and unreasonable demands of her husband, without one word of
expostulation or inquiry. If her master be dissatisfied with the most
trifling particular in her conduct, he tears the cap or veil from her
head, and this constitutes a divorce.
A Persian woman, under the dominion of the kindest master, is treated
much in the same manner as a favorite animal. To vary her personal
graces for his pleasure, is the sole end and aim of her existence.
As moral or intellectual beings, it would be better for them to be
among the dead than the living. The mother instructs her daughter in
all the voluptuous coquetry, by which she herself acquired precarious
ascendency over her absolute master; but all that is truly estimable in
female character is utterly neglected.
Hence we find women extravagantly fond of adorning their persons.
Regarded as instruments of pleasure, they have been degraded into mere
animals, and have found their own gratification principally in the
indulgence of personal vanity, because their external charms procured
for them, at least a temporary ascendency over those, who held in their
hands the reins of government. A few instances must suffice, or I shall
exceed the limits I have prescribed to myself in this letter.
During the magnificent prosperity of Israel, marriages were conducted
with great pomp; and with the progress of luxury and refinement, women
became expensive, rather than profitable in a pecuniary point of view.
Hence probably arose the custom of wealthy parents giving a handsome
dowry with their daughters. On the day of the nuptials, the bride was
conducted by her female relations to the bath, where she was anointed
with the choicest perfumes, her hair perfumed and braided, her eyebrows
deepened with black powder, and the tips of her fingers tinged with
rose color. She was then arrayed in a marriage robe of brilliant color;
the girdle and bracelets were more or less costly.
Notwithstanding the Chinese women have no opportunity to rival each
other in the conquest of hearts, they are nevertheless very fond of
ornaments. Bunches of silver or gilt flowers are always interspersed
among their ringlets, and sometimes they wear the Chinese phœnix made
of silver gilt. It moves with the slightest motion of the wearer,
and the spreading tail forms a glittering aigrette on the middle of
the head, and the wings wave over the front. Yet a Chinese ballad
says,--The pearls and precious stones, the silk and gold with which
a coquette so studiously bedecks herself, are a transparent varnish
which makes all her defects the more apparent.
The Moorish women have generally a great passion for ornament. They
decorate their persons with heavy gold ear-rings, necklaces of amber,
coral and gold; gold bracelets; gold chains and silver bells for the
ankles; rings on the fingers, &c. &c. The poorer class wear glass beads
around the head, and curl the hair in large ringlets. Men are proud of
having their wives handsomely dressed.
The Moors are not peculiar in this fancy. Christian men still admire
women who adorn their persons to gratify the lust of the eye and the
pride of life. Women, says a Brahminical expositor, are characterized
by an inordinate love of jewels, fine clothes, &c. &c. I cannot deny
this charge, but it is only one among many instances, wherein men
have reproached us with those very faults and vices which their own
treatment has engendered. Is it any matter of surprise that women,
when unnaturally deprived of the means of cultivating their minds, of
objects which would elevate and refine their passions and affections,
should seek gratification in the toys and the trifles which now too
generally engage their attention?
I cannot close this, without acknowledging the assistance and
information I have derived, and shall continue to derive on this part
of my subject, from a valuable work entitled ‘Condition of Women, by
Lydia M. Child.’ It is worth the perusal of every one who is interested
in the subject.
Thine in the bonds of womanhood,
SARAH M. GRIMKE.
LETTER VII.
CONDITION IN SOME PARTS OF EUROPE AND AMERICA.
_Brookline, 8th Mo., 22d, 1837._
DEAR SISTER,--I now come to the consideration of the condition of woman
in Europe.--In this portion of the world, she does not appear to have
been as uniformly or as deeply debased, as in Eastern countries; yet we
shall find little in her history which can yield us satisfaction, when
we regard the high station she was designed to occupy as a _moral and
intellectual_ being.
