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The Rhetorical Strategies of Frances Willard, Victoria SPEAKING OF SEX: THE RHETORICAL STRATEGIES OF FRANCESS WILLARD, VICTORIA WOODHULL, AND IDA CRADDOCK Inez L. Schaechterle A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2005 Committee: Lovie Sue Carter, Advisor Leigh Ann Wheeler Graduate Faculty Representative Kristine Blair Bruce Edwards ii ABSTRACT Lovie Sue Carter, Advisor While a growing body of rhetorical and historical research about American female reformers and the movements in which they were involved exists, little or nothing has been done focusing on the sexual aspects of reform speech. This is a significant omission; just as women’s social and legal standing at that time was inexorably bound to their sexual and reproductive capacities, so too did many reform efforts center on issues of women’s sexuality. Defining "public sexual discourse" as reform-oriented text that explicitly or obliquely addressed vaginal intercourse between men and women and that was produced specifically for distribution to an audience via speech or publication, this study first examined the texts of three late nineteenth- century female reformers: Frances Willard, president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union; Victoria Woodhull, public speaker and publisher of a free love newspaper; and Ida Craddock, writer and distributor of sex-in-marriage booklets. Rhetorical examination of each text was based in the general biographical information and the sexual experiences and opinions of each rhetor and was foregrounded against the social and reform climates of her time. A specific historical or rhetorical problem for each rhetor was also explored based on her public sexual discourse. Next, a model of late nineteenth-century women reformers' public sexual discourse was developed. According the most generalizeable points of the model, nineteenth- century women reformers’ public sexual discourse was based on the perception that men sexually victimized women and that contemporaneous marriage could trap women into sexual, financial, and reproductive abuse. Sexual reform would protect women’s rights to control their own bodies within sexual relationships and to choose when to become pregnant. Reform would iii also encourage couples to form intimate relationships founded in supportive religious or spiritual belief systems, and those relationships would, in turn, improve the entire culture. Sexual reformers themselves held radical religious beliefs relative to the protestant Christian norm. Finally, the model was interrogated in light of the discourse of white women's sexuality found in the anti-lynching rhetoric of Ida B. Wells. iv For my parents, Eugene and Loretta Curran Schaechterle and for the feisty, funny, dedicated women and men of Planned Parenthood of Northern Nevada v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I wish to thank my committee members, Sue Carter, Kris Blair, Bruce Edwards, and Leigh Ann Wheeler for their unfailing support, patience, and good humor. Also, I could not have begun or even imagined this work without the coursework and class discussions of four amazing women and model feminists: Sue Carter, Ellen Berry, Leigh Ann Wheeler, and Kris Blair. Finally, resounding thank-yous to my siblings Linda, Carol, Henry, and Diane for hand- holding, occasional gifts of money or loans, laundry facilities and good meals, and a throughgoing rhetoric of belief that I could, and should, pursue this degree. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. WOMEN’S REFORM RHETORICS IN THE 19TH CENTURY................... 1 Women, Rhetoric, and History .................................................................................. 3 A Women’s Rhetorical Canon................................................................................... 10 Specific Concerns in Women’s Rhetorical History................................................... 15 Women’s Public Speech in the Late Nineteenth Century.......................................... 19 Speaking of Sex: A Brief Introduction to the Study.................................................. 29 . Three Ways of Talking About Sex ................................................................ 32 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 36 CHAPTER II. WOMEN REFORMERS’ PUBLIC SEXUAL DISCOURSE....................... 38 The Social Contexts of Late Nineteenth-Century Sexual Discourse......................... 40 . Why Talk About Sex ..................................................................................... 41 . Who Talked About Sex and How .................................................................. 45 . How Sexual Discourse was Controlled.......................................................... 47 . The Study................................................................................................................... 51 . Why Ida Craddock ......................................................................................... 52 . Why Frances Willard and Victoria Woodhull ............................................... 55 . Why Public Sexual Discourse: Goals of the Study........................................ 57 . Assumptions................................................................................................... 59 . Terms and Definitions.................................................................................... 60 . Study Design.................................................................................................. 61 vi CHAPTER III. FRANCES WILLARD: THE “TRUE WOMAN” OF SOCIAL REFORM 63 Biography ................................................................................................................... 64 Sexuality and Marriage: Willard’s Opinions and Experiences.................................. 65 Willard’s Public Sexual Discourse: “A White Life for Two” ................................... 68 Sex in “A White Life for Two ....................................................................... 69 Audiences....................................................................................................... 72 Willard’s Ethos: Situated and Constructed.................................................... 77 Use of Enthymemes ....................................................................................... 82 Style ............................................................................................................... 86 “A White Life for Two”: Conclusion ............................................................ 86 The Problem of Willard’s Multiple Subjectivities..................................................... 87 The Unmarried Supporter of Marriage .......................................................... 89 The Racist Reformer...................................................................................... 92 CHAPTER IV. VICTORIA WOODHULL: SOCIAL REFORM AND SHOWMANSHIP 96 Biography................................................................................................................... 97 Sexuality and Marriage: Woodhull’s Opinions and Experiences.............................. 101 Woodhull’s Public Sexual Discourse: “Tried as by Fire” ......................................... 104 Sex in “Tried as by Fire” ............................................................................... 105 Audiences....................................................................................................... 108 Woodhull’s Ethos: Situated and Constructed ................................................ 116 Use of Enthymemes ....................................................................................... 121 Style ............................................................................................................... 124 “Tried as by Fire”: Conclusion ...................................................................... 125 vii The Problem of Woodhull’s Dual Character ............................................................. 127 CHAPTER V. IDA CRADDOCK: SOCIAL REFORM IN A DIFFERENT VOICE......... 134 Biography................................................................................................................... 135 Sexuality and Marriage: Craddock’s Opinions and Experiences .............................. 138 Craddock’s Public Sexual Discourse: “The Wedding Night” and “Right Marital Living” ....................................................................................................................... 140 Sex in “The Wedding Night” and “Right Marital Living:............................. 141 Audiences....................................................................................................... 144 Craddock’s Ethos: Situated and Constructed................................................. 149 Use of Enthymemes ....................................................................................... 152 Style ............................................................................................................... 153 “The Wedding Night” and “Right Marital Living”: Conclusion................... 154 The Problem of Ida Craddock.................................................................................... 156 CHAPTER VI. CONCLUSION: 19TH CENTURY PUBLIC SEXUAL DISCOURSE – WILLARD, WOODHULL, CRADDOCK, AND WELLS IN COVERSATION ................ 163 Continua of Women Reformer’s Public Sexual Discourse........................................ 165
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