Culture of Domesticity
[6][7][8][9] Since the idea was first advanced by Barbara Welter in 1966, many historians have argued that the subject is far more complex and nuanced than terms such as "Cult of Domesticity" or "True Womanhood" suggest, and that the roles played by and expected of women within the middle-class, 19th-century context were quite varied and often contradictory.
[12] Women were supposed to inhabit the private sphere, running the household and production of food (including servants), rearing the children, and taking care of the husband.
[23][24] The magazine presented motherhood as a woman's natural and most satisfying role and encouraged women to find their fulfillment and their contributions to society mainly within the home.
Arguments of significant biological differences between the sexes (and often of female inferiority) led to pronouncements that women were incapable of effectively participating in the realms of politics, commerce, or public service.
Catharine Beecher, who proselytised about the importance of education and parenting, once said, "Woman's great mission is to train immature, weak, and ignorant creatures [children] to obey the laws of God ... first in the family, then in the school, then in the neighborhood, then in the nation, then in the world".
One estimate says that, with the growth of public education in the northern tier of states, one-quarter of all native-born Massachusetts women in the years between 1825 and 1860 were schoolteachers at some point in their lives.
[32] Women's rights advocates of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Frances Wright, and Harriet Martineau, were widely accused of disrupting the natural order of things and condemned as unfeminine.
[33] However, after the Jacksonian era (1812 to 1850) saw the expansion of voting rights to virtually all white males in the United States, many women believed it was their opportunity for increased civil liberties.
Early feminist opposition to many of the values promoted by the Cult of Domesticity (especially concerning women's suffrage, political activism, and legal independence) culminated in the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848.
Because of the perceived importance of the role, this ideology was imprinted on girls at a very young age; these girls were taught to value their virginity as the "'pearl of great price' which was her greatest asset" and to develop the skills to manage a household and rear children, but they were also taught to see themselves as "a pillar of strength and virtue" who was key not only in providing her husband a proper image but in raising boys who would later have a direct impact on the success of the nation.
[41] With demands expressed in the Declaration of Sentiments, written at the Seneca Falls convention in 1848, women finally gained ratification of a constitutional amendment and the right to vote in 1920.
In the era after the end of the Second World War, many of the ideas of the "Cult of Domesticity" were stressed again as American society sought to integrate veterans and emphasize the revival of family life.
Anti-communist sentiments structured much of the American life, emphasizing the free enterprise system which brought about a period of economic prosperity and a consumer culture.
In the 1950s, American television shows often presented series that depicted fictional families in which the mother's primary work was to raise the children and run the household.
[43] Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique summed up the expectations of female nature of this time, with a focus on "consumerism, sexualized marriage, and civic activism.
This is a drastic difference from the "femme fatale" trope which demonstrates a rejection of domestic life and family connection in favor of romance, sexuality, danger, and drama.
[48] With the entrance of women into the workforce, the increase of divorce rates, and rise of single parents, themes of typical domesticity became less widely applicable.
[51] Examples include the central friendship group of Friends or even the science fiction show The Mandalorian,[52] where the main character takes in a foreign creature as his own.
[56] The heteronormative qualities displayed in early domestic values were also challenged in the show Transparent, where one parent reveals they are transgender and decides to transition whilst managing a family life.
[58] Though the introduction of a transgender lead may be a relatively new idea, the themes discussed are no different than seen in most family programming, such as dating, crushes, school, and dealing with sibling relationships.
This interpretation of domesticity has become permanently embedded into popular culture with cult favorites like The Office, Parks and Recreation, Grey’s Anatomy, Mad Men.
The emergence of this theme was seen in films such as Juno, or the controversial MTV series 16 and Pregnant; which, amongst the topic of teen pregnancy, also discussed safe sex and adoption.
