Sacred Womanhood: Southern Women's Pure, Pious Image

This image of women was very prevalent in Southern society. Ted Ownby notes that “Central to white Southern culture was the notion that men were more sinful than women” (11). Women were expected to be sexually chaste, deeply spiritual, and constantly in pursuit of ideals, while their male counterparts were given much more slack. This was so deeply grounded in the minds of Southerners that some women were known to feel consumed by guilt if their husbands could not live up to even compromised standards. As the more righteous sex, women felt it was their duty to Christianize their men, and if the men fell short, so did they. A man who earned a negative reputation in the community reflected badly on his wife.

This image was further perverted to justify heart-breaking

Moreover, it was difficult for women to confront the problem. Smith writes this:

Possibly, this helps lead to the stereotype of the harder man as opposed to the more emotional woman. Ownby wrote, “Men stifle their emotions to meet cold realities of the workplace while women flow freely in family / religious spheres” (11). This is another way in which women come to be perceived as both more fragile and pious. Especially in the eyes of the Christian denominations that dominate the South, emotions and spirituality go hand-in-hand. Part of their notion of salvation is expressing remorse for one’s transgressions, a difficult act for men, who would undeniably be chastised for “crying like a girl” in public.

Some topics in this essay:
St Paul’s, South Cash, Industrial Revolution, Lillian Smith, Valerie Fennel, Shelton Reed, Southern Smith, Ted Ownby, Throughout Southern, Miss Emily, southern women, southern code, miss emily, minnie miss emily, miss emily’s, confined house, “dry september”, idea women, 11 women, culture culture, miss minnie miss, suppressing women,