Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/858

 838 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

the mental attitude characteristic of women. When societ)' is con- fronted with evils beyond its control, this spirit is reflected in religion. Unavoidable evils foster, even in men, the spirit of resignation ; unnecessary evils stir up, even in women, revolt. The environment and economic conditions thus determine what attitude will be dominant in a given society and what type of religion will do most for its elevation.

Just here. Dr. Patten tells us, a new type of man, "the womanly man," was beginning to be a factor in English society. He accounts for the existence of this new type in the following way : With the great industrial change brought about by the discovery of America there came a revolution in social life for which woman was responsible. Now really arises the English home. Men were satisfied with the established order of things. The great change from communal to home life and pleasures was accomplished by woman. It was she who cooked, scrubbed, worked in the fields, spun clothes, taught the children, and took care of the men. She was responsible for the cleanliness of the household, which in the days of the plague was the necessary condition of survival. So the industrial type of woman became dominant. Along with her duties came her power. She became the ruling factor in the home, and the womanly type of man — the man who accepted woman's ideals and standards of purity and resignation — became a fact in English history. A womanly type of man, in the industrial sense, did now become dominant, owing to the necessary change in activities brought about by economic development. Men were forced into new employ- ments against their natural bent. Their new life kept them more at home. Consequently they felt the influence of woman in the creation of standards for conduct more strongly than ever before. Thus arose the "womanly man" of Patten. The author's interpretation of the great social changes of the fifteenth century as due to woman's initiative is hardly in accord with our accepted theory of woman's conservatism.

The eighteenth century demanded "manly men," or those vigorous in will-power. As Methodism brought forward this type, it tended to check the growing power of women. It brought to the front men who were too strong to be influenced by women. Hence the more primitive type of women who performed the duties of motherhood better tended to survive. Methodism and economics created a non-moral state of mind, which has remained a characteristic of English civilization. The new ideals made the people less moral, but not less conscientious. The effect of Wesley and Smith on English thought was to inculcate a dis- trust of general principles, a distaste for foreign innovations, and a