Domestic Ideology supports the social arrangement that "true" women are wives and mothers, thereby being the centering, nurturing crux of the family.

Popular primarily during and after the industrial revolution, this lends to the idea that a woman's place was in the home. In this theory, a single woman ( a "spinster") was pitied because she was not a mother and wife. She might be viewed as not even being a woman in any respect.

Domestic Ideology also supported the idea that women were more spiritual and good than men, since a man went out into the world and was more tempted to stray from morals without an inspiring wife at their side to aid spiritually. Through this, a woman was considered a redemptive force in society- but only in the sense of reforming her husband- so that he could go and change the world for the good of mankind.

Women were often idealized as being the "angel of the house," and were expected to be self-sacrificing for their families. Divorce was considered shameful and the woman, in this case, would most likely be the social pariah. After a divorce the man would usually gain custody of the children and the wife gained nothing- all her rights and property were surrendered when vows were taken.

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