Gender Advancements During The Renaissance Essay

Women were also expected to maintain their social positivity and kindness by never speaking or listening to evil about other women. Men hearing these women speak evil would appear to “listen gladly” but ultimately “hold such women in small respect” and “esteem them so lightly as to despise their company” (177.) From the accounts held in The Courtier of women in the Renaissance, it can be said that women were almost considered to be “status symbols” during this time period. Some men aimed to treat women with courtesy and respect but never viewed them as true equals. Women were expected not to make a fuss, not to speak up too loudly, and to act positive and apolitical at every turn, resulting in a stifling lack of agency. As a whole, women were expected to be seen and not heard, ultimately having a scarce role in the era. Even still, misogyny and hatred was ubiquitous in this time period.

In 17th century Euro-America Puritan society believed that men played a patriarchal role upon women, and that this role was instituted by God and nature. The seniority of men over women lay within both the household and the public sphere. The household, immediate family living in the same dwelling was subject to the male as head figure of the house. The public sphere also known as the social life within the Puritan community consisted of two echelons. These echelons consisted of formal and informal public. The formal public consisted of woman and indentured servants. Women were to stay within the informal public and stay in the shadows of the men. The government held large ties with the church in the 17th century. Though women were

Throughout the history of Europe, the role of women has drastically been altered. The Middle Ages saw peasant women working side by side with their husbands and taking care of their children at home. As time passed by, women were given an increased amount of rights, and then the cottage industry took over, providing thousands of women the opportunity to work as in the comfort of their home. The eruption of the agricultural revolution and technological advance soon swept England and the continent, further increasing opportunities. Work was now done in factories, which started off as family units for convenience, but soon split off because of increasing urbanization and industrialization. The 19th century saw such alterations, and the role of a woman came under investigation as mothers were unable to perform their necessary house duties and take care of the children, because of the need to work. As the role of women changed within the Renaissance and Enlightenment, it would also adapt to the new urban, industrial landscape. Although monetarily these changes proved to be favorable, the social developments brought by the Industrial revolution separated the family, led to more dangerous work both physically and mentally, and also stood as a challenge to femininity, all to the extent of changing everyday life.

The renaissance began a momentous time in the history of Western Europe. Many new forms and styles of arts, literature, and customs emerged during this period. Economic, social, and cultural changes affected the lives of everyone. Particularly the role of women in society was affected. There were four categories of women: wives, mothers, widows and daughters. Within each of these categories, certain duties were expected. Jacob Burckhardt once wrote, 'to understand the higher forms of social intercourse in this period, we must keep before our minds the fact that women stood on a footing of perfect equality with men.'. It is a widely known fact that this in no way was true. Inequalities between men and

During the eighteenth century, gender roles were rigid. There were things that men were expected to do, and things women were expected to do, and these expectations were very different. There were countless works written and drawn about what each gender should do and how they should act. Two such works were George Washington’s “Rules of Civility”, and the image entitled “Keep Within the Compass”. In both works, we are shown both sides of the gender coin. In “Rules of Civility” we are shown all the things that men are supposed to do, per George Washington, and in “Keep Within the Compass” we are shown what woman are supposed to do.

The Renaissance postulate on the representation of the body as a mirror that could be looking into to gain an understanding of the sitter's inner character leads to certain physical traits being associated with intellectual and spiritual qualities. Strong emphasis was placed on women's beauty, as it was believed that a beautiful body was the reflection of a good spirit. For women, having a good spirit meant being virtuous. Virtue was considered to be the prime quality a woman could possess and a chaste woman was a beautiful woman. The idea of women as virtuous being is intrinsically misogynystic as the worth of women was reduced to their physical purity or physical worth. Women were not allowed the same intellectual depth and individuality as men, and most portrait busts appear as idealisation of women and of

Throughout history, we see many variations in what is depicted to as the “ideal” body type for women. Historical evidence in literature and art shows that in early centuries, desirable women had voluptuous and rounded figures. In Ancient Greece 500-300 B.C., women were considered “disfigured” versions of men; as shown in sculptures and classical paintings, they were light skin, plump and full-bodied (Dovas, 2015). In the Italian Renaissance 1400-1700, we see fair-skinned women with ample bosoms, rounded bellies, and full hips. In his poem, Venus and Adonis, Shakespeare describes Venus, the Roman goddess, “My beauty as the spring doth yearly grow; My flesh is soft and plump, my marrow burning”. In Victorian England 1837-1901, women were also full-figured, desirably plump and compressed their torso with corsets to achieve a well-formed shape (Dovas, 2015). From her novel Little Women published in 1868, Louisa May Alcott described a character Margaret, “Margaret, the eldest of the four, was sixteen and very pretty, being plump and fair, with large eyes, plenty of soft brown hair, a sweet mouth, and white hands, of which she was rather vain.” These historical examples show that plump women were considered beautiful and attractive. The thin

