Women in Gilded Age

Women in Gilded Age 

The idea for this age was to create a maternal commonwealth. Upper-middle-class women of the late 19th century were not content with the cult of domesticity of the early 1800s. Many had become college educated and wanted to put their knowledge and skills to work for the public good.
One of the biggest changes in the late 19th century and the one which had the most impact on women lives was the growth of the cities. Most of the Urban life, created new problems and opportunities for both men and women. Women have already been trying to to find many ways to expand and better their lives. With urbanization going on, female spheres began to be included in evening out goings with their husbands. In most cases, as women became more visible in the social world, their behaviors were always under examination and resulted to find some mean between displaying class and status and demonstrating etiquette
Another way that women promoted the values of women's sphere into the public, was through the Settlement House Movement. A Settlement House Movement was a home where  immigrants could go when they had nowhere else to turn. Settlement houses provided family-style cooking, lessons in English, and tips on how to adapt to American culture.
In Born for Liberty by Sara Evans, Many educated women of the age felt that many of society's greatest disorders could be traced to alcohol. To their view, alcohol was leading to increased domestic violence and negligence. It is decreasing the families income that was being spent on necessities and promoted prostitution and adultery. 
As we can see through the readings, women are pushing ahead to perfect the politicls of influence, build organization of working women and bring together the republican claim of female citizenship with maternal commonwealth. Their main goal was to be as successful as men and have all the rights to be as equal as men.