Michael Soon
February 3, 2000
History 17B
3869807
SEPARATE SPHERES
The separate spheres ideology, adhered to by the northern middle class, both repressed and empowered women in the first half of the nineteenth century. Separate spheres ideology was initially an oppressive measure used to subject women to the “domestic” sphere of the home. But women empowered themselves by manipulating this position to show their moral superiority. With this superiority, women increased their efforts to spread the ideals of morality to the masses. Within the construct of separate spheres, …showed first 85 words of 1819 total…
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…showed last 85 words of 1819 total…slavery. Separate spheres advanced the drive for women’s rights. It had given women an identity of moral superiority, therefore allowing them to use this construction in their favor for securing a place in the public sphere. Once in the public sphere, women found ways to organize so that they could discuss grievances that needed to be addressed to the public. Women hoped that their speeches and literature, such as the “Declaration of Sentiments,” would some day grant them the equality that they rightfully deserved.
