Society’s Corset of Feminism Unbearable

During the week of September 17th, the course curriculum inside and outside of the classroom seemed to focus thematically on the intersection of feminism and social movements in history. In preparation for class, both readings, by Ellen Carol DuBois and Christine Stansell analyzed slightly more than the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the mid 1800s but went further in depth to critique one of the women behind it all, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Then, during Wednesday’s class, Anne Robb Levinsky, Director, and Kelly Rasmussen, Curator of Collections from the Molly Brown House gave a very interesting presentation entitled, “No Pink Tea”: Margaret Brown, Women’s Suffrage, and the 1908 Denver Convention. Picking up on the title, it covered a little bit of Margaret Brown’s life and served to depict the roles of feminism in social movements and politics at the time.

However in reflection of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Margaret Brown a lot of interesting points can be compared and contrasted when considering the roles of a proper lady and the constraints of politics in social movements. Beginning with some of the similarities, although the prime of Stanton’s lifetime is slightly before Tobin Brown’s, during the mid to late 1800s and early 1900s respectively, the role of a woman in society has silently been governed by social etiquette tighter than a Victorian corset. Just as suffocating, women were expected to be the epitome of feminine, by this I mean docile and delicate and very little more. Then again, both of these two women refused to sit back and be content sipping tea, instead they worked hard to become an instrument for change in the issues that mattered to them. So even in a time when women could not vote, openly express their opinions in public forum, or testify in court it did not stop Stanton or Tobin Brown from working to fight such a gender constricting system.

Now, in an effort to straighten out some of the stark differences between Stanton and Tobin Brown I would like to draw up on some of the information I learned this week through the readings, lecture, and visiting the Molly Brown House and Museum. Attempting to consider Stanton’s involvement with abolitionist movements, the readings perceived her as simply using the rhetoric of black oppression to later be stretched to rally pro-feminism, a personal agenda she worked on all her life. Whether she was actually racist or not is still to question. In contrast Tobin Brown assailed multiple causes relentlessly and worked for the good of others while not forgetting where she came from. In conclusion, whether it be fighting for women’s rights, organizing philanthropic work in an effort to better the community and lives of others, or attempting make a stand against the traditional male dominated opposition and run in a public office, I feel this demonstrates how far we have and have not come in terms of the roles and expectations of feminism in politics and social movements.