ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the cult of domesticity,

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the one true religion for Swiffers.

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All right, give this excerpt a read.

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[ mumbles ]

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[ mumbling continues ]

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All right, and the question:

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Many affluent women responded to the economic trend that

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Robinson describes by... doing what?

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And here are your potential answers.

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All right, what's this question asking?

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Well, the economic trend of women working outside of the home

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was a big change for people of all classes,

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but this question specifically wants to know about

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the reaction of women at the top of the societal heap.

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So let's see if we can figure out which answer makes the most sense.

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Did affluent women respond to women entering the workforce

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by A - vocalizing their support for women's rights?

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Well, actually, upper class women saw the movement

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to work in factories as a huge threat

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to traditional motherhood,

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so they went out of their way to criticize

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the poorer women who were seeking opportunities outside of the home.

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Given this disdain toward labor for women,

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we know there was no way they'd be caught looking for a job themselves.

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That eliminates A and B.

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Did wealthy women respond by

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D - pressuring legislatures to reform labor laws?

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While many segments of the population were in fact

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pressuring government officials to reform dangerous labor practices,

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women in the upper class believed these women were

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putting themselves in danger by even showing up

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to work in the first place, so D is a no-go.

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Therefore affluent women must have

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responded to the trend by C -

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advocating that a woman's true place was in the home.

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In a reaction to what wealthier women saw as

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an attack on traditional female roles,

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the upper classes formed what historians

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call a cult of domesticity,

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which emphasized purity,

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submission, and piety as the ultimate feminine virtues.

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We have our answer.

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Kind of gives a whole new spin to the term

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"real housewives."

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[ baby cries ]

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