America vs. Europe

According to Tocqueville, American and European attitudes toward women differ greatly.

He feels that in America, women are rising to same level of men, intellectually and morally. Tocqueville feels that the reason for this is due to democracy. One of the things he mentioned in this article that I found interesting was that, "...Americans do not think that man and woman have either the duty or the right to perform the same offices, but they show an equal regard for both their respective parts..." (p.379). I think that is a very, in a strange way, legit observation. He feels that while both parties treat y each other with respect, the support system for women is not as apparent. It's not that men doubt a woman's ability, they just have trouble showing how they feel.

In Europe it's kind of the opppsite. Men may 'lavish' women, but they have contempt while doing so. Europeans don't see women as equal. That seems very odd to me. To have contempt while complimenting someone is very degrading towards women. Clearly, the attitudes in American and Europe are really quite the opposite.