Republican Womanhood: Then and Now

Introduction1 In the history of western thought the relationship of to the state has not frequently been central topic of discussion. Apart from its early consideration in Plato's Republic, one of the first major works devoted entirely to this topic is Christine de Pizan's Book of the City of Ladies in the late 14th century. Her intent was to argue in defense of as the keepers of society's virtue and morals who pass them on to their children. This idea is further developed later by number of Enlightenment thinkers in England and Scotland, as well as in pre- and postrevolutionary America. It culminated first in the model of the republican wife and then the republican mother whose was to nurture the civic virtue of husband and children at home, but not to play any direct in the public world of (Lewis 721). Scholar Linda K. Kerber argues that the concept of republican motherhood has been widely accepted and readily used in the United States as justification for women's often limited political activity well into the 20th century.2 This essay will explore the development of the concept of the republican wife and mother and discuss whether this idea of the republican woman has changed significantly in the early 21st century. While in the United States today may see their relationship to the state as equal to men's, in are still subject to specific forms of criticism and hostility today.Republican Motherhood: Origins and Development of Concept3 Republican ideology, in its general rather than partisan form, has historically been concerned with men and not with political community of both sexes. Political ideas, especially those inherited from Aristotle such as the good life in the public arena, have been applied primarily to men relegating to lesser and non-public way of service to the polis. Having learned from Aristotle that was the affair of men, Americans continued to discuss political affairs in terms that largely excluded (Kerber, Women of the Republic 7). Considering this ideological and philosophical heritage it is not surprising that Enlightenment thought despite its potentially gender-neutral stance also excluded women.4 Enlightenment era was one of change with regard to concepts of the state and the nature of citizenship (Leonard and Tronto 33). It was time for great questions of political and civic freedom, of the relationship between law and liberty and of whether or not women were also to recognize themselves as responsible beings, capable of being enlightened and of upholding the same responsibilities to the state as men (Kerber, The Republican Mother 187). Although some thinkers explicitly addressed the question of women, for the most part remained on the fringes. Kerber's extensive evaluation of the main texts of the Enlightenment reveals that the nature of the relationship between and the state remained largely unexamined (The Republican Mother 188). According to Leonard and Tronto this era and the resulting ideology of republicanism is part of a long history of disdain for 'femininity' in politics (33). ideals around which the United States were formed, especially the notion of the individual with God-given rights and the obligations between citizen and state, were not applied to women.5 Much of the thought of this period relied on the concept of the 'state of nature' to derive and explain political relationships, and based woman's purpose on her natural and proper role within the family (Lewis 691). It followed that naturally existed in private domestic sphere, while men were free to lead lives in the public realm. If woman's primary was domestic one, then her political capacity was one that only appeared in limited circumstances (Kerber, The Republican Mother 188). These assumptions did not go unchallenged. Several thinkers of the English and Scottish Enlightenment, such as Benjamin Rush, made some mention of in their discussions of the ideals that were to eventually produce new state in the Americas with the promise of freedom and equality for all. …