Inequality In The 1500s

Inequality is a monster that has plagued humanity for as long as the world has been around. Human beings have created social, economic, and legal disparities between members of different races and ethnicities, different sexual orientations, different classes, and more. One group that has consistently been the victim of inequality and discrimination throughout history is women. There are many examples of inequality between the sexes in the modern age. In order to better understand them, it is necessary to first look back in history and learn about the road that led to today’s society. Going back as far as the High Renaissance in the late 1400s and early 1500s, there are records of discrimination and inequality in extreme measures that have a
One area of life in which it was especially evident was in the class system. Each class came with social and economic restrictions and expectations that applied to members of both sexes, but the general disparities facing women of their time compounded on their situation. For example, if they were in the lower class, they might work with their husbands in the fields, but they also bore the responsibility of taking care of the house. If they were in the middle class, they may help their husbands run their business, but they could not own their own business, and they still had to take care of their home. If they were in the upper class, their days were filled with domestic activities such as cooking, hosting, and sewing (Iacob). So, while there were distinct lines drawn between everyone in the different classes, the women of each class held less rights and respect than the men of each class. An extremely important aspect of inequality is marriage. During the Renaissance, people adopted the Roman ideals of household structures, placing the husband and father at the head of the
Furthermore, women were not able to receive inheritances as the law of “primogeniture” only provided inheritances to the eldest sons (Iacob). A daughter could only receive an inheritance if she had no brothers, and those possessions would belong to her husband as soon as she got married. Jumping ahead to the 1900s, many similar forms of gender inequality were still relevant. At this point in time, women were still valued for their abilities to raise children and maintain a household. Legally, women became one person with their husbands upon marrying them, meaning that they were not able to maintain any earnings or property rights. Women’s inheritance rights were restricted to small personal items and could not include any assets such as land. Once again, any wealth a woman had on her own was forfeited to her husband at marriage (“A Brief”). These laws made women dependent on men which meant that in the rare case of a divorce, women were left with nothing. This forced many women to remain in abusive