Hannah Reynolds

Dr. Esh

History of the American Culture

February 21st 2013

The Future of America

"The women of this country ought be enlightened in regard to the laws under which they

live, that they may no longer publish their degradation by declaring themselves satisfied with

their present position, nor their ignorance, by asserting that they have all the rights they want."

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) In the Bonds of Womanhood Nancy F. Cott, a Professor of

History and American Studies reconstructs the social and economic history of woman in New

England from 1780 to 1835. Through the use of unpublished diaries and letters, Cott illustrates

how these women not only saw themselves but also the roles in which they were placed. During

the course of Cott’s interpretation one begins to understand and make sense of women’s lives.

Cott introduces the idea of women’s spheres and how each played a role in the making of this

social history. Work, domesticity, education, religion and sisterhood are the five “bonds of

womanhood.” Womanhood “as it bound them down and “womanhood as it bound women

together” (Cott pg. 1). In Cott’s development of “woman’s spheres” both women’s history

during the nineteenth century as well as the future of feminism strengthens. The establishment of

woman’s spheres and sisterhood of women played into the future of women and their history.

“Not until they saw themselves thus classed by sex would women join to protest their sexual

fate”(Cott pg. 206).

Cott develops her argument regarding the spheres bonding them down in the first three

chapters. The work of women was seen as a secondary character. New England economy

switched from agriculture and household-based production to a commercial and industrial

revenue in the 1830’s. “Merchant capitalism was a primary force in this transformation.”(Cott

pg. 24) Industrialization took men and unmarried women out of the home but left the married

women where they were causing this discourse to develop. In the 19th century women were

idealized by men as godly mothers and ideal examples of virtue. The canon of domesticity is the

result of the idolization of women. Cott introduced the principle of domesticity providing the

contrast between the home and the world. “In the home women symbolized and were expected to

sustain traditional values and practices of work and family organizations.” (Cott pg. 70) Cott

depicts women as domestic defenders regarding the treatment of them during this period. She

argues that women were not treated as victims but indicates true womanhood by the part they

played in creating an ideal vision of being a woman. “Domesticity as a vocation meant,

furthermore, that woman’s work-role imitated man’s while lacking his means of escape”(Cott pg.

74). The education of women, although advancing still had this since of inequality. “An

American woman required education to form her into “an agreeable companion for a sensible

man.” (Cott pg. 105) The education of women was all about the development of another sphere.

Even though some of these women became educated it was all for that of the home. The

education equipped them to be better wives as well as mothers and teachers to the future

generations.

Religion and sisterhood are the spheres in which bound them together. Cott states that

women turned to religion to fill the vacuum caused by the canon of domesticity. Through church

functions women were brought together causing this female consciousness to arise. Abolition

and temperance were the first social concerns in which female Christians could properly devote

themselves. Wives took interest in temperance due to husbands’ unwise choices regarding

alcohol having no legal action against them.

Cott’s canon of domesticity is a double edge sword that leads to both the 1920’s

feminism and 1950’s housewife. Domesticity is the foundation of progressivism and with it

feminism. These women in whom Cott uses were the mothers of women like Elizabeth Cady

Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, feminists in their time. There is this cycle of feminism that arises

with the oppression of women. The 1920’s feminist movement is a reaction to the oppression of

women during the nineteenth century. The “new left” arises with the beginning of progressivism

yet through the death of this movement produces the “far right.” The women of the 1950’s like

many women before them accepted the role as housewife and mother before everything else.

Women like African Americans “Strange Career” slide back into certain roles as years progress.

Like before 1960’s and 1970’s feminist movement is a reaction to the roles in which society

placed them. Nancy Cott’s history of women is just a glimpse to the beginning of the future in

which American women have today.

Cott’s outlining of the five bonds of womanhood all play a role in the making of

women’s history. Through the canon of domesticity women have a place in the home and the

world. They find themselves in certain roles in which society has placed them but also

questioning whether it is right. What binds women down or together, whatever it maybe, is still

important to the understanding of women and the lives in which they have led.

Ginsberg, Lori D. “For Stanton, All Women Were Not Created Equal” NPR. NPR, 13 July 2011Web. 22 Feb. 2013.