In the 1800’s, the
Industrial Revolution brought innovation and more economic opportunity. This
steadily drew men out of the home, as they sought economic advancement and
security. Women had an increasing amount of domestic presence, and control of
the going’s on of their home (52). This division in the roles and places of men
and women is known as the ideology of domesticity, and men leave their “crass”
world for the safe domain of their wives and children (52). Men seemed to be
unable to leave the “brutish” ways of the male domain at their door, and
instead brought the angers of drunkenness to their wives. With her domain turned
upside down by the arrival of her intoxicated husband, wives had few options
but to endure. Men who felt less powerful and emasculated by the fast paced new
world may have found comfort in drink and strong by showing physical dominance
over their wives. Divorce was taboo, and women lacked economic rights to secure
financial stability for herself and her children if she left her husband.
These
culminations of society’s beliefs and the ways of the world gave the temperance
movement a starting point to begin to protect women. The temperance movement
saw alcohol as a source of abusive men, and sought to ban it. They wanted to
make men pledge to abstain from drink to
prevent “ruin to themselves and their families” (52). Women argued that
they deserved the role as the voice of the movement, saying men were better at “statistics
and logical deductions” but women could vividly “describe” and “paint” the “horrors”
of intemperance (52). As women spoke about domestic abuse as violating
acceptable social culture, they gained more and more speaking power and
effectiveness. As the temperance movement moved forward with the aim of
abolishing alcohol, they depicted women as victims of drunken brutish men (53).
As women showed themselves as a proper damsel in distress, it had the effect on
society of spurring them to be the knight in shining armor. However, feminist
groups began to emerge in the mid 1800’s with more radical views, and the male dominated
political system shied away from helping women and establishing their rights
and independence from men (56). Empowering women to get out of the role of
damsel in distress may have provoked men to fear the possibility of a society
in which they were the powerless sex.
Good focus on the relationship between alcohol and family violence.
ReplyDeleteYou end this piece on a really interesting note - the removal of women from the position of "damsel in distress" and its effects on the feminism movement. I think it would be much more interesting to focus on and develop that thought more thoroughly, particularly why such a movement was considered so radical.
I think you have two strong points that could be explored individually - you can either look at how a changing economic environment affected home life and the potential for spousal abuse, or how the growing feminist movement played into society's concern for the issue of wife beating.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that it's possible we're understating or outright ignoring the fact that women also worked during the Industrial Revolution, in conditions often just as grueling and dangerous as men (children were also subject to the same conditions). I admittedly don't know a whole lot about the subject at the moment, but it's certainly worth looking into.
I like that in the end of your response you bring up the idea of women acting like a "damsel in distress". I am hoping that as our course goes on we will move more into the woman's rights era and the literature stemming from there to discuss how woman sought to shed the idea of being a helpless sex. However, I also think it is interesting to consider how history can repeat itself. Often times today we hear about feminist groups who dislike the thought of woman who revert back to this "damsel in distress" persona. This implies, and it's no secret, that many woman in our society today act in this way. Though it is not the norm as it was in the time period Pleck is writing about, it is important to consider that everyone's view points on gender roles vary and some women today choose to be in that position that historically woman had no choice to avoid.
ReplyDeleteThe paper is flows well. You tackle a lot of issues and present them with ease.
ReplyDeleteIn my amateur opinion, you should focus on one of the larger ideas of your essay. For example, you focus on the feminist movement, but it is too broad for a page. A better route may be to focus on a specific aspect of the movement from the chapter. Another route you could pursue for the entirety of the paper is the role political system takes on women trying to establish themselves from men.
A lot of great ideas and best of luck on the rewrite.
Hey,
ReplyDeleteAnother point that would add something to your argument is that women, as well as men, were being drawn out of the home during the industrial revolution. This action might have also provoked the "brutishness" you reference, in that men needed to demonstrate their authority over women both at the workplace and at home--just a thought! Great job on your paper!
-Jess
Your paper focuses on two major issues that are both very interesting within themselves. I think it could be more efficient if you were to focus on one or the other so you could go in depth with the issues to really analyze either one and bring out different examples and evidence for either. Being able to go more in depth will help solidify your argument and prove your point. Good work!
ReplyDeleteSomewhat broad, but you bring up some interesting points. I really like that you explained why men might feel powerless in this time due to the change in their work. I also really liked how you called women in the Temperance Movement as "proper damsels in distress." I think you could've focused on this image and how it contrasted the fact that the women in this movement were trying to gain respect and change laws, and how that possible affected their success.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely an interesting read. My suggestion would be to try to hone in a little more on a thesis statement and really try to prove and stick to it throughout your entire analysis. I think, as others have suggested, a little bit tighter focus would be useful in doing so.
ReplyDeleteI, like nearly everyone else, also appreciate your metaphor of the "damsel in distress" and "knight in shining armor." Also, like others said, you could almost use the end of your essay to produce a very insightful one. (I'm often told by profs that I should've "started at my conclusion," so you're not alone!) Then you could elaborate on your metaphor -- could maybe the apathy of men, society, and/or law enforcement have been the driving force for such a radical movement amongst women? In short, they needed a "knight in shining armor," but no one came through, so they did it themselves.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought - love where you're headed on this!
I love your final thought here. It raises the question of how one can succeed in a system that works to ensure that person'a failure. Even in the women's claim that "men are better at statistics and logical deductions" they have to cater and acknowledge ideas that confine them to social stereotypes. I wonder how the laws banning alcohol ultimately played out in the context of abusive homes. Did it make things any worse?
