Becoming one of the most prominent social concerns, gender relationships have been developing throughout the history. Although feminist movements in recent decades have significantly improved women’s life experience in multiple significant aspects, there is still more to be done so that more women can experience equality in their daily life. To improve women’s societal recognition, it is vital to study the history and identify the sources of gender inequalities from a historical perspective. With examples from The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis, Louis XIV and Absolutism, and A Social and Cultural History of Early Modern France, both written by William Beik, these aspects that women experienced differently in the past can be
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As a result, married women strongly relied on their husbands. In The Return of Martin Guerre, it was written that Betrande de Rols, Martin Guerre’s wife, later realized how women were positioned in a French peasant society. Women were more important in fields of work that were considered “feminine”, like trimming plants and harvesting fruits. The statement in A Social and Cultural History of Early Modern France agrees to the opinion above while it adds that married women were not considered as “adult” as their husbands were, which deeply restricted a woman’s capability in dealing with daily affairs. Women could not sign a contract, apply for loans or file a lawsuit without their husbands. They were granted little permission to most of what a man could do, while they were expected to perform as the major workforce of the society, taking all the low-skilled, low-cost, and “feminine” jobs. Women at that time suffered deeply from negative gender stereotyping, and were considered inferior to men. On the contrary, men could choose their occupations more freely than women. They could make their wives their assistants, or simply servants. Even the law was supporting this ideology, which put women in a long-term situation that was hard to be changed. According to William Beik, a father in the family was treated like a king and he could even beat his wife if she ever refused. Men were allowed to carry out transactions and the work in the
As a result, married women strongly relied on their husbands. In The Return of Martin Guerre, it was written that Betrande de Rols, Martin Guerre’s wife, later realized how women were positioned in a French peasant society. Women were more important in fields of work that were considered “feminine”, like trimming plants and harvesting fruits. The statement in A Social and Cultural History of Early Modern France agrees to the opinion above while it adds that married women were not considered as “adult” as their husbands were, which deeply restricted a woman’s capability in dealing with daily affairs. Women could not sign a contract, apply for loans or file a lawsuit without their husbands. They were granted little permission to most of what a man could do, while they were expected to perform as the major workforce of the society, taking all the low-skilled, low-cost, and “feminine” jobs. Women at that time suffered deeply from negative gender stereotyping, and were considered inferior to men. On the contrary, men could choose their occupations more freely than women. They could make their wives their assistants, or simply servants. Even the law was supporting this ideology, which put women in a long-term situation that was hard to be changed. According to William Beik, a father in the family was treated like a king and he could even beat his wife if she ever refused. Men were allowed to carry out transactions and the work in the