Jacksonian Age women's reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Jacksonian Age womens reform - Essay ExampleThese reform effects were known as ante-bellum reform movements.According to Cheathem (2008), the Jacksonian age was a achievement of democratic progress and increasing egalitarianism for men but one of regression and repression for women. The age characterized a male defined society and on the seat of equality feminism characterized it as well as a struggle for female liberty and self determination. Women were mainly seen as breeders and child bearers. The temperance movement called for restriction and outright prohibition of alcohol consumption due to its strong religious elements. Cheathem (2008) says that the apex of the ante-bellum reforms movement during the Jacksonian period was the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 which women listed the grievances that American women had against institutions that were male dominated and included lack of female suffrage. On female health, most medics did not have a respect for womens bodily autono my and many hysterectomies performed in the United States were medically unnecessary. Personal care became aggressively politicized and the politics of medicine became intensely personal. Doctors and scientists defined womens nature in footing of their reproductive system and were seen as virtually pathological, causing a long list of emotional, mental and bodily complications (Cheathem, 2008).Female patients that suffered from mental health were treated by hydropathy dumping cold water on patients and immersing them in icy pools. The Jacksonian era showed the ideologies of how the womans place was in the home. Edward Clarke, a capital of Massachusetts based doctor in 1874 warned society against letting young women pursue too demanding an education (Cheathem, 2008). Other arguments combined with religious authority, etiquette instruction and legal restrictions to go for women unsuited for the public sphere of politics, business and