The nineteenth-century woman in America was powerless and was forced to be dependent on a man. Life in America by then was growing fast, and immigrants from Europe poured in, which increased population. Men had to work long hours while women were expected to stay at home and take care of the family. However, as Economic pressure grew, women from poor households were forced to take up cheap labor to supplement their families. Their counterparts from the wealthy social group were mainly confined to household and church duties. Both classes were, however, equated with virtue and purity.
“The cult of true womanhood,” an article by Barbara Welter, paints the picture of what was expected from a woman. Both men and women propagated these expectations. Young females were taught at a tender age what they were supposed to do. It is a clear opposite when compared to an essay written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was a woman rights activist. The comparison of the two writings shows the struggle of what was expected and what women wanted. Elizabeth was advocating for women to be free in almost aspects by challenging what was the norm at those times.
Virtue and purity were very important to a woman of those times. The attributes of a true woman from the cult of a true woman were centered on purity, piety, submissiveness, and domesticity. Without these qualities, a woman thought she was aimlessly empty. Freedom was everything compared to Elizabeth’s solitude of self because everyone had to learn to count on themselves. It was difficult to imagine that the two aspects of femininity existed at the same time; they were opposite. Although they all served as a model to guide a woman’s life, one was perhaps more futuristic than the other.
The first version of true femininity warned of the liberation of a woman. Freedom was seen as an addiction, and people like Elizabeth had a bad influence. As in the presentation, a young woman was asked to submit to a man’s authority. The sacred books ordered women to be inferior to their male companions. There was a certain logical order of things that they should have followed without hesitation. The weight and challenges of the “chosen life” were seen as a test of strength for all women.
Solitude was a more futuristic way of idealizing a woman’s life. Elizabeth spent much of her adult life, defending women’s rights and encountering strong resistance from men and women. One could say that her thoughts were futuristic because they provided a model for how people see women today. The essays she wrote summarize his long struggle for life and the beliefs she fought so hard for. The “solitude of life” theme indicates that the theme was based on an individual and not a group. She emphasized the importance of being independent and focusing on real happiness as an individual. She wrote, “No matter how much women prefer to lean, to be protected and supported, nor how much men desire to have them do so, they must make the voyage of life alone, and for safety in an emergency, they must know something of the laws of navigation. ”