Cult of Domesticity

I really enjoyed the presentation regarding the "Cult of Domesticity" In class, we started from the very beginning in history and had us look at every aspect that could have influenced the mindsets of women and men regarding equal rights at the given time. Whether it was the ad of the sewing machine with the caption, “women who want to dream big, buy a sewing machine” From the beginning of US history, women have been told their place in society is tending to the children and working in the kitchen. Since then, we have made great progress, and have educated ourselves about this issue, but we still are hesitant to fight for complete equality. The reason most men and women didn’t want equal rights was because they did not like change, and they feared the unknown.  Before this presentation or reading the articles, it was hard for me to grasp the concept of why women would not want equal rights. There were many aspects though, such as the draft that I did not think about.

Phyllis Schlafly talks about how women have already been “privileged” with equals rights while Gloria Steinem discusses the myths associated with The Equal Right’s Movement. While Phyllis talks about the greatest achievement of the women’s rights movement being the joy of having and raising a baby, Steinem delved into myths such as women being “biologically inferior” to men, when it could be the other way around. Part of the issue with the fight for equal rights is the collective assumption that we, as women, are inferior to men. As Steinem states, “A deeper result of social and legal injustice, however, is what sociologists refer to as “Internalized Aggression.” Victims of aggression absorb the myth of their own inferiority, and come to believe that their group is in fact second class. Even when they themselves realize they are not second class, they may still think their group is, thus the tendency to be the only Jew in the club, the only black woman on the block, the only woman in the office. “ Are women and minorities second class? No, but, because of this “Internalized Aggression” we do start to believe that we are. We are hesitant not by nature, but by nurture.

OC started off the presentation by asking us why 53% of women voted for Trump. I personally did not think the number would have been that high, but I also was not completely shocked. I’ve noticed that girls today tend to forget or lessen the severity of Trump’s vulgar and horrifying comments. I can’t help but to blame this on history, and how the society we are raised in has conditioned us to automatically feel inferior. I personally find it hard to comprehend how a woman can vote for a man who blatantly disrespects and belittles them, and in reading the articles OC handed out at the end of class, the arguments of the women who chose to vote for him, did disregard or overlook the blatant sexism and discrimination Trump has shown women and minorities. A lot of the women seemed to be from the south or midwest, where I know this mindset is more common, but I also noticed that they seemed to hold Hillary to a higher standard than Donald. One women comments that Hilary was inconclusive and swayed on many issues including abortion and gay marriage, telling her “Don’t go back and forth. Don’t pander.” Mr. Trump has done the same, but I guess we can “overlook the negatives and focus on the positives.”