Women: historical perspectives and contemporary issues

Women

The specific attitude toward women in medieval times was that they were inferior to men. Generally, women were taught that they should be meek and obedient to their fathers and husbands. This view of women was consistent to women of mythology in many ways. Many of the myths and legends created were directed towards women, to teach them lessons in humility and obeisance. They explained the social laws and rules which women had to obey, despite their influence over their husbands.

Medieval women had major responsibilities and were not at all inferior to men in terms of daily effort. Most worked and did not stay at home. Many toiled alongside their families in the fields, and some were employed in workshops or were trades-women. Women sometimes had the responsibility of running large estates, due to the death of a husband. They settled local disputes and arranged estate finances. They even took charge of defending castles or manors from attackers. It was also not unknown for the medieval woman to lead troops into battle.

Unmarried women holding lands were powerful and had the same rights as men. However, when a woman married, she forfeited her lands and rights to her husband. Upon his death, she was entitled to a third of the lands so that she might support herself. Some unmarried women entered convents or nunneries where they lived a life similar to a monk's. This afforded them the chance to obtain an education or lead a devout life. Many nuns cared for the sick and also became important figures in the community.

Occupations held by medieval women included shopkeepers, bakers, spinners, alewives (those that brewed the ales), farmers, and silk weavers. There were even some women writers. It was common for a woman to hold more than one job because they were paid much less than men, and in order to make an adequate income they took on extra work. Being a spinner was the most common occupation. Women spent much of their time spinning wool into coarse thread, then weaving it into cloth and making garments.

Young single women often wore their hair loose, but once married almost all medieval women wore a linen wimple (wrap-up) to cover the hair. This was a sign of modesty. Other items worn by medieval women included hair pins, prayer beads, leather purses, woolen knee stockings, and leather shoes.

In Native American literature and myths there has been such continual misconception as on the position of women. Because she was active, always busy in the camp, often carried heavy burdens, attended to the household duties, made the clothing and the home, and prepared the family food, the woman has been depicted as the slave of her husband, a patient beast of encumbrance whose labors were never done. The man, on the other hand, was said to be an loaf, who all day long sat in the shade of the lodge and smoked his pipe, while his overworked wives attended to his comfort. In actuality, the woman was the man's partner, who preformed her share of the obligations of life and who employed an influence quite as important as his, and often more powerful.

The statuses and roles for men and women varied considerably among Native Americans, depending on each tribe's cultural orientations. In matrilineal and matrilocal societies, women had considerable power because property, housing, land, and tools, belonged to them. Because property usually passed from mother to daughter, and the husband joined his wife's family, he was more of a stranger and yielded authority to his wife's eldest brother. As a result, the husband was unlikely to become an authoritative, domineering figure. Moreover, among such peoples as the Cherokee, Iroquois, and Pueblo, a disgruntled wife, secure in her possessions, could simply divorce her husband by tossing his belongings out of their residence.