Sarah Hale, in her magazine, not only defines the proper roles for women but also their ‘sphere.’ Just as it was the role for men to be known in the public and political domain as their sphere; women were considered to be at home naturally. At the time, this was the only sphere that the woman understood. Through her conception to the ideology to change the space and sphere for women, she brought the issue in every publication of the ladies magazine. Even though she did not belong to any form of formal movement of feminists, she supported humanitarian and patriotic movements that included women. Through the issue, she brought out the ideas as to how women could be improved or sometimes expanded on their knowledge and education to the possible to her level. By focusing on educating and creating opportunities for women, she advised the readers to avoid unfeminine involvements as at the time; women could have leadership and organization roles to which their chances were less.
She believed and fought for the idea that women were made to be educated to understand not only themselves but also join in some of the roles that men undertook. During the market revolution that transformed America’s between 1820-1860, specialization promoted the girls to work in the textile mills that opened and had led to the mass production of cloths through the invented steam-powered machines. The girls who are invited to work are given proper services from living quarters to church services and in the process become financially independent to understand as to how the money that they earn can be spent or saved.
Sarah Hale’s magazine did not change a lot after she ‘consolidated’ with Philadelphia publisher Louis Godey in the late 1830s. When Sarah moved to the city, she did all she can to promote the magazine, and in the long run, it became not only one of the most influential and most read but also the first women magazine to be circulated the most at the time. Through the consolidation Louis Godey into the magazine, she did encourage other writers to call for the education of women in the liberal arts to enable women to be teachers (Sommers, 43). Some of the authors, such as Edgar Allan Poe, Harriet Beecher, and Nathaniel Hawthorne took up her ideologies to give women a strong voice that would look to allow the formation of education centers for women.
I believe her ideologies are still alive today. For example, through the consolidation of other authors, the liberalization of women grew to form meaningful careers such as female doctors. At the time of Lucy Hale women would rather endure their ailments rather than have them examined by male physicians (Sommers, 56). Today, women have become more educated to the level of men, and women equally share some of the stations that were held by men only. The integration of women in the societal bubble led to the rise of important and influential women that would promote the welfare of the weak and the children. American culture, for example, in the arts, has embraced the profiles of women who fought for the rights of others through tracing their importance on the organization of the current American society.
Works cited
Sommers, Joseph Michael. “Godey’s Lady’s Book: Sarah Hale and the Construction of Sentimental Nationalism.” College Literature, (2010): 43-61.