CHAPTER XVII.
HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.
Any discussion of the equality of the sexes, as to intellectual
capacity, seems frivolous and useless, both because it can never be
decided, and because there would be no possible advantage in the
decision. But one topic, which is often drawn into this discussion,
is of far more consequence; and that is, the relative importance and
difficulty of the duties a woman is called to perform.
It is generally assumed, and almost as generally conceded, that a
housekeeper's business and cares are contracted and trivial; and that
the proper discharge of her duties demands far less expansion of mind
and vigor of intellect than the pursuits of the other sex. This idea
has prevailed because women, as a mass, have never been educated with
reference to their most important duties; while that portion of their
employments which is of least value has been regarded as the chief,
if not the sole, concern of a woman. The covering of the body, the
convenience of residences, and the gratification of the appetite, have
been too much regarded as the chief objects on which her intellectual
powers are to be exercised.
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