Download Women from 1500s onward

Women from 1500s onward
By: Banana
Women in Europe, and later, U.S.
In medieval Europe, women could only participate in church as nuns
- witch-hunts (late 1500s - 1600s), many women were killed
- showed tensions between popular religion and traditional beliefs
- women used by bourgeoisie & nobility to increase family’s status and wealth
- status very closely linked to husbands or fathers
- could rule in some countries
- women of high status were more repressed but had higher standard of living
- some widows had land and properties
- marriages not arranged (only those of wealthy), later than other countries (b/c save $ for dowry)
- late marriage  low birthrate  limited family size
- some unmarried mothers had to abandon child, forced women into brothels (prostitution)
- women in Europe had relatively more privileges than other regions
- some were painters, writers, musicians; literacy rates highest in Europe
- still couldn’t go to school, join guilds, get into most jobs
During the Enlightenment
- women were very important in spreading ideas
- bought books, discussed, contributed by writing, arguing women rights, meeting held at salons
- women stormed Versailles b/c of bread prices
- under Robespierre rule, women lost power (the ones who had helped progress revolution)
During the Industrial Revolution
- at the beginning, women continued to work mainly at home, on the farm, or in textile mills
- earned ⅓ or ½ less than men
- some began to manage business or participate in family’s
- after a while, society tried to confine women to homes and domestic life
- some resisted; Mary Wollstonecraft wrote Vindication of the rights of Woman (1792)
- Women’s Rights Convention @ Seneca Falls, NY (1848)
- called for economic independence, legal rights (esp. vote), better conditions at work
- Canadian women had to get doctorates in US, Argentina & Uruguay were first in Latin America
to give women public education (late 1800s)
- most progress in careers that affected men the least (teaching)
- more and more women were working outside home
“Victorian Age”
- men and women in “separate spheres”, distinct and strict gender roles
- women stayed at home, ran household and family’s social life
- hard in middle class, had to work a lot (but had servants and new technology)
- raised children, very involved with their education and upbringing, girls educated differently
- young women could work (in stores, offices) till they married
- some schools for higher education for women in US
- less in Europe, could only teach till they got married
- working class women had to work and take care of household
- textiles, domestic service, raise children  very hard lives
- young girls were expected to contribute to family
- some laws passed regulating hours for women and banned them from harsh labor
- married women had to stay at home and earn income
- later, women like Clara Zetkin, Emma Goldman, etc called for liberation of women
- After WWI (1920s)
- women got more rights (to vote (New Zealand 1st))
- participated in social reforms, promotion of birth control, abortion
- ex: Jane Addams, Margaret Sanger
- After WWII
- women allowed in more jobs (that were once men’s)
- some men opposed and took them away  labor shortage
Americas
In Spanish America and Brazil, much of a woman’s privileges depended on male’s status
- courts sometimes interfered to keep slave couples together
- most slaves were male (twice as much males imported as females)
- women made up majority of the three labor gangs on plantations
- nursing moms took baby with them to fields
- low life expectancy b/c hard for women to work and be pregnant, harsh conditions
- some slave women who had relationships w/ planters were freed
Islamic countries
- more women and children taken to be slaves (b/c they were more docile, less likely to rebel)
- rarely seen in public, rooms at home (anderun/harem) separate from rest of family’s
- in some cases, women were very active in urban real estate (sold inherited shares of land)
- could keep late after marriage
- could testify in court (though word not as regarded as men’s)
- had to wear clothes that completely covered arms, legs, and hair
- only old or slave women were seen often in public
Ottoman Empire
- during Tanzimat reforms, men were given right, but women weren’t
- less opportunities for women, not allowed to work in factories and other jobs
- “women’s work” done by men or machines
- did gain more power in early 1800s (through fixed shares of inheritance)
- had own personal wealth uncontrolled by husband
- however, this practice was ended in 1820s and 30s
Iran
- under Shah Pahlavi, women allowed education, and to work
- after the Iranian Revolution, women were strictly repressed, had to cover their entire body
China
- Cixi became empress, though she was corrupt, caused decentralization
- Mao promoted equality of women
India
- British abolished sati, female infanticide, and laws against females divorcing (1800s)
- colleges opened for women, ex: Bethune College
Africa
- white women didn’t participate in beginning of colonization, only after peace is established
- some were kind to their servants, but always subordinate to men
- African women were captured
- some became traders, or owners of livestock
- “women work” were only available to men
Russia
- Soviet women allowed into some industries and professions
- during war, many women took the place of men in factories and jobs (same in the west)
In the end…
- women conferences: “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women”
- criticism of Eastern ways (Muslim)