Domesticity: Part One of the Four Ideals of Womanhood

As previously stated, the role of women was largely focused on maintaining the home life. Women were supposed to always be busy bettering themselves and keeping up with their piety and purity (two more of the four ideals). Women had an almost ridiculous list of activities they could participate in. These activities included housework, needlework, and crafts. A list of rights for the "true women" states they had: "The right to love whom others scorn, The right to comfort and to mourn, The right to shed new joy on earth, The right to feel the soul's high worth...". In their homes, women were expected to create a refugee from the harsh world men had to live in. Men were in the work force and were expected to have harsh and shrewd personalities. Their home was supposed to be where they were able to show their "human side". Women were obligated to create an environment in which a man could express his softer side. The role of a home shifted from being seen as a piece of the community for its function to being seen as an "isolation" from the outer world.

Citation:
Lavender. "The Cult of Domesticity and True Womanhood."
www.library.csi.cuny.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2010.
truewoman.html>.