XIX-WIECZNE DYSKUSJE O „CHARAKTERZE KOBIET”. GŁOS KLEMENTYNY Z TAŃSKICH HOFFMANOWEJ
Nineteenth-Century Discussions on “The Nature of Women.” The Voice of Klementyna Hoffmanowa, Born Tańska

Author(s): Małgorzata Karpińska
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: women; Klementyna Hoffmanowa; born Tańska; the gender nature; education of women
Summary/Abstract: “The gender nature” is a nineteenth-century notion covering psychological aspects of sex. The theory had a real impact on the perception of sex. On Polish territory the issue was most widely addressed by Klementyna Hoffmanowa, who thought that the human spirit was based on three powers: soul, heart and brain. The feminine soul is weak, which, according to her, is advantageous: women are less unholy, less likely to commit offences and crimes. The feminine brain, however, is weak, powerless, but full of imagination, which makes women full of vice. Women supersede men in the power of heart. It makes them faithful assistants of men and devoted mothers. It allmakes women closer to nature than to culture by their construction. For her own safety, a woman should give in to the protection of a wise, down-to-earth man.

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