Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Defining womanhood: Lucretia Coffin Mott and the transformation of femininity

1994; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 58; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10570319409374489

1745-1027

Ann Carlson,

Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes

Kenneth Burke claims that "bridging devices"; are important symbolic tools for overcoming division within a social order. This study investigates the use of "bridging devices"; through an analysis of an early feminist text: Lucretia Coffin Mott's "Discourse on Woman"; (1849). Mott uses the Quaker concept of the "inner light"; to balance the tension between her conservative cultural milieu and her radical goals. Mott's rhetoric is instructive for modern feminists who face the task of uniting women with widely disparate cultural roots.