Patriarchy In The 19th Century

Whether it is now in the 21st century or as early as the 19th century, there was a lot expected from women. Their main roles had always been carrying mothers for their children and loving wives for their husbands. However, where did this idea come from and how did it change throughout the years if they were expected to be goodwives? In a world of patriarchy, how did women find other roles besides domesticity? Women started with barely any rights in the colonial America but as decades went by, more and more women had the courage to impact the nation in their own way. Although domesticity and republican motherhood were the only roles of women in America, some women, like Marry Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Catherine Beecher, Dorothea Dix, and Sarah Grimke, became public speakers, writers, abolitionists, and some other influential role players during the early and mid-19th century.
Women like Marry Wollstonecraft stood out because they refused to follow the typical American woman path. She was the author of “Vindication of the Rights of Women.” This was a response to a French philosopher, Jean Jaquez Rousseau’s ideas about women’s rights. Although she never came to America, her book was published and widely spread among many states. She thought that people will understand her ideas better if she published what she had to say
A writer who published stories/essays in “Godey’s Ladies Book” about how to keep their homes as beautiful and neat as possible. She was an inspiring woman for many others. The idea of a “goodwife” tuned into a “housewife” around this time, in the early 1800s. She believed in women’s education and that it was their obligation to raise educated children for the future generations. Her guidelines helped many women around the country and she was well respected. Often times, female writers like Beecher, used their pen names because of the restrictions they had for writers in those