Women During The Renaissance

Prior to the 18th century, women were seldom treated as equal to men. In the age of the Renaissance, the debate about women began to emerge. The debate about women entailed conversations among writers and thinkers that discussed women’s qualities and their role in society. At the time of the Renaissance, misogyny was common. There were many men that pinned women as devious and demanding, as a result of propaganda spreading after the recent creation of the printing press. There were many illustrations that depicted wives beating their husbands, or hiding their lovers from them. On the other hand, women were represented as “the snail or the tortoise, [because] both were animals that never left their ‘houses’” (Textbook 381). These stereotypes followed women, and hindered their ability to have equal rights to men. Women were exhausted by living under such demeaning stereotypes, so the made it their mission to fight for equality. Over the course of
For women, their role in marriages and as mothers evolved during this period. Many couples wanted to wait until they were able to support themselves, before they were ready to support a family. As couples began to get married at later ages, the was a rise in equality between husband and wife in the household. At this time, traditional occupations for women included seamstressing, linen draping, nursing, or midwifery. The increase in occupation for women was a result in the consumer economy that began to emerge. After being a midwife, if was common for women to become nurses. Although it was not considered a real profession until the 19th century, women provided the bulk of medical care in hospitals and in homes. The advancements in women’s occupation in the Industrial Revolution is a result of the gradual economic expansion. Now that society was industrializing, there were more opportunities for women to