The Cult of Domesticity: A new ideal of womanhood arising from women's magazines, advice books, popular culture, etc.
After reading a few of the books this unit on gender studies, I've learned a lot about the way society viewed women a long time ago. Of course I knew that women were seen as inferior, but after learning about the Cult of Domesticity, I was introduced to a different side of what I thought I knew. My discussion this month is simply about the Cult of Domesticity in general; how it applied to women long ago and how it has branched off to, in a way, still apply to women today. Godey said "The perfection of womanhood... is the wife and mother, the center of the family, that magnet that draws man to the domestic altar, that makes him a civilized being a social Christian." In the 19th century, the ideal woman had piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. It is easy to see how the cult of domesticity played a role in the books we have read in this unit. For example, in The Awakening, Edna had the qualifications to be the ideal woman, but her mindset was not "right" in the way that most women were. She did not want to be like all the other women. Adele showed to be he perfect woman in everything she did. She followed the "ideal woman in the 19th century" rules just right. But Edna was different. She wanted to do things for herself, not for her husband like she was expected to. She wanted to paint because it was entertaining to her. She wanted to keep seeing Robert because he made her feel special, unlike the way she felt with her husband. Throughout the whole novel, Edna began to experience her "awakening" in a way that she began challenging the norms of a woman seen by society. Another example of the domesticity as seen in our readings would be in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Mariam and Laila also challenged the societal views of women, but also exemplified the Cult of Domesticity. Throughout the beginning and middle of the novel, Mariam and Laila were submissive to their husband, Rasheed. He was so awful to them, but they had to take it and do whatever he wanted them to because he was the man, and they were expected to be submissive and obey him. Towards the end, they both started to break free from this societal view and began to become more independent. They tried to leave, but were stopped from doing so, unwillingly that is. They both kind of broke free at the end, although, Mariam's was fatal. But, although she died, she still became independent. Laila finally had a happy ending once Jalil came back, which I was very happy about. Although A Thousand Splendid Suns is a lot more modern than the other novels we have read, I think the reason that Mariam and Laila were kept submissive was because of the situation and environment that they were in. Being in Afghanistan was very difficult for women in this time, and they couldn't do much about it, even though they tried. Luckily in today's world (well, at least in the United States), women are not held so much under the Cult of Domesticity. It still comes up occasionally, but not nearly as bad as it was in the 19th century. What I mean by "it still comes up" is that women are still occasionally seen as inferior and often submissive to men. For example, women in the work force. Women are more likely to be paid a lot less than a man when they are in the same exact position. I don't understand why this is, but it just is. And going back to the first definition of The Cult of Domesticity, in today's context, I do think women try to be like the other women they see in magazines. Those women are extremely photoshopped and made to seem absolutely perfect, and every other woman is expected to be naturally like those models. That does not happen. It is impossible. Some men do still see women as inferior, but I personally think they are stuck in the past and need to realize that this is the 21st century, and women have every right to be treated equal.
