Sarah M. Grimké (1792-1873), Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women
Born in South Carolina of a slaveholding family, Grimke became a Quaker and a lecturer on abolitionism. She published these letters, written in 1837, partly in response to those who criticized her for, as a woman, engaging in public lecturing (p. 119).
It is impossible that we can fulfill our duties unless we understand them. In looking at Genesis, man and woman were clearly created in equality. Even the general term for ‘man’ is used, referring to man and woman. They are given dominion over the earth and over the animals, yet they are not given dominion over each other. God created us equal and created us as free agents. To God alone, and to no one else, is woman bound in subjection. The superior mind which men wish to claim can hardly be seen in Adam’s ready acquiescence to the request of Eve in the garden. “More true nobility would be manifested by endeavoring to raise the fallen and invigorate the weak, than by keeping woman in subjection.” There is a high calling set before believers which should be followed, rather than wasting efforts on a practice of subjection that is unbiblical. “All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet from off our necks and permit us to stand upright on the ground which God designed us to occupy.”
Tomorrow: Ralph Waldo Emerson
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