Judith Sargent Murray 's ' On The Equality Of The Sexes '

The classic Greek myths found in Mythology and ancient stories told in the Bible, often show striking resemblance to each other in narrative, symbolism, and thematic content. In both texts’ respective “Creation Stories”, women are portrayed similarly, cast in a rather unflattering light. The representation of women in both Mythology and the Bible and their portrayal has lasting impact on the way woman are perceived in the present day.

To begin with, she pointed out examples of how women are treated unfairly in society. She began to point out several double standards. The wife states, “about accused Lamech’s bigamy? Abraham was a holy man I know, And as I understand it Jacob also; And each of them had wives now, more than one, as many other holy men have done.” (61-65) Here, she shows that there is truly a double standard for women who behave in an exact manner as men.

On the Equality of the Sexes Murray expresses her distaste in the way that women are looked at as incapable of doing basically anything. She was an advocate for woman’s equality, education, and also economic independence. She believed that women can be independent, women can be educated, and women can make their own decisions. Women aren’t as intellectually lacking as men would make them out to be in the 17 -1800’s. Which she proves by writing under the pen name Mr. Vigilius to get her readers to consider her ideals without dismissing them based off of her gender. Since women were not allowed a higher education they took on unappealing domestic roles. Which gave them no choice but to stick with the ‘needle and kitchen’. Since all weak, unscholarly women do what they do best, knit and cook.

In July of 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed with the idea that all men were created equal. However, “all men” seemed to only to apply to white males, since women were not granted many of the promises articulated in the Declaration of Independence. In response, Judith Sargent Murray and Abigail Adams demanded equality through their writings, On the Equality of the Sexes and the 1776 correspondence between Abigail and John Adams. Through their writings, Murray and Adams argue for access to the promises articulated in the Declaration of Independence by using their prior education and Enlightenment ideologies in their favor.

This view caused me to analyze the text in a different way than the other members of my group. The other members of my group read more into what the author meant by “feminist," including examples of feminist experiences and feminists involved in Christianity throughout history. This focus is especially notable in one essay that concludes that feminism is not what they thought it to be — selfish, angry, career-driven women — but instead a group of people who want equality for all. Many of the CORE essays focus similar to Japinga’s point that women deserve equal, fair treatment because they are human made in the image of God. While reading through the CORE essays and reflecting on Japinga’s main arguments, my main analysis comes in one question — what does it take to be considered fully human

In On the Equality of the Sexes Murray counteracts these sexist ideas and demands educational opportunities for women. Murray receives an education that was uncommon for a women of

Two different types of lies, omission and stereotypes, are illustrated by anecdotes. In a widely known story, Ericsson explains the “Sumerian goddess Lilith from Genesis,” and how the omission of Lilith ultimately led to patriarchy. Lilith was purposely left out because she was portrayed as a strong independent woman. By leaving this key person out of the Bible, it resulted in the oppression of women and the dominance of men around the world for thousands of years. It enforced the idea that women are inferior to men, and has caused lasting effects on humanity today. Ericsson also recounts her own personal experience to uphold her claims about stereotype lies. She

“Because of countless millions of women, who planned, organized, lectured, wrote, marched, petitioned, lobbied, paraded, and broke new ground in every field imaginable, our world is irrevocably changed. Women and men in our generation, and the ones that will follow us, are living the legacy of women’s rights won against staggering odds in a revolution achieved without violence” (para.1)

The United States during and after the American Revolution was wrought with tremendous societal change and massive upheaval. A new republic emerged with grandiose ideas of civil liberties coupled with intense debates on the inalienable rights of men. As intellectuals across the country debated amongst themselves naturally questions about gender began to spring about. Although the new republic proudly proclaimed that all men were created equal, some, particularly affluent women, began to question what this meant for women in particular. One individual, both a prominent writer and political activist at the time, sought to challenge these preconceived notions of what women’s role in life should be. That individual was none other than Judith Sargent Murray.

Murray grew up in relative privilege, and her politics, being the result of debate and study, are reflective of such. She did not shy away from pointing out the hypocrisy of the free American ideology, as being a concept that excluded an entire gender. Murray believed that establishing the equality of women’s rights was a necessity to consider America a free country, and even more so to consider the American society to be one composed of educated, well reasoned people. Her advocacy for the advancement of women expanded to the widest levels, politically, as well as to the most compressed, mundane social activities of everyday life. The domestic activities of the everyday women were in no way intellectually stimulating, leaving the majority of

Judith Sargent Murray wrote this document to express her feelings on the inequality of women. After having been denied college, when her brother was send to Harvard, she realized how unfair society treated women and started to write anonymous, eye opening, essays to demand equality. Sargent wrote the document, along with similar articles, in 1786 after her first husband died. She described feeling inferior to man and disadvantage not being able to obtain an education to enhance her intellectual skills; stating that men are “taught to aspire while women are confined and limited.” (Sargent Murray) Her writing reached attention and was acknowledge by many including George Washington and John and Abigail Adams.

To become a carpenter, one needs a saw. To become a forester, one needs an axe. Tools are required for—and are even symbolic of—their respective professions. For women, however, the tools required to become scholars, free-thinkers, and intellectuals were held out of their reach for much of American history. The reason behind this was simple: they had not shown themselves capable to earn it. Women, it was argued, typically showed no signs of being rational thinkers, and therefore, were not even afforded the opportunity to prove themselves. In the late eighteenth century, Judith Sargent Murray argued that women had, in fact, proven themselves to perform creatively and intellectually with the opportunities that were given to them—opportunities that were often overlooked. Most notably, Murray argues that women partake in almost destructive social behavior as an outlet for creativity—an idea which is played on in the nineteenth century American novel The Linwoods through the importance of hierarchy to its female characters.

Equality of the sexes. What exactly does it mean? Throughout history, women have been denounced and told that they aren’t a man’s equal. People believe that a man is supposed to be educated and have a job; if he has a family he is the head of the household and the authoritative figure. And women are supposed to be frail and uneducated, and if they have a family they are to be a housewife. “I am the head and she the heart” (Women in the nineteenth Century), this is often how women were portrayed. At some points in history women voicing their options what unheard of because if they would have it would have become what many call a riot.

The Bible is controversial on the matter of gender equality. There are numerous contradictions about the status of women in Christian society. Historically, the most prominent interpretation has been rather negative toward women. The Christian Church, with principally male authority, emphasizes the idea that women are inferior to man. They focus on Eve’s sin leading to a punishment that “her husband will have authority over her.” (Drury, 34)

Upon losing the election to become the 45th president of the United States, Hillary Clinton gave a concession speech and told “all the little girls who are watching this...never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and to achieve your own dreams” (Clinton). While Candidate Hillary Clinton said these girls are “deserving of every chance,” our society may prove otherwise. Although women today are no longer denied basic rights such as voting, our patriarchal society still sets up barriers, which limit a woman’s ability to be considered equal to a man. Here, “equal” would be defined as being perceived in the same light for equal opportunities and outcomes. Similarly, Christian women today are not limited in the same ways they were in early Christianity; however, the Bible still presents women in subalternate roles, compared to men. In American society today, there are double standards in the way men and women are perceived that date back to “traditional” Biblical expectations of women being subservient to men.