Women In The English Colonies

While English colonial women tended to experience more oppression because of societal expectations of women’s subordination and Native American women experienced a much greater equality of genders, both groups of women were integral to the evolution of their respective societies. Both Native American women and colonial women’s sexualities confused and provided points of misunderstanding in the colonial era of America that contributed to a change in the societies. In the English colonies, the perceptions of women’s sexualities were turned on their heads. In the Chesapeake colonies, women were frequently freed from the usual social expectations regarding sexuality. In contemporary England, women were, “advised to maintain a modest demeanor.
Publicly punishing shrewish and sexually aggressive women, communities enforced this standard of wifely submission as ideal and of wifely domination as intolerable. The sexual activity of poor and unmarried women proved particularly threatening to community order; these ‘nasty wenches’ provided pamphleteers with a foil for the ‘good wives’ female readers were urged to emulate.” In contrast, the novelty of the environment and the construction of a society in the English colonies provided more freedom for women to demonstrate their sexuality than was previously offered to them. Carr and Walsh attribute this sexual freedom to the imbalance in the numbers of male and female colonists, men outnumbering women three to one at times. The gender imbalance and absence of families, specifically fathers, to enforce the sexual modesty that was typical of contemporary English society combined to lead to a greater opportunity for women to exercise their sexuality freely. In addition, women were typically able to choose their husbands because of the difference in the numbers of the sexes. Extramarital pregnancy occurred frequently. Pregnancy outside of marriage yielded considerable consequences for the women who were serving as indentured servants, often enduring fines or whippings. Despite the more frequent presence of the fathers of the native-born daughters of immigrants, there was still a high rate of unmarried pregnancy. There was a considerable difference in the extramarital pregnancy rates of native-born orphans and native-born daughters with living fathers. The daughters of immigrants still experienced great freedom in selecting husbands of their own from amongst a large number of suitors. In fact, Carr and Walsh believe that “Immigrant mothers may have bequeathed their daughters a legacy of independence which they in turn handed down, despite pressures toward more traditional behavior.” In addition, Native American women provided perhaps even more confusion to the English settlers.
“For most English writers, Indian manners and customs reinforced an impression of sexual passion.” Despite it being in the context of societal gender roles, Indian women tended to have much more sexual power and choice than their European counterparts. In Algonquian culture, women were seen as the source of “procreation, protection and provision.” This resulted in ceremonial importance being placed on sexual encounters for women and women would decorated their bodies with the typical ritual dye before they occurred. Women were given the power to choose their husbands, reinforcing the corresponding importance for men to be fierce and effective warriors and hunters. The English inhabitants of the Jamestown colony’s misinterpretation of Algonquian women’s sexualities led to conflict between the two societies. The Englishmen’s assumption of the women’s promiscuity led to their sense of entitlement to the native women as a way of conquering. This misunderstanding was a result of the men’s application of English societal expectations regarding women’s sexuality to a society that was not bound by the same expectations. The Algonquian women’s embracement of their sexuality was completely foreign to the Englishmen who were used to women being incredibly modest and restrained in their sexuality. Not understanding Algonquian women’s control of their own sexuality led to the downfall of quite a few Jamestown colonists. Brown mentions several incidents where Algonquian women seduce Englishmen with the promise of sexual relations. They convinced the men to lay down their arms at the door to avoid frightening the women and then slayed them once they were unarmed. “Exploiting Englishmen’s hopes for colonial pleasures, Indian women dangled before them the opportunity for sexual intimacy, turning a female tradition of sexual hospitality into a weapon of
war.” English women experienced a liberation of their sexuality that would not have been possible in contemporary England. Meanwhile, Algonquian women were involved in the evolution of their society that came with contact with colonists. Both groups of women played active roles in the shaping of their societies and paved pathways for the generations of women who would follow them. The actions of these women regarding their sexualities and their subsequent expression of this sexuality impacted how they were viewed in their societies, both in the sense of themselves and by the men who largely dominated these societies throughout history.