Women Reformers & Writers
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In A Treatise on Domestic Economy, Catherine Beecher (1841) outlines her belief that women and men are equal through civil law and through GodÆs law. Yet she maintains that society could not ômove forwardö if women did not willingly subordinate themselves to men, that in ôattempting to make one sex equal with the other, both are degradedö (Beecher 1841, 2). Content to permit men to make political and social decisions for women, Beecher maintains that women maintain what could be no ôloftier positionö by being confined to the ônarrow circleö of domestic life (Beecher 1841, 3). In stark contrast to BeecherÆs view that women are most socially and economically valuable in such a position, are the views of Sarah and Angelina Grimke. The GrimkeÆs urged women to influence the social and political spheres, including economics. Economic influence was represented by their views that slavery should be abolished, while the sisters found women confined to the domestic sphere little more than chattel. This analysis will outline BeecherÆs views, before comparing and contrasting them with those of the GrimkeÆs. In her first chapter in A Treatise, Beecher outlines her views on the responsibilities of American women. She begins her description by arguing that the basis of democracy, ôall men are created equalö and equally entitled to ôlife, liberty, and the pursuit of happinessö, is the same as GodÆs law for His eternal governance, ôThou s
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family. From this position, women are able to ôrenovate degraded man, and æclothe all climes with beautyÆö (Beecher 1841, 5).
Beecher (1841) argues that women who believe they deserve equality are ôfutile and feebleö, as European women have demonstrated, while the outcome of any attempt to make the genders equal could result in nothing ôbut weak men and disorderly womenö (2). Beecher (1841) also maintains that the privileges of wealth are open to all classes and every law and institution is tested by ôwhether it secures equal advantages to allö (1). Women who accept their subordinate position know of the roleÆs significant value, contends Beecher.
In stark contrast to BeecherÆs views are those of the Grimke sisters. Their involvement in abolition and suffrage stepped outside the narrow confines of the domestic sphere. With remarkable prescience and foresight more than a century ahead of its time, Sarah GrimkeÆs letters reveal a mindset that is much more emblematic of contemporary views of the sexes. In her letters on the equality of the sexes, Grimke (1837) actually discusses topics that are still controversial, like equal pay for equal work, ôI allude to the disproportionate value set on the time and labor or men and of
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Approximate Word count = 1286
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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