“In short, women, in general, as well as the rich of both sexes, have acquired all the follies and vices of civilization, and missed the useful fruit … Their senses are inflamed, and their understandings neglected; consequently they become the prey of their senses, delicately termed sensibility, and are blown about by every momentary gust of feeling.
It is entirely an urban issue that came into being when the 50% of general population shifted from farming to urban jobs in 1890 in America. Before then, women have a lot to do to keep the farm going while raising family that will carry on the farm work while providing for their aged parents. Urban jobs created more leisure while also bringing new uncertainties such as getting food when your entire income is dependent on a corporation who can fire you at will (unlike a slave who must be kept in reasonable good condition to recoup the master’s capital investment). Both are at the roots of feminism.
In the agricultural age, it was well-understood that men are the captains and women are the lieutenants. The captain establish the good order and provide protection and process while the women enforce the order and minister to the dependents from the family stores. So, the women felt engaged and useful as they works and engaged with other women to ensure their families’s survival. Urban life brought greater leisure and ease, but also brought uncertainty with regard to husband’s status and independence and ability to protect them and to put food on the table. It also created confusion about the woman’s role in this new urban life. That is where it all started.
Women were always effective lieutenants, there is no doubt, especially with the Northern Europeans who must look after families and kingdoms while husbands are gone for months and years raising, warring, and trading. They felt useful in carrying out this ancient role. Now? Very doubtfully, for both men and women.
It is entirely an urban issue that came into being when the 50% of general population shifted from farming to urban jobs in 1890 in America. Before then, women have a lot to do to keep the farm going while raising family that will carry on the farm work while providing for their aged parents. Urban jobs created more leisure while also bringing new uncertainties such as getting food when your entire income is dependent on a corporation who can fire you at will (unlike a slave who must be kept in reasonable good condition to recoup the master’s capital investment). Both are at the roots of feminism.
In the agricultural age, it was well-understood that men are the captains and women are the lieutenants. The captain establish the good order and provide protection and process while the women enforce the order and minister to the dependents from the family stores. So, the women felt engaged and useful as they works and engaged with other women to ensure their families’s survival. Urban life brought greater leisure and ease, but also brought uncertainty with regard to husband’s status and independence and ability to protect them and to put food on the table. It also created confusion about the woman’s role in this new urban life. That is where it all started.
Women were always effective lieutenants, there is no doubt, especially with the Northern Europeans who must look after families and kingdoms while husbands are gone for months and years raising, warring, and trading. They felt useful in carrying out this ancient role. Now? Very doubtfully, for both men and women.