Introduction
Harriet Martineau was born in 1802 and is considered one of the first Western sociologist. She taught herself political economic theory and became an expert in the field. She wrote about the relations between morals, economics, politics, and social life. She was also one of the first women in journalism. Several of her ideas about society and the political economy was presented with stories. Over her lifetime, Martineau was known for her strong anti-slavery and feminist standpoints. She believed that in order to understand the status of women, one must do a thorough analysis of society. She also was politically active. This paper analyzes Martineau’s contribution to the field of sociology and how her works have influenced society and sociology today.
Discussion
Harriet Martineau is considered the first woman sociologist. By the dawn of the Victorian Age, Martineau was thirty years old and had already achieved remarkable achievements as a writer and reformer. She wrote on social, economic, and political conditions throughout England. Throughout her lifetime, she advocated for slaves, children, and social justice for women. Furthermore, Martineau spent a substantial time writing on topics about race/ethnic relations and ethnic/racial diversity. Martineau’s thoughts and ideas have been long ignored by sociologists. However, her ideas and viewpoints are well documented today (Onyekwuluje, 2008, p. 29).
Harriet Martineau entered into the sociology field from her work as a writer. After her father’s business failed, she decided to start working as a writer. She first focused on the political economy and advocated for free market economic principles. However, later in her career, she started advocating government action when it came to injustice and inequality. Throughout her life, Martineau wrote over 2,000 articles and 50 books. She is remembered as a social reformer due to her opinion of the progressive evolution of society. “Her social theoretical perspective was often focused on the moral stance of a populace and how it did or did not correspond to the social, economic, and political relations of its society” (Cole, 2016). She also focused on female inequality. She analyzed women’s inequality throughout social, economic, and political viewpoints. This led to one of her main contribution to the world of sociology.
Martineau’s work is related to sociology because it gives insight to how one should analyze society. Her main contribution in sociology was the idea that people need to focus on all aspects of society. In other words, in order to fully understand a social issue, one must analyze the social, political and economic implications that the social issue has. This created the theory and study of sociology. Martineau stated that bias are minimized when analyzing society through its own standards (Boucher, 2006, p. 323). She also emphasized the importance of examining social, religious and political institutions. Martineau believed that by looking at all aspects of society, a person would be able to deduce why inequality exists. She was mainly concerned with the inequality that was faced by women and girls. She also created feminist perspectives on several topics. These topics include: home, religion, marriage, children and race relations (Cole, 2016).
In her book Society in America, Retrospect of Western Travel and How to Observe Morals and Manners, Martineau “expressed her support for abolition of slavery, criticism of the immortality and economic inefficiency of slavery, its impact on the working classes in the U.S. and in Britain, and fiercely criticized the state of education for women” (Cole, 2016). She took all of these topics and presented them in political and social viewpoints. This is especially true with her viewpoints on slavery and women’s rights. She also wrote about her strong viewpoints on marriage. She believed that marriage was just a legal way for men to economically and socially restrict women. Martineau believed marriage only limited a women’s control over her own rights and property. She was also politically active when it came to abolitionist and donated her proceeds from selling embroidery in order to support it.
Martineau also advocated for women’s rights. She was in support of the Married Women’s Property Bill. This bill was in support for licensing prostitution. “In plain, harsh language that was extraordinary for her time, she described the sexual degradation of women, both slave and free, the damage to all children, the warping of conscience and behavior, and a society running on hypocrisy, suspicion, and restriction of liberty” (Berleant, 2016). In other words, Martineau illustrated the damage that the degradation of women causes to society.
Martineau was upset about the marriage laws that existed during her time. The marriage laws during that time period offered no legal protection for women. Women were also not allowed to file for divorce or own property. Furthermore, women were given no control over their children or homes. “She believed that marriage should be a partnership of equals, and that women should have the same rights, as well as the same responsibilities as their husbands” (Berleant, 2016). She also stated that marriage was an economic arrangement and nothing else. She also referred to marriage as “legal prostitution”. She also advocated divorce, stating it allowed women to escape from abusive or unhappy marriages. Lastly, Martineau believed that birth control should be allowed for women in marriages and that the decision to have children should be that of the women (Berleant, 2016).
