virtue, although she did so while arguing for female independence from
men (Wollstonecraft 2006). In a letter to his sister, Kleist reformulates
this when he says "Deine Bestimmung, liebe Freundin, oder iiberhaupt
die Bestimmung des Weibes ist wohl unzweifelhaft und unverkennbar;
denn welche andere kann es sein, als diese, Mutter zu werden, und der
Erde tugendhafte Leute zu erziehen?''(Kleist 1987). This constitutes a
change in social custom. Women, rather than functioning merely as
vessels and sources of nourishment for future generations, were expected
to take an active role in the education of their children. Lavater praises
women in his Physiognomische Fragmente. He contents that, "Aechter,
reiner physiognomischer Sinn in Ansehung des weiblichen Geschlechtes
[...] die beste Wiirze und Stdrkung des menschlichen Lebens—und das
allerwurksamste Verwahrungsmittel vor Erniedrigung seiner selbst und
anderer [ist]" (Lavater). Lavater says the aesthetic qualities of women
have a positive effect on men. By viewing women, men are protecting
themselves from debasement, which reinforces the idea of women beings
the bastions of virtue.
While both the womb and the breast constituted the primary
distinguishing characteristics of the female, the breast occupied a special
position within male fantasy. Within the Enlightenment paradigm, the
distinction between the sexes remained biologically determined. The
fundamental component of the female construction was the breast;
through a metonymic shift, it signified both motherhood and male desire.
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