The cult of true womanhood in Catharine Beecher's work

Question 1

Catharine Beecher’s work

Answer 1

Domestic Economy, 1841

Question 2

Reiteration of true womanhood

Answer 2

As a political discourse
Serves as an example of how true womanhood worked in the political realm

Question 3

Emphasised piety

Answer 3

Declaration of Independence contrasted the Bible
Language of the bible less gendered, more inclusive

Question 4

Submissiveness

Answer 4

Reasonableness for the subordinate of women
Suggests women did not have to be submissive (meaning marry)
Beecher: money for the book meant she was able to support herself and remain single

Question 5

Subordination

Answer 5

Enslaved people subordinate to all white people
Women only submissive to their husband

Question 6

Mid 19thC women

Answer 6

Sought to display their superiority
Created a host of institutions outside the home to show this

Question 7

Dependences was necessary

Answer 7

Society wouldn’t function without it

Question 8

Domesticity

Answer 8

Logical path differs from path of submissiveness
Lines of argument in contrast with each other

Question 9

Beecher’s work offered

Answer 9

Readers more than one interpretation of the patriarchal order
Find logical moments in narratives that contradicted itself
Find human agency in areas of discourse

Question 10

Women’s agency

Answer 10

Formed the world around them