"The New Woman" (1895)

Eugene Debs, 1895: "Men have exercised all authority, and woman’s sphere has been limited to meek submission."

We hear much nowadays about the “new woman.” The theme is an inviting one. It breathes of a “good time coming,” when woman shall be at least the equal of man. And the Lord knows this is not claiming much for her. For, as millions of men are [wage] slaves, so millions of women are the slaves of slaves. In respect to woman, man has not risen above animal creation. He is the stronger and therefore rules; and woman only has what he has seen fit to “allow” her. Conceal it as we may the haggard fact stands forth that men have by virtue of superior strength kept women in bondage. Of course I totally dismiss dresses and diamonds and dainties. I discuss the inherent, inalienable right to “liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In our country, the ballot makes the sovereign. Withhold it and slavery follows. Men have with instinctive fealty to their sex assumed and exercised all authority, and woman’s sphere has been limited to meek submission.

An 1896 advertisement in Ladies Home Journal (Wikimedia Commons).

The “new woman,” I am persuaded, will take her place side by side with man in the great struggle for social, economic, and intellectual emancipation. She will no longer be disenfranchised by her sex. She will have an equal chance from the start and will invade every domain in which brains and pluck and energy compete for the world’s prizes. She will scorn to be the petted plaything of society. She will be no more masculine nor less “modest” than now. She will more than ever grace and beautify the home by the witchery and magic of a woman’s love. She will go out by herself when she chooses to do so, and her release from the guardianship we now force upon her will be all the protection she will require. She will marry, not to escape the vulgar gossip of a soulless society, but to please herself; and love born of moral and intellectual equality will be the only consideration. She will command the homage of man and hand in hand they will travel life’s journey together.

My mother is advanced in years, but I am proud to believe her to be the best type of “new woman.” My wife and sisters have all the crowning glories of the “new woman.” In our family there is no superiority of sex. There is no authority and none is needed. The home under the sweet and tender influences of the “new woman” will be radiant with love and joy.