According to Barbara Welter, true womanhood in the mid nineteenth century was defined by four cardinal virtues. Purity, Piety, Submissiveness, and Domesticity. In her article Welter did not discuss women of lower social classes or women of different ethnic backgrounds. Her article was restricted to discussing white women from middle or upper class backgrounds. It is a constellation of personal attributes assigned to men and women across cultures.
Gender constructs intimate relations.
We begain class with the quiz on the Smith-Rosenburg and Welter readings. We then had a class discussion about the quiz questions. We then preceded to have a discussion on gender. We discussed the definition of gender as well as some major stereotypes created by gender. We also discussed the highly debatable gay, lesbian, and bisexual theory.