Women in the Middle Ages The Middle Ages, also known as the “Dark Ages” lasted throughout the 5th to the 15th century. And when we think about the Dark Ages we think about the men and their battles, and their savagery. What we don’t know much about is the women during that period. Women held the positions of wife, mother, peasant, artisan, and nun. As well as some important leadership roles, such as Abbess, which is the head of an abbey of nuns.
As the influx of young African male slaves decreased, women slaves were moved from the house to the field where they composed nearly 60% of the labor force. Women slaves, however tended to compose the second gang of sugar production while the male slaves dug the holes. The fact that female African slaves were versatile in both areas, domestic and agricultural, created the popular image of them as the time as somewhat animalistic because of their unparalleled female
The role of the female in the African-American community is inevitably influenced by their physical appearance. As, historically, physical beauty was an easy way out for women in slave communities to reduce hard labor and focus more heavily on easier tasks such as childbearing and sexual duties, this “tradition” carried on to the 20th century in which the ugly population always had a handicap in the way they were treated not only by other communities but also by their own communities. The roles have changed drastically since the years of slavery, but the concept remained the same. African-American women with higher beauty standards obtained higher roles in their
In the early Middle Ages, women had no time enjoying real equality with men. There was always a double standard in many respects in their lives. For instance, women had a more restricted choice of occupation, and fewer opportunities for education and the acquisition of property than males in their society. (Mate 1999, p.2) They found it difficult in finding jobs, because most of them were dominated by males. In all social classes, women were considered as weaker than men physically.
In Victorian age females were educated but more of the female population was forced prostitution. There were very less job options for women so they had only this option to earn their living. But charlotte, very beautifully has opposed this trend and showed that women should study and get good jobs instead of ruining themselves in prostitution. Charlotte had a very difficult childhood and has thus seen the reality of the world. So she was well known with the fact that society would not accept her easily.
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.
The middle ages for most of the women didn’t have lots of power compared to the men. There were certain women that would have more power than other women because of the social classes they are in. The women’s job in the middle ages was to get married and do most of the housework. The men during the time would almost always dominate over the women. Women during the time wouldn't receive any education at all unless they are nuns or have converted to nuns they would then be able to receive decent amount of education.
She realized that the role assigned to women would undergo a transformation with the changes in the society. She was interested in exploring the sociality of women rather than sexuality or the emotional aspects of her which were already widely accepted. The 19th century can be defined as being sexually segregated where the role of men and women were sharply differentiated. It was ‘unmanly’ for a man to enter the kitchen but it was an accepted norm for the men to indulge in everything from gambling to alcoholism. In fact, it was one of the most prominent points in focus for all the feminist movement of the 19th century which saw it as largely a men’s problem.
In colonial America gender roles were very strict because everything functioned through the nuclear family unit. Girls learned their strict gender roles from their mothers, and a book called The Primer ultimately outlined what actions were good and bad for them to do. The girls were expected to do everything that the adult women did at the age of thirteen. This was possible because the women did not get any sort of education, they were expected to stay home and maintain order by taking care of the children, buying and preparing food, directing the servants or slaves, and they did most of the chores. The women were also expected to pass faith down to their children and to be obedient to her father or her husband.
The legalisation of prostitution is a controversial issue that draws much debate between the pros and cons of the situation. Prostitution is the act of engaging in sexual activities for payment (Damewood, 2014) and is currently ruled illegal in South Africa and yet it remains one of the most common professions amongst poverty-stricken areas (Anonymous, 2013). Due to prostitution being legal, according to South Africa’s Sexual Offences Act of 1957 (Reporter, n.d.) it leaves prostitutes vulnerable and subject to abuse and sexual exploitation. As of 2011, 63% of prostitutes questioned have admitted to being victim to violence and unconsenting sexual acts which they could not report due to their non-existent rights (MRC, 2012). Prostitutes are