Tocqueville on the Role of Women in Society

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Introduction
The belief of Tocqueville that women plays a critical role in societal shaping cannot be separated from his emphasis on the importance for good values and mores to maintain and achieve social prosperity and stability, especially in a democracy. According to Tocqueville, the term mores referred to the various notions that men possessed the different opinions, and the total ideas that shape the mental habits. In the estimation of Tocqueville, mores forms one of the large general causes that are responsible for the democratic republic maintenance in the United States.
Mores according to Brooks et al (2000p.89) are especially influential and crucial in the democratic societies because of the freedom that people enjoyed the strong role of the opinion of the public and the general authority weakness. Women have an important responsibility precisely in societies that are democratic because of their ability to influence and shape its mores. As the remark of Tocqueville goes, “there has never existed any free society without the mores, and…it is women who always shape the mores. Hence, everything having a bearing on the women’s status, their thoughts and habits are, in my view, of a great importance politically” (Tocqueville and Mayer, 1969p.97)
Nimtz (2003p.46) pointed out that the principle way by which the women shape the mores is through their roles as mothers and as wives. Tocqueville argues that the accorded respect to the marriage institution in the society has an impact on the wellbeing and the order of that society as a whole. Schleifer and Liberty Fund (2000) asserted that, from Tocqueville’s observations, he found out that the country of United States was the nation where the marriage institution was the most respec...

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...m, Tocqueville feared that societies that are democratic will end up eventually, by being too fixed unalterably with the same prejudice, institutions and mores, so that mankind will halt their progress and will dig in itself (Tocqueville and Mayer, 1969).
A more influence on democracy that is general to the mores is as described by Tocqueville and Reeve (2009 p.66), to make them even more gentle. This implies that people do not have the terrible vices in general, but they also lack the extraordinary virtue. Tocqueville, himself an aristocrat, lamented the loss of great honor, heroism, virtue and intelligence. Yet he thought that equality growth is fated and that because great personalities do not simply tend to create democratic societies, something to be done does not exist, except make good use of the situation and be joyful that terrible vices are not there.

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