In Greece, if we may judge from what Eustathius says, ‘women should
keep within doors, and there talk,’--we may conclude, that in general
their occupations were chiefly domestic. Thucydides also declares, that
‘she was the best woman, of whom the least was said, either of good
or of harm.’ The heathen philosophers doubtless wished to keep woman
in her ‘_appropriate sphere_;’ and we find our clerical brethren of
the present day re-echoing these pagan sentiments, and endeavoring to
drive woman from the field of moral labor and intellectual culture,
to occupy her talents in the pursuit of those employments which will
enable her to regale the palate of her lord with the delicacies of the
table, and in every possible way minister to his animal comfort and
gratification. In my humble opinion, woman has long enough subserved
the interests of man; and in the spirit of self-sacrifice, submitted
almost without remonstrance to his oppression; and now that her
attention is solicited to the subject of her rights, her privileges
and her duties, I would entreat her to double her diligence in the
performance of all her obligations as a _wife_, a _mother_, a _sister_,
and a _daughter_. Let us remember that our claim to stand on perfect
equality with our brethren, can only be substantiated by a scrupulous
attention to our domestic duties, as well as by aiding in the great
work of moral reformation--a work which is now calling for the energies
and consecrated powers of every man and woman who desires to see the
Redeemer’s kingdom established on earth. That man must indeed be narrow
minded, and can have but a poor conception of the power of moral truth
on the female heart, who supposes that a correct view of her own rights
can make woman _less solicitous to fill up every department of duty_.
If it should have this effect, it must be because she has not taken a
comprehensive view of the whole subject.
In the history of Rome, we find a little spot of sunshine in the
valley where woman has been destined to live, unable from her lowly
situation to take an expansive view of that field of moral and mental
improvement, which she should have been busy in cultivating.
‘In the earliest and best days of Rome, the first magistrates and
generals of armies ploughed their own fields, and threshed their own
grain. Integrity, industry and simplicity, were the prevailing virtues
of the times; and the character of woman was, as it always must be,
graduated in a degree by that of man. Columella says, Roman husbands,
having completed the labors of the day, entered their houses free
from all care, and there enjoyed perfect repose. There reigned union
and concord and industry, supported by mutual affections. The most
beautiful woman depended for distinction on her economy and endeavors
to assist in crowning her husband’s diligence with prosperity. All was
in common between them; nothing was thought to belong more to one than
another. The wife by her assiduity and activity within doors, equalled
and seconded the industry and labor of her husband.’
In the then state of the world, we may conclude from this description,
that woman enjoyed as much happiness as was consistent with that
comparatively unimproved condition of our species; but now a new and
vast sphere of usefulness is opened to her, and she is pressed by
surrounding circumstances to come up to the help of the Lord against
the giant sins which desolate our beloved country. Shall woman shrink
from duty in this exigency, and retiring within her own domestic
circle, delight herself in the abundance of her own selfish enjoyments?
Shall she rejoice in her home, her husband, her children, and forget
her brethren and sisters in bondage, who know not what it is to call a
spot of earth their own, whose husbands and wives are torn from them by
relentless tyrants, and whose children are snatched from their arms by
their unfeeling task-masters, whenever interest, or convenience, tempts
them to this sacrilegious act? Shall woman disregard the situation of
thousands of her fellow creatures, who are the victims of intemperance
and licentiousness, and retreating to the privacy of her own
comfortable home, be satisfied that her whole duty is performed, when
she can exhibit ‘her children well clad and smiling, and her table
neatly spread with wholesome provisions?’ Shall she, because ‘her house
is her _home_,’ refuse her aid and her sympathy to the down trodden
slave, to the poor unhappy outcasts who are deprived of those blessings
which she so highly prizes? Did God give her those blessings to steel
her heart to the sufferings of her fellow creatures? Did he grant
her the possession of husband and children, to dry up the fountains
of feeling for those who know not the consolations of tenderness and
reciprocal affection? Ah no! for every such blessing, God demands a
grateful heart; and woman must be recreant to her duty, if she can
quietly sit down in the enjoyments of her own domestic circle, and not
exert herself to procure the same happiness for others.
