A maculate shade of white

A maculate shade of white

Using the revealed letters, dated all the way back to 1867, Elisabeth Renker provides a glance at Women's social position in late 19^th century America, with emphasis on women's inferiority with respect to their spouses within the boundaries of the domestic domain.

The letters provide evidence for Melville having been nothing less but a violent tyrant in the domestic domain – abusing his wife both physically and mentally on regular basis.   This type of conduct was no exception, neither for Melville himself, nor for the norms of the period, which applied mostly for the white-patriarchal wealthy families.

The governing norm at the time, which respectable households and housewives were bound to uphold, was the one expecting that any type of differences, regardless of issue or severity, would be swept away under the rug.   The mere thought of dragging the dirty laundry out into the yard, would have been considered degrading, mostly for the woman, even if circumstances had it, that she was nothing but an innocent victim. This type of domestic constellation indicates, perhaps better than any other, that women were far from being equal to men – not only politically and economically, but socially as well.  Regardless of how insufferable the domestic circumstances of a woman of this class may have been, portraying to the outside world, anything but a shiny picture of "the angel of the house", would have been considered inexcusable and degrading, right down to the level of immigrant women or 'colored' women, who were at the time the lowest of the lowest, and therefore or possibly thereby the only women who may had had at the time dealings with the police or the court system.  A respectable white woman, who expected to maintain this social status, lacked the right complain, file charges or pour her heart to strangers, and was in that respect an obedient puppet or even servant of her spouse.

Much as a result of pioneering feminist activists of the late 19^th century, many of the back then common prejudices against women, are nowadays nothing but a faint memory.  In some parts of the world, however, the perception of women and women's rights remains to this day very day similar to the one described above.

The Jewish "Haredim" community poses such an example.   The dynamic between men and women in this extremely closed society resembles in many respects the one described above.  By definition of the Jewish law - governing the lives of the members of this community - women are inferior to men, as they are to obey them and serve them, whether as providers while the men spend their time studying the scriptures; or as wombs, designated to help the men fulfill their divine command of producing off-springs.   Somehow, in this society, keeping up appearances, even when the marriage goes sour for the woman, is somehow confused with good manners, whereas breaking up a marriage on account of a woman being unfertile, is practically considered the husband's right or even duty.