r Treatise on Domestic Economy: “Let t women of a country be made virtuous and intelligent, and the men will certainly be the same. The proper education of a man decides the welfare of an individual; but educate a women, and the interests of a whole family are secured” (Sklar 204).Statements like that made by Catherine Beecher lifted women to new heights in regard to self esteem. Women began to take on other types of reform which addressed self improvement and work ethic. Education as a profession for women and health reform we two of these that needed much attention.As women became more educated they began to aspire towards a need to be a contributing part of society on a more professional leval. Education was a place where women could find a niche. Catherine Beecher became a teacher because it was the closest tng to a minister that she could become. She opened schools to educate women and her main goal was to train them to become teachers. Teaching as a profession became an alternative for women who did not want to marry. Catherine saw teaching as the womes true profession. She regarded it as a glorification of women’s natural talents (Sklar 98). Catherine went on in later years to advocate for this sub culture. She says that a self sufficient woman can adopt children and therefore institute a familytate by becoming herself the head of the household (Sklar 167). Heath problems for women in the nineteenth century were unspeakable. They suffered everything from mental illness to gynecological atrocities. Similar to moral reform it relied on individual advocates to spread its ideas. The advice most often circuted was on self-improvement through diet and sexual restraint, exercise, and sensible dress. Before now women did not have an awareness of how their body worked and it was often abused through eating habits and dress. Reformers advocated the eliminati of tight lacing in female dress; counseled moth...
