Differences of Today's Modern Society Women, Marriage, Employment, Residence and Education with that of the 16th Century

Judith Sargent Murray’s On the Equality of the Sexes reveals the struggles women had in the 17th-18th centuries when it came to equal education opportunities. Women were expected to become people of domestication while men had many opportunities to expand their minds and be ambitious, and be leaders. Women were expected to focus on taking care of their family, not to have minds of their own. They wanted change.

     Many of people today feel trapped inside their homes, just how the women of Pre-Industrial Europe felt. Working day in and day out inside the homes, just to keep the family together, and make a little money on the side, these women were an integral part of Pre-Industrial families. Not only were the women important to Pre-Industrial European families, but so were the households. Much of the money was made in the households, and this is where families either succeeded or failed. The household and women of Pre-Industrial Europe played an integral role in the economy of the families, and more importantly, the women of these households kept them running

During the age of the homespun, the house was typically used as a factory on the farm, and the land was used to produce for the house that the women ran(Doc E). During the Industrial Revolution, women were given larger roles. For the first time, women worked to earn a wage, outside of their home, breaking out of the Cult of Domesticity. Women were able to leave the domestic setting and find low paying jobs in domestic service, textile factories, and piece workshops. Similarly, the lives of women changed greatly and the status of women changed slightly during the Second Great Awakening because of the emphasis on their spiritual

dedicated farm women. They took care of all of the food, clothing and just about anything else

Other domestic skills consisted of embroidering, spinning, weaving, managing economy, supervising servants, and nursing any ailing household members. Beyond this noble women were expected to entertain their husband?s guests and see to the purchase and storage of supplies for the house. From their mothers, young ladies learned about the values of chastity, obedience and silence.

for a woman in those times and that society. It was either be a wife/mother, nun, or a “fallen

Most of the women who worked in factories were there because they lacked other opportunities. Many dropped out of school because they married young or had to help their family bring in money. Bowman talks about a young woman named Mary, who explained that she had to quit school to help her mother out after her father passed away (Bowman Reid, 112). Women in the lower class did not have a choice whether they worked or not. Their husbands did not make enough to support their families and some women were left widows with children to

During the late 16th and early 17th century, women were expected to be submissive, calm, quiet, and uneducated. A woman’s duty was to stay home and take care of their husbands, children, cooking, and cleaning. Women during this time were not viewed as intelligent members of society; they were viewed as emotional human beings whose only purpose was to nurture the home. Deep, intellectual thoughts, language, or actions were deemed as masculine characteristics. Regardless of schooling, women during Elizabethan times were not expected nor granted the opportunity to work. They were, however, expected to uphold duties as “woman” by submitting their livelihood to their husband and household.

Despite this, there was an increased number of women becoming literate in their native languages during the Renaissance, although it was still rare. In cities, literacy was prized because there was a necessity for literacy of both men and women in certain classes such as merchants. Merchants were frequently away on business and it was the wives duty to manage the business while the husband was away (“Renaissance Women Writers”, 155-159). In this way literacy among women due increase however, women still had little time for reading or studies as their main duty still was to manage the family. Also, very few women were taught Latin, the primary language in scholarship (“Renaissance Women Writers”, 155-159)..

The women of the middle class medieval world did not have much power and dominance throughout this time period. Medieval women do housework and take care of the children. Of the women who were not house-ridden, some crafted and spun silk (Dean and Thomson 41). These roles were not important to villages and this implies that women were restricted with jobs and rights. While men were off hunting or working as a higher position in society, women were unable to do work like men do.

Female slaves often served as maidservants for the mistress of the house. They also wove cloth for making clothing.

In the 16th century women were not allowed in the professions (such as doctors, lawyers and teachers) and female employment was often menial and low paid. However women were allowed to join some of the guilds organizations of tradespeople and skilled workers. In 1562 a law, the Statute of Artificers, made it illegal to employ a man or a woman in a trade unless they had served a 7 year apprenticeship. However in the case of women the law was often not enforced. Very often the guilds let male members employ their wives or daughters in their workshops. Furthermore if a craftsman died his widow often carried on his trade. Some women worked in food preparation such as brewers, bakers or confectioners.

“Women were long considered weaker than men and unable to perform work requiring muscular development”. (Women’s History in America Presented by Women 's International Center) By gaining the indecency from their husbands, women could make more decisions in their marriage and become housekeepers. For example, the women performed duties such as washing clothes, washing dishes, cooking, and helping with the farm. If a woman wanted to earn a living, they had to either become a seamstress or own a boardinghouse. Acceptable jobs would be working in a factory or domestic work and becoming a writer or a teacher. Very

The wives of the time were thought to have the duty to manage everything from food supplies to managing accounts and

Women have always worked. During the pre-industrial age, family was considered as a unity of production and consumption and woman had to work to support it. While men were making rural labor, women had to take care of children, do the housekeeping, feed the animals, grow crops on the home parcel, and then sell the remaining porcion at the market. Other women got temporary jobs doing similar things for somebody else.