the status of women

what was the beliefs about women in society?

* 17th century Britain was a very patriarchal and misogynistic society - justified by the Bible.
* Due to the original sin of Eve, when were regarded as weak and open to temptation
* medical theories explained and justified the biblical view of women as inferior - argued that physically weaker and their brains were different (aka. intellectually inferior and virtually incapable of being educated)
* the proper role for women was seen as being married, looking after the home and the children and being meek and submissive to their husbands.

was there a significant change in the status of women in the period 1625-88?

* there was no significant change - in Stuart England women were excluded from education, the professions and many aspects of society.
* women’s roles were defined by their relationship with men - fathers or husbands

what was the impact of wealth on the status of women?

* as with men, women towards the top of society were in a better position than the majority of the population
* women could have social, economic and political influence in line with their economic standing (eg. some wives of landowners acted as estate managers alongside their husbands)
* some wives of farmers, labourers and craftsmen took a role in the family economy - there was still limits to how they could wield their influence
* women could not hold any of the formal offices through which the political class exercised control.
* despite the recent reign of Liz I and other notable strong female role models (eg. Bess of Hardwick) women had to exercise their influence in less open political forums.

what was the impact of revolutionary years, 1640-60?

* the revolutionary years from 1640-1660 provided the most opportunities for women to subvert the norms.
* during the civil war, women contributed to the war effort, preached, prophesied and published.
* h.er although the civil war created opportunities for women the extent of the transformation of women’s roles should not be over-emphasised.

what was the impact of the war effort?

* some women took over the management of estates during their husband’s absence as they fought in the civil war.
* women also became garrison commanders when their houses were besieged.
* in London, women worked on building fortifications and tended to the wounded

what was the impact of religion?

* following the breakdown of governmental control over religious practice in the 1640s, women were able to play a significant role in certain religious movements, such as the Levellers and Quakers - questioned society’s norms
* eg. Quakers believed that the crucifixion had spiritually redeemed women from their subjugation to men
* the civil war also witnessed an upsurge in female prophets - estimated that there was 300 women prophets during the 1640s and 1650s
* it can be argued that through the role of prophets women gained a degree of authority and were able to make their voices heard

what was the impact of petitions and popular politics?

* petitions gave women a voice denied to them in formal politics - they petitioned for peace, freedom of trade, changes to the imprisonment laws and other political issues
* in August 1643 - a crowd of women petitioned parliament for peace and food and in 1649 10,000 women presented another petition to parliament, to release John Lilburne.

what was the impact of writing for women?

* the collapse of censorship enabled women to publish their ideas and thoughts
* there was an enormous increase in the number of publications by women

what was the impact of the restoration?

* in 1660 Charles II reimposed on the women the order of pre-war times.
* H.er there remained some notable examples of women who broke through the limits of male-dominated society - eg. Bridget Bendish (granddaughter of Oliver Cromwell and daughter of NMA general Henry Ireton) managed a sultan and refinery in East Anglia in the Restoration period and challenged a man who insulted her grandfather to a duel.
* 1688 - men continued to control society