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“No doubt the movement which rightly or wrongly we have learnt to call the emancipation of women is in the first place a result of the transformation of society into a capitalist and industrial community, in which the home has lost its importance as an economic and productive unity. But the bitter…” quote by Sigrid Undset
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““No doubt the movement which rightly or wrongly we have learnt to call the emancipation of women is in the first place a result of the transformation of society into a capitalist and industrial community, in which the home has lost its importance as an economic and productive unity. But the bitter tone of the champions of Woman’s Rights in their arraignment of man’s rule, the suspiciousness which refused to believe that anything but oppression and masculine tyranny was at the bottom of a great number of laws and customs, which in reality were designed just as much to safeguard women and provide them with protectors and maintenance—the rabidity of militant feminists, in short—was a direct reaction against a dressing-gown and slippers tyranny which was peculiar to non-Catholic Europe at the beginning of the nineteenth century—a revolt against mock heroes who slouched about their homes trying to assert authority over their womenfolk. The other day I came across a book which illustrates in a rather droll way the extent to which Northern European women have taken it for granted that this peculiar North European form of the subjection of women since the Reformation was characteristic of the whole past of Europe. It was a little essay by an English writer, Virginia Woolf—I confess that it is all I have read of hers,1 but she is said to have a great reputation as a novelist.””

Sigrid Undset

About This Quote

Source Essay: “The Emancipation of Women” by Sigrid Undset, 1930

Women’s rights emerged amid capitalist industrialization, but some feminists overreacted to perceived male tyranny, overlooking protective aspects of historical structures.

In simple terms: Women’s liberation linked to economic change; some feminist critiques were exaggerated.

Key Takeaway

Recognize nuanced history of gender roles.

Themes

history gender economics feminism societal change

Mood

analytical critical

Type

historical philosophical

When to use this quote

  • academic analysis
  • policy discussion
  • gender studies
  • cultural critique
  • education

Key Concepts

Patriarchy industrial capitalism social reform

Questions to Reflect On

  • How did economic shifts affect gender roles?
  • What balance should modern feminism strike?
A Different Perspective

Overgeneralizing past oppression can ignore women’s agency.

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