Alexis De Tocqueville

According to Alexis De Tocqueville, American and European attitudes towards women are different based on the gender roses ascribed to them by each society. Europeans make men and women equal by attempting to make them the same and in doing so ascribe unrealistic expectations. Americans on the other hand overemphasize the differences by ascribing ultra-specific roles to each of the genders. Alexis De Tocqueville suggests that women are becoming “more and more the equal of man” through his observations that women in America have received an equivalent education to men and that the independence of women is protected by the country’s severe punishment of rape. As a result Alexis De Tocqueville points out “in America, a young unmarried woman may, alone and without fear, undertake a long journey.” Another way in which Alexis De Tocqueville acknowledges that American women are viewed as being more equal to men is inherent in there not being viewed as timid and feeble but as strong and competent.