Question 1
In medieval period Europe, a woman’s role was confined and planned out by the society. It was a woman’s place to be a homemaker and tend to the homestead, be subservient and make sure her family was fed. Women were also married off at times without concession and were meant to bear babies. Gender roles were rigidly defined with little to no grey areas in between.
Inheritance of a dead husband’s property also made it possible for women to manage major business enterprises. This was in the case where she did not have a matured first born son to challenge her. Widows ended up inheriting property and in some cases, overseeing wealth better than their late husbands.
Economically, women began making their mark in European development with their input in the workforce. Despite being underpaid and facing many restrictions, the number of women working did not dwindle. Women could now run family businesses, get employed in industrial parks, run coal mines and trade in food stuff. The added taxation and labour brought more money to Europe especially during the industrial revolution that swept across Europe.
Question 2
Female guardianship placed a woman in the care and under the watch of a man, in most cases a husband or the closest surviving male relative. In early modern Europe, it was a usual practice that had forever been upheld. Needless to say, it was oppressive to women, and it handicapped their movements and decisions at large.
In the early days, for married women, female guardianship was placed under the care of the husband. A woman did not look up to her husband for emotional support or a partnership in marriage; they were expected to be submissive and obedient. Women were forced to be contented with day-to-day lives, hoping that they would not be physically or emotionally abused yet divorce was impossible. Moreover, living apart (even if the husband was abusive) was illegal. This was a sad scenario because the primary objective of marriage should be companionship and not surviving day-to-day life.
A woman in that era would pray for a son. This is because boys were favored more than daughters. In fact, midwives who assisted in the birth of sons were paid higher. Boys were mostly favored because of inheritance matters. Daughters were not allowed to own property. A woman with many sons was highly regarded in society.
In this day and age, legal restriction on women rights compared to the early times was very different; this is because today women are granted freedom, and it is not a must to be in the guardianship of a man. Women as free as men were in that time. In this age, women are legally protected from abuse in marriage and are free to get a divorce or separation in a case on abusive marriage as compared to that time when it was illegal. Also, legally women can inherit property just as men can. Therefore, women are not worried of what gender their children are because they can equally inherit property. Today, the law protects women, and they are not seen as someone’s property because they are free to depend on themselves.
Bibliography
Wiesner, Merry E. 2000. Women and gender in early modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
