Medieval Europe is very similar to the West today, in that it was, and still is, a patriarchal society. While women have made great gains in the amount of power they have and their social standing, our society is still male dominated. This also manifests itself in the lines drawn between the masculine and the effeminate, which are the socially preferred way for a men and women, respectively, to behave. This is a remnant of our misogynistic past. It is also a testament to the effectiveness of the beliefs, social norms, and religious and legal institutions that were devised in the Middle Ages to maintain gender roles. One of the common beliefs in the Middle Ages was that, while both men and women’s bodies were “associated with dirt, waste and rot,” in the hierarchy, women were even more polluted. One such example is each sex’s contribution to the formation of a child. It was believed that the matter of the child was contributed by the mother’s blood, and that the spirit of the child, the more ascendant part, came from men’s semen. This idea of women being a baser creature than men can be seen throughout Christendom. Women were believed to be the more volatile gender, were considered more …show more content…
Witches at the time were defined as “people, mostly female, who denounced the Catholic faith, devoted themselves body and soul to evil, and indulged in such diabolical activities as causing storms, rendering men impotent, and copulating with devils.” Referring to these women as evil heretics, who in effect immaculate men is the very soul of how women are thought of at the time. The only way that people can consider women as powerful is to ascribe that power to a pact with satan, and to liken it to women’s perceived lascivious nature. One prominent demonologist treatise, the Malleus Malificarum, goes so far as to claim that “all witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which in women is
Major continuities and changes regarding various views of women in the years between 1450 and 1700 include both the continuation of disdain towards women and the emergence of the idea that women are equal to men. Women were often thought to be of less value than men, an idea that originated early in history and progressed throughout this time period. Some men and women began to speak out against inequality and, whether directly or indirectly, influenced new ideas causing others to believe in the power of women. Many views of women in the years between 1450 and 1700 continued to show the age old idea of women being seen as the inferior gender. James Sprenger and Henry Kramer wrote that women are more likely to be attacked by the devil because they are more naive than men (1).
Human bodies played a significant role in the hunt for witches and other European religious struggles. Throughout Germany, the concept of witchcraft and the obsession to stop it was at its worst from 1550 to 1650. While older women were famously the targets for accusations of witchcraft, men and children were not exempt from the terror that was the witch hunt. As described in Roper’s Witch Craze, there were multiple known influences on this phenomenon that killed so many, such as religious instability and various aspects of the human experience. One theme that is prevalent is that of women, their bodies and how the two of the aspects influenced the idea of witchcraft and way society attempted to end it.
In the reading “The Devil in the Shape of a Women, Witchcraft in Colonial New England,” by Carol F. Karlsen reveals the social constructions the people from New England had about witchcraft during the seventeenth century and the gender relationship amongst its people. Karlsen address the Salem Witch Trials and the large number of “witchcraft cases” that arose due to such beliefs. She focuses on the females who were accused of being witches in colonial New England and discusses the role and the position of women in the Puritan society. During the seventeenth century, sex was seen as an act of impureness, even among married couples sex was seen as an illicit behavior.
“As the magician molted into the witch, she also became predominately female, inherently more wicked and more susceptible to satanic overtures.” Says Schiff. They were extremely wicked, casted spells and curses on whoever crossed their paths, and used their abhorrent magic to make pregnancies last for three years. They turned others into hybrids man didn’t even think possible. Women were mainly the ones accused because they had a standard. If they acted below those standards it wasn’t necessarily worrisome but if they acted above them it was awfully suspicious.
England conversely placed the principle amount of blame on women compared to men. Higher church officials held a negative view towards concubines, as one stated that " I speak to you, o charmers of the clergy, appetizing flesh of the devil, that castaway from paradise, you, poison of the minds, death of souls, venom of wind and of eating, companions of the very stuff of sin, the cause of our ruin." In this account, women were equated with being spawns of the devil sent to soil the souls of priests. In England, however, this viewpoint distorts even further to women in general. It was thought that " The polluting, sexual presence of women 'defiled the lips and hands ' of priests and, therefore, the sacraments.
In Medieval Europe, women was an essential part of society, especially during the Middle Ages. Women had several roles they carried out that contributed to Europe's growth, such as a peasant woman and the Lady of the Manor. Women also and many expectations in society for their behavior and their way of life. Society's view on women and their treatment towards them weren't the best at times. Despite being seen as defenseless, without women, Europe would not be like it is today.
