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I agree with your statement. Of course, at the time, extra thought was not given to women or their possible duties within society, and so they are simply mentioned in the way they have been viewed for centuries: as the dutiful, mothering housewife. In "The Strenuous Life," Roosevelt put a special burden on white, Anglo women to perform their "womanly" duties and sustain the population. For women, living the "strenuous life" meant embracing their natural roles as mothers and bearing many healthy children. In his other four volumes about The West, he had praised frontier women for fearlessly bearing many children despite the challenges of the wilderness, which is a fair comment upon a women's most difficult biological "duty." Roosevelt returned to that theme in "The Strenuous Life," insisting that modern women should do no less. Roosevelt seemed more concerned with making the Frontier appear extremely important when in combat with the modern world of tycoons and businessmen. Men and women alike had to be swayed to the idea of living strenuously in order to be satisfied and successful. Although many women had worked tirelessly to gain equal access and rights in the public sphere, Roosevelt called upon them to show the same dedication to their traditional roles. He declared that the "woman must be the housewife" and "the wise and fearless mother of many healthy children." When men shouted the "strenuous life" by fearing to work or to wage "righteous war," and when women feared motherhood, each would "tremble on the brink of doom." In a way, by expanding the "strenuous life" to women, Roosevelt gave all Americans of his generation the responsibility of aspiring to their frontier ancestors. Moreover, by linking men who "fear righteous war" to women who "fear motherhood," he elevated those women who bore many children to heroic status; they became the equivalent of male warriors defending their country (although obviously not as publicly celebrated) The maternal impulse, no less than bravery in combat, was necessary to sustain the "strenuous life." My point here is that at the time, in connection with his other written works, Theodore Roosevelt was attempting to bring a new kind of importance to the men and women in the Frontier. We have definitely come a long way, but in his own way, Roosevelt had pushed for a stronger importance seen in the stereotypical roles of women.

Work Cited

Theodore Roosevelt, The Winning of the West--An Account of the Exploration and Settlement of our Country from the Alleghanies to the Pacific: The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, National edition, 20 vols. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926), 8: 93.

http://archive.vod.umd.edu/internat/tr1899int.htm#_edn1

While I understand and agree that Roosevelt's writing is stylized in such a way that readers feel and strive to feel empowered, I disagree with the statement regarding white feminism. Feminism ideals--even ideals surrounding white feminism--rarely carry the notion that women were ever content or tolerant with their roles in society. In my opinion, Roosevelt extending his views of America's greatness to women is not a curtesy, nor is it a revolutionary deed. Instead, what we may be able to gather, is that Roosevelt is trying to contribute patriarchal ideals to an already patriarchal society in guise of a radical or revolutionary thought.

Furthermore, while saying that Roosevelt pushed for a stronger importance seen in stereotypical roles of women may be slightly true if we think about the most basic roles of gender, let's not give credit where it is not due. Roosevelt only mentioned the role of women in a brief paragraph compared to the rest of the work, and in that paragraph, he exemplified the notions that keep women from participating in the working world at all. Adjectives like, "wise" and "fearless" are only added to soften the blow of being told, "you're a woman so you need to mother the hell up."

What's more, is that this ideal puts a strain on women who are unable to or do not have the monetary means of bearing and raising children. With this in mind, we come to the ideas of intersectionality and ask ourselves, how can a woman of minority race, at this time, produce "wise" and "healthy" children if she does not have the education or money to do so? With this in mind, as well as so many more questions and concerns regarding intersectionality and the role women were/are meant to play in society, I find it difficult to see Roosevelt's, "Strenuous Life," as at all uplifting or revolutionary for white women, nor do I see Sarah's response as one that carries white feminist ideals.