The cult of domesticity is, briefly, the idea that a woman's ideal place is in the home and that the outside world is too dangerous and rough for a woman.
The Cult of Domesticity stresses four main ideals in order to achieve "true womanhood": piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity.
Piety referred to the belief that nineteenth-century women had a particular propensity for religion, which was considered a good thing because religion could be practiced in the home - the woman's proper sphere of influence.
Purity was highly revered, and it was believed that a woman was not a "true" woman without sexual purity.
Submissiveness was considered to be the most feminine of virtues, because a true woman knew her place in the familial hierarchy and didn't dare challenge in.
Domesticity determined that a woman's place was in the home, and deemed housework a task that uplifts the woman's spirits.
Piety referred to the belief that nineteenth-century women had a particular propensity for religion, which was considered a good thing because religion could be practiced in the home - the woman's proper sphere of influence.
Purity was highly revered, and it was believed that a woman was not a "true" woman without sexual purity.
Submissiveness was considered to be the most feminine of virtues, because a true woman knew her place in the familial hierarchy and didn't dare challenge in.
Domesticity determined that a woman's place was in the home, and deemed housework a task that uplifts the woman's spirits.
"For the true woman, a womanʹs rights were as follows: The right to love whom others scorn, The right to comfort and to mourn, The right to shed new joy on earth, The right to feel the soulʹs high worth, Such womanʹs rights a God will bless And crown their champions with success." - "Notes on the Cult of Domesticity and True Womanhood" Professor Catherine Lavender