Achievements and Success

As a powerful historical figure and abolitionist, Lucretia Mott was a woman of many accomplishments. Throughout her life, she was successful in multiple areas, including defining and transforming the meaning of feminism, fighting to abolish slavery, and giving speeches and sermons pointing to her unwavering beliefs and embrace of what it means to truly be a woman. Mott also built her reputation upon preaching about gender differences and traditions that embodied 1800 stereotypes and culture.

The transformation of femininity was one of Mott’s most prevalent areas of expertise, as argued by women alive during her lifetime as well as women today. Cheree Carlson, who wrote about her succession defining womanhood states that ¹Mott’s artistry arises in her rhetorical bridging of accepted differences between man and woman by subsuming them to the transcendent ideal of “inner light”. In doing so, she is able to balance the tensions between her womanhood, her religious heritage, and her goals as a reformer. As a result, she foreshadows a later balancing act used by women to displace transitional notions of femininity. ²One of Mott’s main arguments was also that there should not be a huge issue in regards to women seeking out duties within her home and within caretaking, however there should be an important focus on emphasizing the importance of personal experiences and opportunities. 

To support her argument for femininity and gender advancements, Lucretia developed a number of inspirational sermons for the purpose of appealing to female and male audiences. Discourse on a Woman was one of the predominant works that she created, pointing out the crucial fight for equal rights for women. In this speech, she highlights biblical representations of feminine actions as well as pushes the betrayal of letting women be seen as equal as opposed to very little or over powerful. WIthin her speech she exclaims,³Let her cultivate all the graces and proper accomplishments of her sex, but let not these degenerate into a kind of effeminacy, in which she is satisfied to be the mere plaything or toy of society, content with her outward adornings, and with the tone of flattery and fulsome adulation too often addressed to her. Mott’s literature was and continues to be influential within current gender issues and feminism.

¹  Carlson, A. Cheree. 1994. “Defining Womanhood: Lucretia Coffin Mott and the Transformation of Femininity.” Western Journal of Communication 58 (2): 85-97. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/10570319409374489?needAccess=true

²  Carlson, A. Cheree. 1994. “Defining Womanhood: Lucretia Coffin Mott and the Transformation of Femininity.” Western Journal of Communication 58 (2): 85–97. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/10570319409374489?needAccess=true

³ Mott, Lucretia. Discourse on Woman, December 17, 1849: 1-21. https://go-gale-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/ps/i.do?p=SABN&u=msu_main&id=GALE%7CCY0107613904&v=2.1&it=r.