The Feminist Papers: From Adams to de Beauvoir

744 Pages·1988·15.31 MB·English

by  Alice S. Rossi (Ed.)

The Feminist Papers:
From Adam s to de Beauvoir
Edited, with Introductory Essays
and a New Preface, by
Alice S. Rossi
Northeastern University Press
Boston
First Northeastern University Press edition 1988
Copyright © 1973 by Alice S. Rossi
Columbia University Press edition published October 1973
Bantam Books edition published 1974, 5 printings through July 1978
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be
reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written
permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publ ication Data
The Feminist papers.
Reprint. Originally published: New York : Columbia
University Press, 1973.
Bibliography: p.
1. Women—History—Modern period, 1600- —Sources.
2. Women's rights—History—Sources. 3. Feminism—
History—Sources. I. Rossi, Alice S., 1922-
HQ1154.F4457 1988 305.4'2'09 88-5257
ISBN 1-55553-028-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Printed and bound by Halliday Lithograph, Hanover, Massachusetts.
The paper is Glatfelter Offset B-16, an acid-free sheet.
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
92 91 90 89 88 5 4 3 2 1
For my mother and daughters
Excerpts from Adams Family Correspondence, Vol. 1: December 1761-May
1776, edited by L. H. Butterfield. CopyHght © 1963 by Massachusetts
Historical Society. Reprinted by permission of the Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press.
Excerpts from "The Subjection of Women," by John Stuart Mill. From
Essays on Sex Equality, edited by A. Rossi. Copyright © 1970 by The
University of Chicago Press. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission
of The University of Chicago Press.
Excerpts from Elizabeth Cady Stanton: As Revealed in Her Letters, Diary and
Reminiscences, edited by Theodore Stanton and Harriet Stanton Blatch.
Copyright 1922 by Harper and Row Publishers, Inc., and reprinted with
their permission.
Excerpts from Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by
Friedrich Engels. Copyright 1942 by International Publishers and reprinted
with their permission.
Excerpts from My Fight for Birth Control by Margaret Sanger. Copyright
1931 by M. Sanger. Reprinted by permission of Grant Sanger, M.D.
Excerpts from Woman and the New Race by Margaret Sanger. Copyright
1920 by Brentano's Inc. Reprinted by permission of Grant Sanger, M.D.
Excerpts from A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. Copyright 1929
by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.; renewed 1957, by Leonard Woolf.
Reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., and The Hogarth
Press, Ltd., London.
Excerpts from Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies by Margaret
Mead. Copyright 1935, 1950 by Margaret Mead; renewed 1963 by Margaret
Mead. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow & Co., Inc.
Excerpts from The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, translated and
edited by H. M. Parshley. Copyright 1952 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Reprinted
by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., the Estate of Simone de Beauvoir,
and Jonathan Cape Ltd., London.
Portions of "Prestige from the Other Sex" are reprinted from Alice S.
Rossi's Introduction to Essays on Sex Equality, edited by A. Rossi. Copyright
© 1970 by The University of Chicago Press. All rights reserved. Reprinted
by permission of The University of Chicago Press.
Contents
Preface: Feminist Lives and Works ix
Preface to the 1988 Edition xxi
Part 1—Reason Shall Set Us Free: Feminism and the
Enlightenment Perspective 1
Introduction: Analysis versus Action 3
"Remember the Ladies": Abigail Adams vs. John
Adams 7
Selected Letters from the Adams Family
Correspondence 8
Away from Puddings and Garments: Judith Sargent
Murray (1751-1820) 16
Judith Sargent Murray: On the Equality of the Sexes 18
Champion of Womankind: Mary Wollstonecraft
(1759-1797) 25
Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of
Woman 40
Woman of Action: Frances Wright (1795-1852) 86
Frances Wright: Education 100
Frances Wright: Of Free Enquiry 108
The First Woman Sociologist: Harriet Martineau
(1802-1876) 118
Harriet Martineau: Society in America 125
The Making of a Cosmopolitan Humanist: Margaret
Fuller (1810-1850) 144
Margaret Fuller: The Great Lawsuit. Man versus Men.
Woman versus Women 158
Prestige from the Other Sex: John Stuart Mill
(1806-1873) 183
John Stuart Mill: The Subjection of Women 196
Part 2—Pioneers on a Moral Crusade: Feminism and
Status Politics 239
Introduction: Social Roots of the Woman's Movement
in America 241
VI CONTENTS
From Abolition to Sex Equality: Sarah Grimke (1792-
1873) and Angelina Grimke (1805-1879) 282
Angelina Grimke: Appeal to the Christian Woman
of the South 296
Sarah Grimke: Letters on the Equality of the
Sexes and the Condition of Women 306
Angelina Grimke: Letters to Catherine Beecher 319
The Blackwell Clan 323
Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell: Medicine as a
Profession for Women 346
Antoinette Brown Blackwell: Sex and Evolution 356
A Feminist Friendship: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
(1815-1902) and Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) 378
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Motherhood 396
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Introduction to The
Woman's Bible 401
Along the Suffrage Trail 407
Selections from the History of Woman Suffrage 413
Seneca Falls Convention 413
Reminiscences of Emily Collins 421
The Akron Convention 426
The Newport Convention 429
The Kansas Campaign of 1867 430
Political Equality for Women 458
Part 3—Bread Comes First 471
Introduction: Feminism and Class Polities 472
Marriage and Property: Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) 478
Friedrich Engels: The Origin of the Family 480
Working-Class Socialist: August Bebel (1840-1913) 496
August Bebel: Woman and Socialism 497
Red Emma on Women: Emma Goldman (1869-1940) 506
Emma Goldman: The Tragedy of Woman's
Emancipation 508
The Right to One's Body: Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) 517
Margaret Sanger: My Fight For Birth Control 522
Margaret Sanger: Birth Control—A Parent's
Problem or Woman's? 533
Beware the State: Suzanne LaFollette (b. 1893) 537
Suzanne LaFollette: Concerning Women 541
The "Militant Madonna": Charlotte Perkins Gilman
(1860-1935) 566
Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Women and Economics 572
CONTENTS vu
Pioneer on the Urban Frontier: Jane Addams (1860-
1935) 599
Jane Addams: Utilization of Women in City
Government 604
Part 4—Sex Is a Many-Sided Thing 613
Introduction: Feminism and Intellectual Complexity 614
Guineas and Locks: Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) 622
Virginia Woolf: A Room of One's Own 627
Cultural'Stretch: Margaret Mead (b. 1901) 653
Margaret Mead: Sex and Temperament 658
A Not-So Rebellious "Other": Simone de Beauvoir
(b. 1908) 672
Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex 674
References 707
List of Figures
Figure 1 Life-Lines of Major Writers and Activists
covered in this volume XV
Figure 2 Central New York State: Route of Erie
Canal and Towns and Cities that Figured in 19th
century reform movements 243
Figure 3 Sociometry of Women's Movement Leaders
in Nineteenth Century 2 76
Figure 4 Life Line of the Blackwell Sibling Set and
In-Laws 324
Figure 5 The Blackwell Genealogy 326