Helpmeets, Mothers, and Midwives among the Patriarchs

Abstract

This chapter reviews old and New England society and culture, emphasizing the patriarchy that governed women’s lives. Following a general discussion of the model of household structure, the chapter addresses the social, legal, and political realities of women’s lives along with the cultural construction of women, biologically, socially, and intellectually. The chapter explores the ideological constructions of gender from, as far as possible, both a male and female perspective. The chapter also discusses the distinct women’s community, including not only women’s labor and friendship networks, but also the centrality of the reproductive community: woman as healer, midwife, and reproducer. Throughout, the chapter places the control exercised through law, custom, and prescription against the power women discovered within the female community.