Sir,
I shall here present your Readers with a Letter which, upon the best Examination I have been able to make, appears to contain a Truth which no Man can justly deny, namely, that Women are not destitute of Understanding, though they want the Opportunity made for some of them to improve it.
It has been the common Reflection of some Men, that there is as great a Difference between the Minds of Women and Men, as there is between their Bodies; and that the narrow Limits of their Understanding render them capable of no greater Attainments than what belong to domestic Affairs. Whereas, it seems to me, the Difference is not so great as many imagine, but rather proceeds from Evil Custom and false Education.
In our Youthful Days we frequently see Women of quick Apprehension and lively Fancy; but as they come to Maturity, their Increasing Concern for Household Affairs, their Subjection to passing Fashions, and the Roads they daily travel in narrow Paths of Custom, contract and narrow their Minds, which otherwise might have expanded to a greater Usefulness.
I cannot help taking Notice, that in those Nations where Women have had free Scope for the Improvement of their Understanding, they have equall’d Men in many Points of Prudence and Integrity. And tho’ they are generally said to excel in Wit, yet I think they are unjustly denied some Share of solid Judgment, from which they are often excluded by those very Persons who are esteemed the most cunning Judges of the Sex.
It is therefore my humble Opinion, that if the fair Part of Mankind were as much encouraged in the Cultivation of their Minds as the Men are, there would be fewer Pretexts for the Suppos’d Infirmities of their Sex, and more Evidence of that common Share of Reason which Providence has plac’d in Human Nature.
I am, Sir,
Your humble Servant,
Silence Dogood
Notes on the Text
- This transcription reflects the wording as it appeared when originally published in The New-England Courant in May 1722.
- The author was later revealed to be Benjamin Franklin, who used the pseudonym Silence Dogood to conceal his identity.
- Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation reflect early eighteenth-century printing conventions and may differ slightly among surviving sources.