Fights for Rights
The struggle for women’s rights has been long sought after, mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries. Even today, women fight for equality in various areas of daily life. If I were to sum up the role of women in the 18th century in one word, it would be housewife. The four main virtues that women were raised to live by, also referred to as the Cult of Domesticity, were piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness. Piety meant that religion should be valued in womens’ lives, and they most definitely should have a form of religion. Purity referred to a woman’s virginity, which was supposed to be a sacred thing. Women were supposed to remain virgins until after marriage at all costs - even in cases of rape. Submissiveness required that women know and act like they are inferior to men. Men, by God, were referred to as women’s superiors. Domesticity relates almost exactly to being a housewife. Women were expected to take up sewing, cooking, and cleaning in the home while the men were out do...