The Inseparable Separate Spheres: Northern Middle-Class Women and the Fight for Women’s Rights and Equality, 1850-1880
Abstract:
The essay will examine the effects of the Civil War on northern middle class women focusing on the years 1850 to 1880. In particular it will study the way that women appropriated the gender norms proscribed by the cult of domesticity for their own advantage. In doing so, these women were able to gain entry into new fields during the war and increase their sense of self-worth; as well as, gain administrative and political skill sets. The combination of their increased awareness of their second class status under the cult of domesticity and their new skill set gained during the war enabled women to push for greater women rights and both maintain and increase their footholds in new fields. The expansion in women’s rights and available occupations for women was a direct result of middle-class women’s increased involvement in society during the Civil War, which enabled them to free themselves from the limitations of the cult of domesticity.