But it is said woman has a mighty weapon in secret prayer. She has, I
acknowledge, _in common with man_; but the woman who prays in sincerity
for the regeneration of this guilty world, will accompany her prayers
by her labors. A friend of mine remarked--‘I was sitting in my chamber,
weeping over the miseries of the slave, and putting up my petitions
for his deliverance from bondage; when in the midst of my meditations,
it occurred to me that my tears, unaided by effort, could never melt
the chain of the slave. I must be up and doing.’ She is now an active
abolitionist--her prayers and her works go hand in hand.
I am here reminded of what a slave once said to his master, a Methodist
minister. The slaveholder inquired, ‘How did you like my sermon
to-day?’ ‘Very good, master, but it did not preach me free.’
Oh, my sisters, suffer me to entreat you to assert your privileges, and
to perform your duties as moral beings. Be not dismayed at the ridicule
of man; it is a weapon worthy only of little minds, and is employed by
those who feel that they cannot convince our judgment. Be not alarmed
at contumely, or scorn; we must expect this. I pray that we may meet
it with forbearance and love; and that nothing may drive us from the
performance of our high and holy duties. Let us ‘cease from man, whose
breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of?’ and
press forward in all the great moral enterprises of the age, leaning
_only_ on the arm of our Beloved.
But I must return to the subject I commenced with, viz. the condition
of woman in Europe.
‘The northern nations bore a general resemblance to each other. War
and hunting were considered the only honorable occupations for men,
and all other employments were left to women and slaves. Even the
Visigoths, on the coasts of Spain, left their fields and flocks to
the care of women. The people who inhabit the vast extent of country
between the Black sea and the North sea, are divided into various
distinct races. The women are generally very industrious; even in
their walks, they carry a portable distaff, and spin every step of the
way. Both Croatian and Walachian women perform all the agricultural
operations in addition to their own domestic concerns.’
Speaking of the Morlachian women, M. Fortis says, ‘Being treated like
beasts of burden, and expected to endure submissively every species
of hardship, they naturally become very dirty and careless in their
habits.’
The Cossack women afford a contrast to this disgusting picture.
They are very cleanly and industrious, and in the absence of their
husbands, supply their places by taking charge of all their usual
occupations, in addition to their own. It is rare for a Cossack woman
not to know some trade, such as dyeing cloth, tanning leather, &c.
The condition of Polish and Russian serfs in modern times is about
the same. The Polish women have scarcely clothing enough for decency,
and they are subjected to great hardships and privations. ‘In Russia,
women have been seen paving the streets, and performing other similar
drudgery. In Finland, they work like beasts of burden, and may be
seen for hours in snow water, up to the middle, tugging at boats and
sledges.’
In Flanders and in France, women are engaged in performing laborious
tasks; and even in England, it is not unusual to see them scraping up
manure from the streets with their hands, and gathering it into baskets.
In Greece, even now the women plough and carry heavy burdens, while the
lordly master of the family may be seen walking before them without any
incumbrance.[1]
Generally speaking, however, there is much more comparative equality of
labor between the sexes in Europe than among the Orientals.
I shall close this letter with a brief survey of the condition of women
among the Aborigines of America.
‘Before America was settled by Europeans, it was inhabited by Indian
tribes, which greatly resembled each other in the treatment of their
women. Every thing, except war and hunting, was considered beneath the
dignity of man.--During long and wearisome marches, women were obliged
to carry children, provisions and hammocks on their shoulders; they
had the sole care of the horses and dogs, cut wood, pitched the tents,
raised the corn, and made the clothing. When the husband killed game,
he left it by a tree in the forest, returned home, and sent his wife
several miles in search of it. In most of the tribes, women were not
allowed to eat and drink with men, but stood and served them, and then
ate what they left.’
