Granting individual rights to women and youth destabilized African family hierarchy

Evidence

We created civil justice, but native society was scared by the rights we granted to individuals, particularly to women and to young people, [who began] challenging with impunity conjugal and paternal authority, ageless foundations of the African family. We suppressed the great commands, feared and respected, but we also deprived the collectivity of the tyranny that constituted a solid framework … I do not criticize these measures … only assert that these reforms have profoundly troubled the natives who … observe that the rigorous hierarchy of yesterday has been replaced [today] by a well-intentioned but emasculated one. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 642

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader theme in Frankenstein or colonization critiques where dismantling oppressive structures without replacement leaves chaos.