Martineau had strong views on slavery. She once stated that slavery made a mockery of America and the ideals of freedom. For example, the following is what Martineau wrote about slaveholders: “I could not but marvel at their mild forbearance under the hourly provocations to which they are liable in their homes: their rooms dirty, their property wasted, their plans frustrated, their infants slighted, themselves deluded by artifices” (Berleant, 2016). This was her response to her opinion on slaveholders. She used irony to illustrate her point as to how unacceptable the idea of slavery is. Martineau did not agree with slaveholder’s viewpoints. She also did not believe in the institution of slavery. Instead, she believed in the idea of manners and morals.
Martineau’s work has influenced sociology today in several ways. The main way is by the creation of feminism. Martineau is considered the founder of feminism. She advocated for equal education for women, equal pay for equal work, and equal opportunity in terms of employment. She was involved in women’s suffrage. Martineau had strong beliefs in that once a woman was able to become economically independent, then they would be able to politically advance. She was also outspoken when it came to paying taxes and following laws when she was not allowed to vote on those taxes or those laws.
Martineau’s ideas are still reflected throughout theory and sociology today. Besides for her societal and feminist viewpoints, Martineau’s ideas on morals and manners is still reflected in society today. She stated that morals are behaviors that are deemed appropriate by society. Manners, on the other hand, are associations and actions in society. In other words, the manners that someone conducts is dictated by what behaviors, or morals, are deemed appropriate in that setting. “These ideas are still important today because it focuses on the very basic way society functions, which detail the expected norms of an individual and the expected behaviors that are supposed to reflect those norms” (Weiss, 2015). The ideas of manners and morals still exist today. Children are still taught the importance of both morals and manners throughout societies across the globe. This is an example of how Martineau’s ideas are still reflected throughout society today.
Overall, Martineau influenced sociology by emphasizing the importance of all aspects of society. Today, sociologist looks towards all aspects of sociology when dictating the end result of a specific social issue. In other words, Martineau illustrated the importance of analyzing all factors throughout a society when trying to analyze a social issue. She showed how all social issues have political, economic, and social implications and how those implications effect society.
Conclusion
Harriet Martineau is the first woman sociologist and was especially interested in women’s rights, slavery and children. Her main contribution to sociology is the idea that one should analyze all aspects of a society in order to probably assess social issues. This created the science of sociology. She was anti-slavery and wrote about the topic. She believed that slavery made America look like a mockery. She also advocated for women’s rights, especially through marriage. Martineau called marriage “legal prostitution” and believed it only socially and economically restricted women. She also believed that women should have their right to divorce their husbands. Overall, Martineau’s sociological ideas are still present throughout society today. She created the idea of feminism which is commonly seen throughout society today. Furthermore, Martineau’s ideas on manners and morals are still reflected throughout society today. Harriet Martineau made significant contributions to the sociological realm. She is considered the founder of the science of sociology and the first women sociologist. Her ideas and theories are still applicable in today’s society.
References
Berleant, R. (2016). Harriet Martineau (1802-1876). Retrieved on 18 April 2016, from <http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/martineau.htm>.
Boucher, D. (2006). Small victories, lasting change: Harriet Martineau, slavery, and women’s rights. Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge, 4, 321-330.
Cole, N. (2016). Harriet Martineau. Retrieved on 18 April 2016, from <http://sociology.about.com/od/Profiles/fl/Harriet-Martineau.htm>.
Onyekwuluje, A. (2008). Two women of similar mind and common experiences across time and space: the sociological work of Georgia Davis Powers and Harriet Martineau. Sociology Origins, 5(2), 27-38.
Weiss, A. (2015). Harriet Martineau. Retrieved on 18 April 2016, from <http://ashleyweiss.umwblogs.org/harriet-martineau/>/
