During the 19 century women in American society were not granted the same rights as their male counterparts. For many, this was just the accepted way of life, submission to a male dominated culture. However for some there was a desire for something better. Some influential voices for this step toward early feminism were Catharine E. Beecher and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Though their ideas did not always match up, these two women played important roles in paving the way for a stronger female society, one that could claim equality between both sexes as well as fighting for freedom for all.
One aspect of Beecher’s argument does follow the idea of feminine superiority, however. She was a large advocate for female teachers. According to Beecher…show more content… “Methinks I hear some woman say, We must obey our Husbands!! Who says so. Why the Bible. No you have not rightly read your Bible. In the opening of the Bible at the creation of our first parents, God called their name Adam and gave them dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air and the beast of the field, but he says nothing to them about obedience to each other.” Both women agree that equality between man and woman is important. In her writing, Stanton attacks the male ego and in what factors men feel they are superior. Her argument against man’s perceived intellectual superiority is that is in the Garden of Eden, the serpent knew that the man would be easily persuaded to follow behind the woman to make her happy, but the woman would need more work to corrupt her. That is why the serpent offered the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, because he knew intellectually she would desire more knowledge. Her argument against man’s physical prowess is simply everyone is different and has different attributes to add toward their strength as well as it is not really fair to compare women to men physically when women were not given the same opportunities for athleticism as men were. Equality between the two sexes was her biggest drive, as it was for