DeleteYou've done a good job of summarizing the information from this chapter in a clear and concise way. However, there isn't much analysis or evaluation of the information until the very end. The last sentence is a good theory, and it's kind of a bummer to be left hanging with your suggesting its possibility and then ending. Work that out a little bit! Explain why you think fear was man's motivation for keeping agency away from women. I'd totally be interested in hearing your reasons.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThis essay definitely summarized the text from Chapter 3, but I agree with some of the prior posts in saying that there could be more analysis of the text. In your essay you bring up two interesting topics: The Industrial Revolution and the temperance movement, and with these topics you discuss how each impacted family and domestic life. With more focus this relationship and more analysis how the Industrial Revolution and the temperance movement influenced domestic life (and ultimately spousal abuse) your essay will read less like a summary of information and more like an argumentative essay.
This essay focuses on the relationship between alcohol and domestic violence, but you mostly summarized the chapter from Domestic Tyranny. You make many valid points, but you need to elaborate on them to create your argument. Focus more on imputing your ideas in a critical manner rather than describing the chapters ideas. By putting more critical insight into this essay it will allow it to escape the summary and bring in the argumentative points that are needed.
ReplyDeleteYou provide a very in depth look at Pleck’s connection between alcohol and abuse. It might be interesting to connect this to Cobbe’s connection between the two and see where they agree or disagree.
ReplyDeleteI like your focus on victim blaming since it intertwines the past condition with the present. However, it might be useful to narrow down your content to those matters which directly relate to victim blaming. For example taking out the paragraphs of victims not wanting to go to the courts or else make the connection to victim blaming more concrete in these paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some comments above regarding the focus of your paper. Like others, I think your point about the "damsel in distress" role that some women took on or looked to shed at that point in time is interesting. I would like to see a more specific look at that point and how it relates to the temperance movement and emergence of women advocates at that time.
ReplyDeleteI like how your incorporated and started off with the Industrial Revolution. It gives the reader an idea of the time frame of the Temperance Movement that is more familiar to them than just a date. It also helps to explain why men and women were put into their roles. Your last statement is strong but I would like to see you expand on it more. Why would men feel that they would become the powerless sex? A great topic though with "damsel in distress."
ReplyDeleteI feel like this is a very well written history of the temperance movement and the beginning of the feminist movement. The section about the industrial revolution is interesting in terms of its effect on men in society. I agree with your last sentence, "Empowering women to get out of the role of damsel in distress may have provoked men to fear the possibility of a society in which they were the powerless sex." I would expand on this argument and build your essay from there. Why were men fearful of this possibility?
ReplyDeleteI wanted your article to explore the more religious side of the movement's struggle. The idea of divorce, even from an awful husband, was considered taboo and undesirable. The culture at the time deemed divorce to be a harmful decision for the family and children. I think you could take this post in a direction to reflect how the movement battled this mentality in the name of justice.
ReplyDeleteThe post allowed me to see the timeline of movement. It is good to see the events unfold throughout the post and allow the reader to look back at the reading to connect the dots and major characters in the movement.
I like your first paragraph, however, it seems more of a summary than an opening paragraph for it is not clear in what you are trying to argue. Perhaps if you try to make your ideas more specific and organize them then your audience would be able to see your argument in a stronger light. I do like your sentence, "As women showed themselves as a proper damsel in distress, it had the effect on society of spurring them to be the knight in shining armor." It just reminded me of the Cobbe article and how she tried to address the gentlemen of society.
ReplyDeleteI think your post would be a good start to an argument that the temperance movement, and women exiting the role of the damsel in distress, caused fear in men due to the role reversal in the "ideology of domesticity". I think that your description of the empowerment of women along with the abolition of alcohol are excellent examples of some of the biggest fears men of that period could have had. If you expand on those concepts I think you will really have something.
ReplyDeleteI like your quick summation of the article but you didn't mention how women could also be drunkard's and how Pleck argues that women often turned to drink in order to deal with the grievances of their domestic work and drunkard husband's. It would have been interesting to see how that would have fit into your arguement when stating that men feared becoming the weaker sex.
ReplyDeleteMy comment is the same as the majority. I think it is a really interesting read, but it felt a bit like a summary. My suggestion would be more analysis and focus.
ReplyDeleteYou clearly have found the support necessary to back up your arguments, although the first paragraph appears to be a lot of summary information. I think your argument would be stronger if you began with your first sentence in the second paragraph and used the information from the first paragraph to support your argument from there. I think that with a little more personal analysis, you will be able to deepen your argument and push it a little bit further.
ReplyDeleteThe usage of the quote "Women had an increasing amount of domestic presence, and control of the going’s on of their home" struck me in that women only had the control of doing what they were forced into doing. Through societal and male pressures it seems women had no control at all.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be great to explore how as women gained control over their voices through the temperance movement they continually lost control to govern themselves as the government opted against helping them and as they sparked fear in men.
This is a good summary of the 3rd chapter in Pleck. I think this analysis of the chapter may have been to broad though. It covered a lot of themes and ideas without developing an analysis of an idea more closely. I think it would work a lot better if you focused on one specific theme. This would be easier to do if you just came up with a thesis to focus your argument. There were a couple grammatical mistakes and some syntax problems. I was a little confused my this line because of the syntax, "Men who felt less powerful and emasculated by the fast paced new world may have found comfort in drink and strong by showing physical dominance over their wives. "
ReplyDelete