Feminine power is not coercive, but persuasive.

This passage is found in Sarah Josepha Hale’s book of Manners. It represents Hale’s opinion that women should not participate directly in voting or the administrative qualities of government. Hale determines that this responsibility is to be taken up by men only. She defends this position, saying that it is inappropriate for a woman to compete with her husband or son in a public sphere. Rather, in pursuing her duty in the home, in her marriage, and in her responsibility in child rearing she will have a persuasive influence on the masculine duties of law and government. Hale advises women to cultivate virtue, knowledge, and accomplishments. This will influence and aid men in their work, as they align themselves with God’s virtues, and in so doing she will be the “glory of the man.”