Woman in the Nineteenth Century

Content Warning: This guide section discusses enslavement.

This phrase comes from the United States Declaration of Independence and is central to Fuller’s argument. The phrase refers to the belief that all men are subject to the same laws and entitled to the same advantages or opportunities. Fuller uses the phrase to highlight the hypocrisy in America’s democratic ideals, pointing out that these principles exclude women and enslaved people. Fuller reinterprets the phrase as a call for true equality that includes all marginalized groups, arguing that if this ideal was fully realized, it would transform society and advance women’s rights. This term underpins her argument for gender and racial equality as essential to the nation’s moral integrity.

Celibacy is the practice of abstaining from sex, and Fuller presents it as an option for women seeking self-reliance and independence from patriarchal norms. Rather than rejecting love or companionship, she frames it as a means for women to preserve their intellectual and moral autonomy in a society that often devalues them. Fuller views celibacy as a radical alternative to marriage, allowing women the freedom to focus on personal growth and societal contributions.