The Business Of Being A Woman

In many ways, Ida Tarbell exemplified the dilemma of many women at the turn of the century. She was reared in a culture that believed that women and men were different and had complimentary natures: Women were thought to be morally superior to men, but men were women’s intellectual superiors. Women were emotional and ruled by their hearts. Men were ruled by their heads. Thus, it was argued, the brutal public arena of commerce, trade and politics was better left to men. Fragile, vulnerable women should be sheltered and protected in the home. But the post-Civil War world in which Ida Tarbell came of age also witnessed great change. Immigration, industrialization, urbanization, and American imperialism, transformed the nation. Many concerned Americans–some who wished to preserve the past, others who embraced the future–became convinced that reform of society and government was necessary. Fortified by the Social Gospel movement, people across the land were urged to put their Christian principles into action. They were told they were “their brother’s keeper” and exhorted to become involved, to improve themselves and the world around them. Many believed that women had special qualities and skills to bring to this Age of Reform. Women’s innate difference from men–their moral superiority, their purity and their compassion–made them especially suited to the campaign to “uplift” America. Their skills as mothers and homemakers would help them diffuse the hot tempers of urban politics and “clean up” the corrupt cities. But to do so, women required the vote. And so it was that women’s suffrage gained much wider acceptance during the closing years of the twentieth century as a tool for progressive reform. This was the world, and these were the values that shaped Ida Tarbell.