The Renaissance
Lives of Women in the Renaissance 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 that women were labeled to, wives, mothers, widows and daughters. Within each of these branches, certain duties were always expected of them. 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 women have always affected society. Men were constantly gaining up on women and spoke of them with contempt. They believed that woman was more sinful than man. This belief goes back to original sin when Eve had been seduced by the devil. Eve's actions made men assume that women deserved to suffer. However, the Renaissance helped to narrow the gap between the two sexes. All women whether they are of noble blood, a shopkeeper's sister, or a farm worker's daughter, were
This was mainly because court was one of the few places women were expected to be seen. Young girls were only seen at church. Peasant women were forbidden to wear any silk, except for bonnets and ribbons in their hair. In order him to marry, he would ask the girl's parents permission for her hand in marriage. " These stereotypes first made a regular appearance in the works of male humanists. Peasant women would grow their hair long, then cut it and sell it to provide wigs for noble class women. Other domestic skills consisted of embroidering, spinning, weaving, managing economy, supervising servants, and nursing any ailing household members. There were often several women in the room during this process to overlook and help. On top of all this they still had the children to raise and a husband to take care of. They would paint their eyelids, face, nails, and even teeth with their make-up. When a woman married, she was expected to bring in some of her father's wealth to the family. Furniture was scarce in their homes. The wife was to direct the whole household with his comfort in mind. Academies were formed by women where members of both sexes could come and read orations and essays, or participate in debates. An early humanist once said he would rather see a girl "deaf and blind than over stimulated to pleasure.
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