Feminist Observation Of The Stonehenge Rituals

Significant social, political, and economic transformations, including the rise of nation-states, the Renaissance, and the exploration of new territories characterized the 15th century in Europe. Amidst these changes, gender roles played a crucial role in shaping societal structures and individuals' lives. The dynamics of gender roles in Europe during the 1400s, shedding light on the expectations, limitations, and experiences of men and women, is significant to our understanding of what both men and women did in the past. Delving into the intricacies of gender roles prevalent in 15th-century Europe, this study focuses on the social and cultural factors that shaped the lives of both men and women, with a particular emphasis on the expectations

The history of the Middle Ages typically places women in one of two roles; they are either placed upon a pedestal of holiness or reviled as whores and allies of Satan. Historians, Marty Williams and Anne Echols, attempt to combat that idea with their text Between Pit and Pedestal: Women in the Middle Ages. Williams and Echols succeed in showing that the traditional female role did fall somewhere in between, but there was a lot of variety in what was in between. Women were wives, merchants, land owners, and doctors, but where does the "traditional" female fall in this picture? As scholars and historians, we are fortunate to have documents written by a woman in the Middle Ages: the letters of Heloise to her husband, renowned teacher and philosopher, Peter Abelard (referred to as Abelard).

In the novel Cutting for Stone, the author, Verghese displays many of the women suffering great loss and agony as a result from promiscuous behavior. Most of the women in the novel are presented as nothing more than an object placed for men’s pleasure. However, when the women initiate this pleasure-seeking behavior and follow through with it, they suffer greatly. The men consistently participate in unwed intercourse, and it is accepted as the way of life. Marion’s thoughts, at sixteen years old, are stated, “Little did I know that our Ethiopian peers both at our school and at the government schools had long ago gone through their sexual initiation with a bar girl or a housemaid” (Verghese, 2009, p.391). Support of this sexist perception of women are given in this discussion from the novel.

1. Stover, Leon E., and Bruce Kraig. Stonehenge: The Indo-European Heritage. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1978. Print.

Throughout history the depiction of women in art has changed significantly. Over time the depiction of women has changed from very stylized figures to more naturalistic portrayals. These two pieces of art, Lady Sennuwy and Priestess Burning Incense, came from two very different cultures. Despite their origins, the sculptures have more similarities than differences when it comes to their creation. Even though the sculptures have a similar purpose they are not similar in style.

Women were very important in medieval culture. They ran households, gave birth to and raised children, took care of business when their husbands were away and much more. Women had high standards that were placed upon them and that they set for themselves, much like the women and girls of today. Women worked for much less than men did, even though they worked as much if not more than men did. Noblewomen were occasionally educated. In all women were amazing and talented and worked very hard.

Women’s effect in medieval society had an impact on women's lives because the upper class women judged the lower class women by what they wore. The upper class women made the lower class women their servants. The servants would take care of their household duties such as cleaning and taking care of the children. As time progressed things for the lower class women was worse as many of them were made to be servants

Women from the medieval times had clear roles. The women had strict rules to follow by. When it came to marriage, the wives had to submit to their husbands and follow their lead. Women were supposed to be cleaning, stay at home with the kids, cook, make clothes, etc. The women who steered away from these “typical” roles, made very interesting characters. The majority of gender expectations came from the church and biblical history. Since Eve was the cause for the fall of man, there were a lot of anti-feminist feelings. Women were held accountable for the majority of man’s suffering, and were consequently inferior and to be dominated by men. Purity, holiness, and chastity, were all presumptions of women from outstanding role models like the Virgin Mary.

Women withstood a multitude of limitations in the medieval era. Due to the political, social, and religious restrictions women encountered, historians neglected to realize that they demonstrated agency. The female experience is something that has been overlooked until recently. Unfortunately, without the knowledge of how women found ways to exert their power, we are experiencing a deficit of knowledge in this period. Through the close examination of the primary sources: The Gospel of Mary, Dhouda’s Liber Manualis, and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the creative means of female force are displayed.

In 1963, British astronomer Gerald Hawkins published an article in Nature, followed by a book, Stonehenge Decoded, and proposed a hypothesis for at least one purpose of this ancient monument. Standing in the center of Stonehenge, Hawkins recognized twenty-four lines of sight amongst the stones, and later discovered that these lines pointed to significant astronomical events. The most famous of these are the alignments that point to the spot on the horizon on which the sun rises on the summer and winter solstices; but there were many lines pointing to the rising and setting of the full moon near to those dates as well. Hawkins discovered that Stonehenge was not only a religious site, but also an “astronomical observatory” and calendar. Stonehenge was a device by which the builders could tell, on an annual basis, when Earth arrived at a certain point in its orbit around the sun. (Trefil

It has allowed us to date the construction of Stonehenge and establish theories on what the site was constructed/used for. It is suggest by the results of radiocarbon dating, that construction on Stonehenge continued until roughly 1600 BC.

A woman in medieval times was not considered a person, but property. A woman would be forced to wear layers of drab clothing, the style determining their social class ranking. A woman of wealth would wear decadent gowns and women in poverty would wear plain spun dresses. Their goal in life was to find a husband, to give in to his whims and be the epitome of submission. Sometimes, peasant girls would be forced to take up a trade prior to marriage. After the marriage, she was forced to give up this trade, the skill she possessed, and either maintain the lifestyle as a housewife, or help her husband with his trade. In regards to whom a woman married, there was little to no choice in the matter. Often, girls were married to strange men, men they

There was little respect towards women during the Middle Ages. They were treated unfairly in a time that lacked feminism. Women were dominated by men. If a woman disagreed with a man, or refused to do what he told her, he had to right to beat her into submission. Much like today, in the Middle Ages, women were seen as inferior to men, even though they had as hard as work or harder to men.

Women had a major part of motivating their men in the Anglo-Saxon society. They were supposed to be the housewife who cleaned, cooked, did laundry, stayed loyal to their man, watched over the slaves, and have kids. While doing this they were supposed to also support, motivate and serve drinks for company and family who visited their homes. The females were expected to be entertainers and comedians so when they had the company in their homes they would always have something going on and their company would not lose interest. Female slaves during this time had some different responsibilities of their own. They were expected to do more physical activities including corn grinding and acting as serving maids. The less physical activities they were

Stonehenge was a stone structure established a long time ago by civilizations before the Druid age. More than 4,000 years ago, the people of the Neolithic period supposedly decided to build a massive monument using earth, timber and eventually, stones.They placed it high on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England about 137 kilometres southwest of London. The purpose to build Stonehenge still remains a mystery. Stonehenge could have been a temple, an astronomical calendar, or a guide to the heavens. Stonehenge acts as a prehistoric timepiece, allowing us to speculate on what it would have been like during the Neolithic Period, and who could have built this megalithic wonder.