“The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England,” written by Carol Karlsen, is a nonfiction book about the roles women played in colonial New England and why they were targeted solely in the witchcraft madness that plagued Massachusetts and Connecticut from 1630 to the 18th century. Karlsen states that most women who were accused of witchcraft were most likely seen as a threat to the social, economic, hierarchy, and demographic states of New England. Karlsen mainly wrote the book to explain the social structure of society during this time and how and why women were targeted as witches. The book is also divided into three different sections that focus on different reasons as to why women were harassed as witches.
In 1990, Fordham University hosted a conference on gender and medieval society, focusing on the issue of feminist studies as a frame from which medieval ideas of “manhood” are approached. In 1994, Medieval Masculinities: Regarding Men in the Middle Ages was published as a result of that conference. A number of researchers contributed essays on the changes in definitions of masculinity during the medieval period, and looking at masculinity as another lens through which gender is to be approached, rather than a normative state to compare against in relating the lives of women in society. The focus was on demonstrating that the dominance of male oriented history did not just sublimate and ignore women but to a larege extend did the same thing
Antigone and The Importance of Gender in Ancient Greek Culture In Ancient Greece, there was a social hierarchy onto which everyone fell in one category or another. There were the free and the enslaved, the Greeks and the foreigners, the rich and the poor. Gender was an important aspect in this hierarchical society in which Sophocles’ Antigone (Sophocles) takes place. The men had their roles as the leaders of society, participating in politics, law, and the military.
In Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone and Creon are the main characters, each a girl and a boy. Antigone is an assertive and bold young woman in her community where women are seen as just subjects. Creon perceives women as beneath him. Sophocles portrays the women in the play with no rights nor any freedom. Gender roles are portrayed over and over in the play by blatantly disrespecting women and giving men all the power.
In our present generation, the idea of a separation between men and women really is not considered. We live in a culture where a person gets to choose sexual orientation, sexual preference, and even alter sex chromosomes. Due to of the advancement in our science, sociology, and psychology, sexism is arguably obsolete. I say all of that and an educated reader may be thinking “This girl is so wrong and has no clue what she is talking about because sexism does exist.” Well, it does, but not in the same way that it existed in medieval times.
Firstly, what was the women, in particular, in the eyes of husbands and fathers in the family? In early modern Europe, many people believe in that, the most appropriate place for women was the family which gives them certain responsibilities like obedient daughters, wives, and widows. Many books and theories included that women should marry and constitute their own family. These kinds of thoughts were strengthened by medical assessment about '' the biological nature of women, who were thought to be at risk of severe physical and mental illness if they did not engage in regular sexual relations.'' General belief in that time was that women were sexually more greedy, which came in sight in ribald
Women of the Medieval Times Women have always had a significant role in history even though they were treated horrible in most cases. During the Medieval Times was really the first time women were allowed to become more than just a house wife. The fight for equality has always been a struggle and even in today’s society is still an ongoing battle. Although women of lower and middle class were treated poorly in the Medieval Times, some powerful women held great responsibility and were looked up too by both men and children; despite being admired, “men were thought to be not only physically stronger but more emotionally stable, more intelligent, and morally less feeble” (Hopkins 5). “The position of women in the Medieval Society was greatly influenced by the views of the Roman Catholic Church” (Heeve).
Introduction Women in the Middle ages were treated as the second class members within their social class. They were taught to be obedient to their husbands and were expected to run the household and raise children. Their role in the society, however, was much more complex, while some medieval women achieved a high level of equality with men. In the Middle Ages women had a secondary role, coming second after men.
Over generations, the role of women in society has shifted and changed immensely, improving upon many aspects of rights and values that women have. The changes occurred gave women opportunities to provide ideas, to have the same rights as men, giving women freedom, leading to many contributions of many significant and valuable events. But from current roles of women being equal to those of men, how women stood in ancient society significantly differs and contrast with ours today. Throughout history, the role and significance of women were always outweighed by the dominance and influence of men. The role of women in ancient times varied throughout, depending on the place and area in the world, in which women had different roles and impacts on their own society.