Cult of Domesticity

I really enjoyed OC’s presentation, especially the ideas that she brought up about motherhood. The idea that being a mother was more important than being a voter was prevalent throughout the presentation. This idea has prevailed throughout history. Being a mother is often said to be the most important job a woman can have. Phyllis Schlafly’s argument seemed to reflect this idea, saying that there is not a “more satisfying or more creative career for a woman than marriage and motherhood.” Not only is this very one-sided, but it is also very damaging. By saying this, Schlafly doesn’t recognize all of the other jobs that women can have. Women can not only be mothers, but they can also have jobs and personalities outside of their children. Schlafly also argued that “women’s libbers want to reject marriage and motherhood” which shows the belief that feminists are against motherhood and family. This has happened throughout history, most notably when women were fighting for suffrage. Suffragettes were seen as anti-family because they wanted to focus on aspects of life outside of motherhood and the home. Another argument against women’s suffrage was that women were happy in the home, and Schlafly seems to make this argument as well. Schlafly says that women are held on a pedestal as mothers, so they should not want to give that up by supporting the equal rights amendment. This idea is very narrow-minded because it argues that women should be happy with what they have. I heard a lot of this argument when many Americans were trying to get a woman on currency. Originally, many women were attempting to get a woman on the twenty dollar bill but were eventually told that women would be put on the ten dollar bill. When this was announced many women were frustrated because they had asked for a higher bill, but when they voiced their complaints many people said that they should be happy with what they got. Throughout history disadvantaged people have been told that they should be happy with what they have, despite it not being what they asked for or what they deserve. Overall, I really liked the presentation and the thoughts in it reminded me a lot of other aspects of women’s history.