Some Thoughts on Women in Rhetoric (since I'm writing a paper about it).

19^th century rhetoric is an interesting period because women were finally getting a major voice in public affairs. By the end of the eighteenth century in Europe and the United States, “women were still almost completely excluded from university education and were barred from the professions of law and political office” (Bizzell 986). But by the end of the nineteenth century, American women finally gained access to higher education at women’s colleges such as Vassar and they could study classical rhetoric at these institutions. Although, women had been writing for many years before this, it was finally publicly accepted for the most part.  

A major reason for the improvement in women’s education was the introduction of Protestant Christianity, which encouraged a less patriarchal view of spirituality. For example, in Scandinavia, Germany and England schools for girls increased because of Protestants who believed both men and women should at least be educated enough to read the bible and reflect upon its contents in order to have their own relationship with God. Bizzell explains that “women’s education was usually defended on the grounds that it made better Christians and more docile daughters and wives” (Bizzell 748-749).  Despite this, women began to feel that they answered to the higher authority of God even if men chastised them.

The Quakers, a radical protestant faction of Christianity, produced some of the first women orators. Margaret Fell was a well-known English Quaker leader who spoke in public on social issues, and preached and published on behalf of her faith, reminiscent of Margery Kemp some 200 years earlier. Fell argued that women as orators was justified by scripture. Fell stated, “we see Jesus owned the love and grace that appeared in women and did not despise it” (753). This paved the way for more and more Protestant women to begin speaking out on social issues.

The abolitionist movement and 1st wave feminist movement in the United States were closely linked as many African American women spoke up against the burdens of both slavery and womanhood. 

African American Maria W. Stewart was a religious woman in the early 1800’s who spoke out against slavery. She was criticized for speaking to mixed audiences of men and women as this was considered scandalous at the time (Bizzell 988). This was yet another attempt by the patriarchal western society to attack a strong female rhetorician’s credibility by labeling her as unchaste. 

Sojourner Truth was a very famous orator who “denounced slavery and the oppression of women” (Bizzell 989).  Though she never learned to read or write, she had a colloquial rhetorical style that appealed to white audiences and was very influential in pushing the agenda of rights for African American people of both sexes as well as women of all races. Thus, women have been on the forefront of progressive political movements in the United States since early in its history.