Question

Why did a feminine “cult of domesticity” come into existence in the United States, and was it a positive or negative development for American women in the 19th century? Where (and why) does a "separate sphere" for women still exist? And is it a positive or negative force for American women (and men) here in the 21st century? Be sure to cite the primary source from Alexis de Toqueville, “How Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes,” (1840) in your response.

Answer 1

The culture of domesticity was a prevailing value system among the upper and middle classes during the 19 th century in the United States.This value system emphasized new ideas of femininity, the woman's role within the home and the dynamics of work and family.It was founded on the theory of scientific sexism and the fact that 19 th century women were considered to be both physically and mentally inferior to men.The Cult established separate spheres of influence for men and women, but it was truly a product of the changes in society in the early 1800 s.

Was it a positive or negative for Americans women in 19 th century?

Women no longer felt empowered by their status instead they were limited, Initially the feminist movement accepted the Cult’s ideals as a necessary separation of men and women’s roles, but women slowly began to feel oppressed by their specific sphere.
• During the peak time of the Cult of Domesticity, men saw women as being worthless in the business world. This later contributed to the perception of women not being able to work as hard as men.
• Coming out of this period, women were not given the same opportunities as men were.another major problem was the fact that as women aged, they lost even more of their power and influence.
• While men could still maintain their status, women had no possibility of upward mobility and remained solely dependent on their husbands. In the years to follow, women would go through painstaking rallies and strikes to gain certain rights only available to men.Today,we are still struggling with equal rights for men and women.

Separate spheres

The concept of separate spheres continues to influence thinking about "proper" gender roles today.Legally, women were considered dependents until marriage and under coverture after marriage, with no separate identity and few or no personal rights including economic and property rights. This status was in accord with the idea that a woman's place was in the home and a man's place was in the public world.

Although experts at the time believed these gender divisions were rooted in nature, the ideology of separate spheres is now considered an example of the social construction of gender: that cultural and social attitudes built ideas of womanhood and manhood (proper womanhood and proper manhood) that empowered and/or constrained women and men.

The French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville traveled extensively through the United States in gathering research for his book Democracy In America. In this excerpt, he described the belief that American men and women lived in “separate spheres,” men in public, women in the home. This expectation justified the denial of rights to women. All women were denied political rights in nineteenth century America, but only a small number of wealthy families could afford to remove women from economic production, like de Tocqueville claimed.

How the Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes argues that both in rest of world and America there is equality between the two sexes, but their perspective of the equality is different. In outside America, that is rest of world they believe that men and women are not only equal but a like. They both can have the same duties, jobs and rights. In America, although the two sexes are considered equal, each sex plays a different role in society. The man plays the head of the house, the person who has the job and makes the final decision. The women are expected to stay home and are in charge of household duties.in my view equality is different in America when compared to other part of world.sexes are consider to have equality, they are both different in each continent.