Welter discusses the expected roles and characteristics that women were supposed to exhibit in accordance with the extreme patriarchy of the nineteenth-century America. The unnamed narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is seen to conform and ultimately suffer from this patriarchal construct that Welter labels the Cult of True Womanhood. The narrator falls victim to this life of captivity by exhibiting several of the fundamental characteristics that Welter claims define what a woman was told she ought to be.

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If certain qualities are seen inherent to being female, these then also appear unalterable. But if we claim that they are unique to being female, then we are being in the patriarchal. In a research by Adrienne Rich (1977) and Mary Daly (1973) shows that women are now encrusted with patriarchy-induced attributes and once these are stripped away, women will find their true essence in all its pristine quality. Social

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In the society today, there are a lot of misconceptions concerning gender and sex. For instance, there are many things which are alleged about female gender for instance, that they are weak emotionally. However, this has not been proven and actually, may not be the truth. However, these are ideas which to some people, are obvious and need no explanation to show that women are weaker than men in the society. These are some of the notions in the society which has led to the massive spread of feminism and female intimidation, discrimination, and under-representation.

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1. INTRODUCTION Feminism foresees a genderless area where women should be perceived as equal to males. Femininity has been socially crafted due to the idea that men are perceived superior above women. Open-minded feminism quarrels that gender contrasts are not established in biology hence on the society’s comprehension of gender.

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Introduction Hook: Since the beginning of time, the existence of women and men has been undeniably considered as one of the integral factors that forms our society as it is today. Despite their parallel existence and contribution to the growth of the society, it was considered that women were not treated equal to men both in domestic and working circumstances, leading to a wave of movements demanding equal rights for women, known as feminism. Despite its success in claiming benefits for mistreated women in the past, recent feminism actions and point of views have gone above their original purpose, and created negative impacts and false mindset as its consequences, 2. Credibility I have done some in-depth research about this matter to prepare for the speech, and I myself do not stand for contemporary feminist. 3.

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