Throughout the Fourteenth and into the Fifteenth Century, there were a number of tragic events that directly caused the need for a revitalization of society. This revitalization was needed to restore hope to the people that were living each day for survival. Some of these events were the destabilization of the Catholic Church with the relocation of the papacy from Rome to Avignon. This would soon be followed by the Black Death and its mammoth death toll that lead to the reduction of work forces and uprisings of peasants. At the same time, England and France were fighting a series of wars that would later be deem The Hundred Years’ War, and this battle would add to a

The 17th century was a time where there were many drastic differences between men and women. Their treatment, level of education, place in government, and social norms were some of the many that made a line between the genders. Sexism is tolerated and seen, and it is still reflected in our present society. Women are the suppressed gender and males reigned supreme. (Feminism in Literature Essay)

The up to date civilizations will recognize from these restrictions the lack of education and the ignorance present in Utopia. Additionally, Utopian women were allowed to take part in trades. As well, they had the opportunity in becoming priests. In the Renaissance societies, woman began to obtain more independence and rights. For example: the capability to work, joining wars and the ability in becoming a priest. These developments and changes affected the people in the renaissance period because they were seen as an unexpected progress towards gender equality in the Renaissance society. On the other hand, woman in modern societies have already achieved their goals in becoming as equal as possible to men. This demonstrates t the different levels of knowledge attained between both the Renaissance society and The Modern society. The more freedom a woman gets in utopia, the more it reinforces the fact that men were superior. Moreover, women were always categorized and judged by what she wears and how she acts. Women and children were always scared and likely to apologize to their husbands if they fail in their

Despite the odds, women can overcome all difficulties. In the past, women have badly struggled because men criticized them. They were thought of as ignorant beings that only knew how to manage housework. Their experiences were measured unimportant because they were considered to be mediocre. For most women, the best they could hope for, and the only thing they were trained to do was to marry. The purpose of most women were to find a man, marry him and bear his children. Women were often placed in arranged arrangements to marry as early as the age of eight years old. A woman in the Renaissance usually got married somewhere between the ages of sixteen and twenty years old. Marriages were arranged for business reasons, in the importance of trade

Transition into the Renaissance and Elizabethan Era’s showed promising changes when it came to theatre, and the lives and many actors. These performances were all male based and showed very little involvement with women in the theatre. This is because women were not allowed to participate in the theatre. Some people might have been afraid, others might presume due to the social status, that it would be possibly foolish of them to do such a deed and frown upon them doing so. Looking at the differences between the theatre and the role of the woman in the renaissance, there is a contradiction that women did participate in theatre. Although women were not permitted to participate in theatre, research shows that women were indeed participating in

According to Alberti, the women’s role is childbearing, child rearing and subservient to men and serves in a domestic sphere permanently. In his view, women should not play any role in public activity, interest, or society. Humanism of the Renaissance unwelcomed women input or influence; their opinions were dismissed and unworthy.

While both authors recognize the political and social changes that occurred during the Renaissance, their views on the outcome of these changes differ. Burckhardt thinks that the changes caused Florence to become, “the first modern State in the world,” unlike Kelly-Gadol (Burckhardt, 1). Joan Kelly-Gadol believes that these changes were not for the better because as a result women, “were increasingly removed from public concerns” (Kelly-Gadol, 197). Burckhardt believes that, “the most varied forms of human development,” were a result of the Renaissance (Burckhardt, 1). Joan Kelly-Gadol’s disagrees with Burckhardt because she believes that, “there was no renaissance for women,” and therefore humanity did not completely develop (Kelly-Gadol, 176).

The literature of the Renaissance society gives us direct insight into the dominant culture and attitudes of the male sector and its attitudes towards women. Nevertheless, it also gives us possibly unintended insight and knowledge about the cultural activities of women from this time. Representations of women in literary texts describe the true virtues and gentilities of the Renaissance, yet we can discover through them, something of social truth and reality. (Mention/show picture on paratext) Here, a woman sits, content and humble; sewing virtuous inscriptions. Yet the male believes these women to be submissive and well behaved when in fact sewn letters were crucial in the development of women's literacy and voice during this period. In 'The