ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses gender treatment and says that in different countries, and at different periods, female excellence has been estimated by very different standards. It explains that when nations begin to emerge from gross barbarism, every new step which they take towards refinement is commonly marked by a gentler treatment, and a more reasonable estimation of women; and every improvement in their opinions and conduct respecting the female sex, prepares the way for additional progress in civilisation. The chapter argues that there are failings and temptations to which the female mind is particularly exposed by its native structure and dispositions. They contribute likewise, in conjunction with the acute sensibility peculiar to women, to endanger the composure and mildness the temper. It says that the effects of this consciousness on the female character, which, if considered by themselves, are extremely striking, and in many cases are ultimately combined with those which result from the qualities and dispositions.