How To: Create the Perfect Woman

I really liked the reading from this week. I thought it was really interesting to see how women were being told to behave. I also noticed how important reputation is to these people. In An Address to the Ladies, it says, "the time when young ladies enter into society is, with respect to their future reputation, a period extremely critical." It is made clear throughout many of the readings that a good reputation is the key to a happy and successful life. I think it is interesting to think about how some people today still feel that way, maybe some things really don't change.

"A man never respects a woman, who does not respect herself" (An Address to the Ladies). This line really stood out to me, because they are teaching women to respect themselves, but at the same time, a couple of pages later, they tell women that they are not expected to read much, and if they do, it should be "a smaller number of books, at less trouble and expense" (5). They pretty much tell women that they can be try to further their knowledge, as long as they stay inferior to their husbands, because no man likes a woman who is too smart. I found this all pretty confusing. How are women supposed to respect themselves fully when they have to put on a mask and play a role as a submissive housewife to a man that won't love her if she is smarter than him?