Introduction

Abstract

The introduction contextualizes the life and careers of Rose Cleveland and connects her views and writings to the political and social changes that characterized the latter part of the nineteenth century. As the chapter reveals, growing awareness of women’s individual needs and desires led them to demand rights that moved from social and political to the control of their bodies. Rose Cleveland was among those nineteenth-century women who refuted the gendered categorization and subjugation of women. She actively promoted enhanced opportunities for education and careers, positioning herself in the forefront of women’s liberation—social, political, and sexual. As the chapter explains, she helped shape a transformation in female subjectivity and agency.