In the 1700’s, women had very few options in life when it came to what they wanted to do as a career. If a job required any sort of real intelligence or “know-how”, it was deemed unfit for a woman to do. Aside from just being a housewife, women were only allowed to do, what the male population referred to as, “women’s work”. Women’s work included spinning cloth, being a tailor, milliner, dyer, shoemaker, midwife or embroiderer. Some women worked in food preparation such as brewers, bakers or confectioners. Women also sold baked goods and fish at stands on the street. A very common job for women was being a domestic servant to families more wealthy than her own.
Outside of that very limited set of career options, most women were housewives,
Outside of that very limited set of career options, most women were housewives,