Hens that crowed in the 19th century | |
 | In 1852, the New York Daily Herald described leaders of the early women’s rights movement as “hens that crow.” Using speeches, pamphlets, newspaper reports, editorials and personal papers, historian Sylvia Hoffert discusses how ideology, language and strategies of the early women’s rights advocates influenced a new political culture grudgingly inclusive of women in a book published by the IU Press titled Hens that Crow.
Hoffert, a professor of history and women’s studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, shows the impact of philosophies of republicanism, natural rights, utilitarianism and the Scottish Common Sense School in helping activists move beyond the limits of “Republican Motherhood” and the ideals of domesticity and benevolence. When Hens Crow also illustrates the work of the penny press in spreading the demands of woman’s rights advocates to a wide audience, establishing the competence of women to contribute to public discourse and public life.
|
IU Home Pages
400 E. 7th Street. Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone: (812) 855-6494
Publication date: March 1, 2002
Comments: homepgs@indiana.edu
Copyright 2000, The
Trustees of Indiana University