Christianity: Details about 'Quaker Views Of Women'
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Quaker views toward women have always been considered progressive in their own time. From its beginning, the Religious Society of Friends (aka. "Quakers") have taken a very progressive view toward the role of women in society. The early history of Friends' attitudes towards women —while not endorsing universal equality and certainly incomplete by contemporary Western standards —is particularly notable for providing for one of the largest and most equitable roles for women in the Christian tradition at the time. For many outside observers during the first hundred years of Quakerism, the most surprising aspect of Quakerism was the fact that ministry—the prerogative to speak during a Meeting for Worship—was open to women from the very beginning. In Boswell's Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson's opinion of a female Quaker preacher was recorded thus: "sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." Especially in the early years, a large number—even possibly the majority—of traveling Quaker preachers were women. For many Quakers, both historical and contemporary, the inclusion of women is part of the Testimony of Equality. However, despite that testimony, women's roles were not completely equal; in particular, Meetings for Business were often segregated by sex, with separate meetings for women and men responsible for different things; this separation was eased during the 19th century. While some sources consider the separation of meetings to have been a boon for the movement for women's equality, as they gave women the experience in running organizations , the original motivation for separation is most likely a reflection of the prevailing sexism of the time. Quakers were deeply involved in the 19th century movement for women's rights in America; the landmark 1848 Seneca Falls Declaration was in large part the work of Quaker women, and has numerous Quaker signatories, well out of proportion to the number of Quakers in American society at large. The tradition of Quaker involvement in women's rights continued into the 20th and 21st centuries, with Quakers playing large roles in organizations continuing to work on women's rights. References
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