Sarah Grimké
American abolitionist and women's rights writer (1792 to 1873); author of Letters on the Equality of the Sexes.
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Their wordsThey were both made in the image of God; dominion was given to both over every other creature, but not over each other.
↗Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1837-1838)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
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Their wordsOur translators having been accustomed to exercise lordship over their wives, and seeing only through the medium of a perverted judgment, very naturally, though I think not very learnedly or very kindly, translated it shall instead of will, and thus converted a prediction to Eve into a command to Adam; for observe, it is addressed to the woman and not to the man.
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Their wordsHere then I plant myself. God created us equal;—he created us free agents;—he is our Lawgiver, our King and our Judge, and to him alone is woman bound to be in subjection, and to him alone is she accountable for the use of those talents with which her Heavenly Father has entrusted her.
↗Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1837-1838)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
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Their wordsAll I ask of our brethren is, that they will take their feet from off our necks, and permit us to stand upright on that ground which God designed us to occupy.
↗Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1837-1838)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
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Their wordsAll history attests that man has subjected woman to his will, used her as a means to promote his selfish gratification, to minister to his sensual pleasures, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort; but never has he desired to elevate her to that rank she was created to fill.
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Their wordsI am inclined to think, when we are admitted to the honor of studying Greek and Hebrew, we shall produce some various readings of the Bible a little different from those we now have.
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Their wordsMen and women were CREATED EQUAL; they are both moral and accountable beings, and whatever is right for man to do, is right for woman.
↗Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1837-1838)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
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Their wordsIf physical weakness is alluded to, I cheerfully concede the superiority; if brute force is what my brethren are claiming, I am willing to let them have all the honor they desire; but if they mean to intimate, that mental or moral weakness belongs to woman, more than to man, I utterly disclaim the charge.
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Their wordsNothing, I believe, has tended more to destroy the true dignity of woman, than the fact that she is approached by man in the character of a female.
↗Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1837-1838)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
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Their wordsAll I complain of is, that our education consists so almost exclusively in culinary and other manual operations.
↗Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1837-1838)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
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Their wordsA man who is engaged in teaching, can always, I believe, command a higher price for tuition than a woman—even when he teaches the same branches, and is not in any respect superior to the woman.
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Their wordsCan any American woman look at these scenes of shocking licentiousness and cruelty, and fold her hands in apathy, and say, ‘I have nothing to do with slavery’? She cannot and be guiltless.
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Our reading
Men would gain from the equality of the sexes, as an equal is worth more than an inferior
Their wordsOur brethren may reject my doctrine, because it runs counter to common opinions, and because it wounds their pride; but I believe they would be ‘partakers of the benefit’ resulting from the Equality of the Sexes, and would find that woman, as their equal, was unspeakably more valuable than woman as their inferior, both as a moral and an intellectual being.
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Their wordsIt will scarcely be denied, I presume, that, as a general rule, men do not desire the improvement of women.
↗Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1837-1838)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
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Our reading
American laws on women were framed for men's benefit and strip women of control of their property
Their wordsThat the laws which have generally been adopted in the United States, for the government of women, have been framed almost entirely for the exclusive benefit of men, and with a design to oppress women, by depriving them of all control over their property, is too manifest to be denied.
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Their wordsWoman, instead of being elevated by her union with man, which might be expected from an alliance with a superior being, is in reality lowered. She generally loses her individuality, her independent character, her moral being.
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Their wordsBut let her beware how she permits her husband to be her conscience-keeper. On all moral and religious subjects, she is bound to think and to act for herself.
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Their wordsAccording to the principle which I have laid down, that man and woman were created equal, and endowed by their beneficent Creator with the same intellectual powers and the same moral responsibilities, and that consequently whatever is morally right for a man to do, is morally right for a woman to do, it follows as a necessary corollary, that if it is the duty of man to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, it is the duty also of woman.
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Our reading
Women are probably kept out of the ministry because it became a post of pay, honor and power
Their wordsNow, this is virtually the language of the ministers of the present day; and I believe the secret of the exclusion of women from the ministerial office is, that that office has been converted into one of emolument, of honor, and of power.
↗Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1837-1838)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
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Our reading
Men's gallantry encourages selfishness in women and is given in exchange for denied rights
Their wordsThis kind of attention encourages selfishness in woman, and is only accorded as a sort of quietus, in exchange for those rights of which we are deprived.
↗Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1837-1838)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book