Chapter 8 Purity and the Woman’s Sphere
Monroe’s chapter overview on Purity and the Woman’s Sphere focuses on sins of American gender wars that include moral traps for children, lust, women roles in the society, and dangerous people that are thought to be the blacks and immigrants (Morone, 2003). The fear of these sins triggered the concern of the interest groups of the Victorian era to convince policymakers that the mentioned sins caused a pragmatic threat. Nonetheless, it allowed those groups to sanction widespread of censorships, bans, and prohibition to the extent that several years had passed before key reforms were undertaken.
During the Victorian Era, women were perceived to be policy motivators. They were seen to be exalting motherhood while at the same time wishing to chase their dreams, such as education and carriers, which were identified as bad for motherhood by men. Men wanted to keep their women in homes to be safe from temptations and harm (Morone, 2003). Due to this mentality, feminist rhetoric triggered resistance. Elizabeth fight for women’s rights combined with religion to address the new movement for female purity and the lifting of gender roles in the society.
The Victorian morals opposed traditional gender roles in that women were perceived to have the same lust like that of their male partners. Contrary, Victorian gender roles considered women as sexually pure and spiritual in nature while on the other hand, men were seen to be sexually active. The call for new reforms of puritan values came, and men were accountable for sex drive that was seen as the only means for reproduction. This increased women’s rights to refuse their husbands in the bedroom and the middle class suffered a decline in birthrates. The lower class continued to have big families, and these were the immigrants and blacks in the cities who posed a threat to good families.
The Comstock Act immediately reacted to the renewed Puritan fears. It ordered the creation of religious and societal fervor, and interested parties began to consider for change. The Comstock laws targeted children. It relied on public views of foreigners to fit the frame as to why American children were becoming smut. On the other hand, foreigners, together with their children, were turning to be the wolves while Puritan the American children were the sheep. The Era of Comstock realized a rise in negatives, instituting a “sin sells” perception that saw “smut” widely covered (Morone, 2003). However, in an attempt to minimize immoral behaviors, Victorians, together with Comstock, brought it to the forefront of the polity. Hence, it can be drawn that the Victorian era is an outstanding lens for providing insights into the importance of sexual purity and issues of women to politics of sin in America.
Reference
Morone, J. A. (2003). Hellfire nation: The politics of sin in American history. Yale University Press.