Mary Lincoln: non-feminist?

[L Verge]

I suspect that Mary's Southern upbringing had something to do with her being perhaps publicly reticent to express any views on women's liberalism. Southern ladies of Mary's class were raised to be the tender keeper of husband, home, and children. By the time that the Seneca Falls movement gathered speed, Mary had fallen into those accepted roles - despite the encouragement that her father and Henry Clay had given her by allowing her participation in political conversations and the behind-the-scenes talks she likely had with her husband.

When the Civil War came and went, Southern females were quite busy picking up the pieces of their lives, learning to manage in the absence of a man, rebuild any livelihoods for survival, etc. They probably didn't realize that they were learning what it was going to take to gain some semblance of equality.

On the other end, some of their Northern sisters had gotten their feet in the doors of opportunity before the war with jobs, better educations, and the like. The war sharpened their skills in management via organizing sanitary fairs, leading Christian crusades that assisted various charities, and learning to work the press. It took awhile for the Southern sisters to learn the skills of rebuilding as well as changing their roles in society.