The interaction between the theory and practice of gender systems around 1800 is studied here with reference to the correspondence between the author Therese Huber (1764-1829) and Emil von Herder (1783-1855). How powerful were the contemporary images of men and women? Did Huber respond to them with submission or emancipation? How did she define herself within the existing order of things? To answer these questions, topics addressed in these letters (e.g. education for girls) are analyzed against the background of texts like Rousseau's >>Emile<<. The ambivalence of the positions represented by Huber and Herder thus becomes discernible.