美国的妇女:托克维尔的颂歌

A Tribute of Tocqueville to American Women

托克维尔认为,以平等为主要特征的民主在到处摧毁各个角落的不平等,然而美国人明智地保留了男女之间天然的不平等。美国妇女年轻时纵情享乐,独立自主,少有束缚;婚后却自愿地约束自己,服从丈夫和家庭。出现这种反差的原因主要在于美国社会的清教教义对于美国妇女灵魂的教导,以及她们在少女时期所受的教育。宗教和理性在她们的头脑和婚姻生活中并行不悖,相得益彰。在托克维尔看来,美国妇女对于自由有着正确的理解,正是她们创造了美国的民情。他运用民主自由主义分析和评价了美国的妇女地位这一具体社会问题,并高度颂扬了美国妇女的美德和品性。

Tocqueville argued that democracy with the main character of equality had destroyed inequality everywhere, no matter in what corner of the universe. However, the Americans wisely kept the natural inequality between men and women. In the US, young girls were less restrained and they could focus on all kinds of enjoyments.But, after marriage, they voluntarily submit to the most strict bonds of marriage. The reasons for these two different conditions were rooted mainly in the teachings of the Puritan doctrine of America for the souls of women, as well as the education during their teenage period. In American women＇s minds and their marriage, religion and reason were in parallel and complemented each other. In Tocqueville＇s view, it was women who had created the American mores. He used democratic liberalism to analyze and evaluate the specific social problem of American women＇s status, and then highly praised them for their virtues and noble characters.