The following affecting anecdote may give some idea of the sufferings
of these women:
‘Father Joseph reproved a female savage for destroying her infant
daughter. She replied, “I wish my mother had thus prevented the
manifold sufferings I have endured. Consider, father, our deplorable
situation. Our husbands go out to hunt; we are dragged along with one
infant at our breast, and another in a basket. Though tired with long
walking, we are not allowed to sleep when we return, but must labor
all night in grinding maize and making chica for them.--They get drunk
and beat us, draw us by the hair of the head, and tread us under foot.
Would to God my mother had put me under ground the moment I was born.”’
In Greenland, the situation of woman is equally deplorable. The men
hunt bears and catch seals; but when they have towed their booty to
land, they would consider it a disgrace to help the women drag it home,
or skin and dress it. They often stand and look idly on, while their
wives are staggering beneath the load that almost bends them to the
earth. The women are cooks, butchers, masons, curriers, shoemakers and
tailors. They will manage a boat in the roughest seas, and will often
push off from the shore in the midst of a storm, that would make the
hardiest European sailor tremble.
The page of history teems with woman’s wrongs, and it is wet with
woman’s tears.--For the sake of my degraded sex every where, and for
the sake of my brethren, who suffer just in proportion as they place
woman lower in the scale of creation than man, lower than her Creator
placed her, I entreat my sisters to arise in all the majesty of moral
power, in all the dignity of immortal beings, and plant themselves,
side by side, on the platform of human rights, with man, to whom they
were designed to be companions, equals and helpers in every good word
and work.
Thine in the bonds of womanhood
SARAH M. GRIMKE.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Since the preceding letters were in type, I have met with the
following account in a French work entitled ‘De l’education des meres
de famille ou de la civilization du Genre Humain par les femmes,’
printed at Brussels in 1837. ‘The periodicals have lately published
the following circumstance from the journal of an English physician,
who travelled in the East. He visited a slave market, where he saw
about twenty Greek women half naked, lying on the ground waiting for
a purchaser. One of them attracted the attention of an old Turk. The
barbarian examined her shoulders, her legs, her ears, her mouth, her
neck, with the minutest care, just as a horse is examined, and during
the inspection, the merchant praised the beauty of her eyes, the
elegance of her shape, and other perfections; he protested that the
poor girl was but thirteen years of age, &c. After a severe scrutiny
and some dispute about the price, she was sold body and soul for 1375
francs. The soul, it is true, was accounted of little value in the
bargain. The unfortunate creature, half fainting in the arms of her
mother, implored help in the most touching accents, but it availed
nothing.--This infernal scene passed in Europe in 1829, only 600
leagues from Paris and London, the two capitals of the human species,
and at the time in which I write, it is the living history of two
thirds of the inhabitants of the earth.’
LETTER VIII.
ON THE CONDITION OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES.
_Brookline, 1837._
MY DEAR SISTER,--I have now taken a brief survey of the condition of
woman in various parts of the world. I regret that my time has been so
much occupied by other things, that I have been unable to bestow that
attention upon the subject which it merits, and that my constant change
of place has prevented me from having access to books, which might
probably have assisted me in this part of my work. I hope that the
principles I have asserted will claim the attention of some of my sex,
who may be able to bring into view, more thoroughly than I have done,
the situation and degradation of woman. I shall now proceed to make a
few remarks on the condition of women in my own country.
