Analysis of "The Cult of True Womanhood" (Essay Sample)

(Name)
(Instructors' name)
(Course)
(Date)
The Cult of True Womanhood
Women's spheres of influence in the nineteenth century were limited to family and house chores due to socio-cultural and economic reasons. According to Welter, women required significant qualities such as purity, submissiveness, piety, and domesticity. Women's adherence to these virtues was used to judge women in society. Primarily, the American society was agricultural; therefore, a clear distinction between men's and women's societal functions. Women's domesticity and adherence to the four virtues to determine behavior led to the "cult of domesticity" that deprived women of the right to other responsibilities. However, the limitation of women's output was campaigned for by figures such as the Grimke sisters, Frances Wright, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.