Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frances D. Gage

Gerrit Smith, fundamentally a supporter of the goals of the women’s rights movement, writes a letter to his cousin and prominent leader of the movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In his letter, he argues that the true obstacle to fundamental rights for women is not the right to vote. Instead he suggests that women must do away with the symbols of their femininity, such as their dresses. If women abandon these imprisoning symbols that men associate with traditional notions of female weakness and fragility, then perhaps they would be taken seriously as individuals deserving of equal rights. Until they do this, their outward trappings will undermine their arguments for political independence. Elizabeth Cady Stanton replies to her cousin by suggesting that his despair over the failures...