During the early part of my life, my lot was cast among the
butterflies of the _fashionable_ world; and of this class of women,
I am constrained to say, both from experience and observation, that
their education is miserably deficient; that they are taught to regard
marriage as the one thing needful, the only avenue to distinction;
hence to attract the notice and win the attentions of men, by their
external charms, is the chief business of fashionable girls. They
seldom think that men will be allured by intellectual acquirements,
because they find, that where any mental superiority exists, a woman
is generally shunned and regarded as stepping out of her ‘appropriate
sphere,’ which, in their view, is to dress, to dance, to set out to the
best possible advantage her person, to read the novels which inundate
the press, and which do more to destroy her character as a rational
creature, than any thing else. Fashionable women regard themselves,
and are regarded by men, as pretty toys or as mere instruments of
pleasure; and the vacuity of mind, the heartlessness, the frivolity
which is the necessary result of this false and debasing estimate of
women, can only be fully understood by those who have mingled in the
folly and wickedness of fashionable life; and who have been called from
such pursuits by the voice of the Lord Jesus, inviting their weary and
heavy laden souls to come unto Him and learn of Him, that they may
find something worthy of their immortal spirit, and their intellectual
powers; that they may learn the high and holy purposes of their
creation, and consecrate themselves unto the service of God; and not,
as is now the case, to the pleasure of man.
There is another and much more numerous class in this country, who are
withdrawn by education or circumstances from the circle of fashionable
amusements, but who are brought up with the dangerous and absurd
idea, that _marriage_ is a kind of preferment; and that to be able to
keep their husband’s house, and render his situation comfortable, is
the end of her being. Much that she does and says and thinks is done
in reference to this situation; and to be married is too often held
up to the view of girls as the sine qua non of human happiness and
human existence. For this purpose more than for any other, I verily
believe the majority of girls are trained. This is demonstrated by
the imperfect education which is bestowed upon them, and the little
pains taken to cultivate their minds, after they leave school, by the
little time allowed them for reading, and by the idea being constantly
inculcated, that although all household concerns should be attended
to with scrupulous punctuality at particular seasons, the improvement
of their intellectual capacities is only a secondary consideration,
and may serve as an occupation to fill up the odds and ends of time.
In most families, it is considered a matter of far more consequence
to call a girl off from making a pie, or a pudding, than to interrupt
her whilst engaged in her studies. This mode of training necessarily
exalts, in their view, the animal above the intellectual and spiritual
nature, and teaches women to regard themselves as a kind of machinery,
necessary to keep the domestic engine in order, but of little value as
the _intelligent_ companions of men.
Let no one think, from these remarks, that I regard a knowledge
of housewifery as beneath the acquisition of women. Far from it:
I believe that a complete knowledge of household affairs is an
indispensable requisite in a woman’s education,--that by the mistress
of a family, whether married or single, doing her duty thoroughly
and _understandingly_, the happiness of the family is increased to
an incalculable degree, as well as a vast amount of time and money
saved. All I complain of is, that our education consists so almost
exclusively in culinary and other manual operations. I do long to see
the time, when it will no longer be necessary for women to expend so
many precious hours in furnishing ‘a well spread table,’ but that their
husbands will forego some of their accustomed indulgences in this way,
and encourage their wives to devote some portion of their time to
mental cultivation, even at the expense of having to dine sometimes on
baked potatoes, or bread and butter.
I believe the sentiment expressed by the author of ‘Live and let Live,’
is true:
‘Other things being equal, a woman of the highest mental endowments
will always be the best housekeeper, for domestic economy, is a
science that brings into action the qualities of the mind, as well as
the graces of the heart. A quick perception, judgment, discrimination,
decision and order are high attributes of mind, and are all in daily
exercise in the well ordering of a family. If a sensible woman, an
intellectual woman, a woman of genius, is not a good housewife, it
is not because she is either, or all of those, but because there is
some deficiency in her character, or some omission of duty which
should make her very humble, instead of her indulging in any secret
self-complacency on account of a certain superiority, which only
aggravates her fault.’
The influence of women over the minds and character of _children_ of
both sexes, is allowed to be far greater than that of men. This being
the case by the very ordering of nature, women should be prepared by
education for the performance of their sacred duties as mothers and as
sisters. A late American writer,[2] speaking on this subject, says in
reference to an article in the Westminster Review: