Even from early on in a male child’s life, he was taught that he was on a higher level of importance than the females in his family and in society. As children , boys would have learned what it meant to be a man from the example of their fathers. Men represented their families in public and in private life. Unlike the women of these time periods, men could hold office and vote.
Men representing a family in public and private life stemmed from the beginning of the relationship due to the fact that women couldn’t even choose their own husband. Their future spouse was chosen by the females parents as they considered the said males property, family, and religion. Once married, all of the wife’s money and property would go to her husband, and women were considered legally dead once they were married. Women had absolutely no control of their earnings, inheritance, and property. It is blatantly obvious why women accepted men being the representer of the family.
Women did have a role in the family, however. They had domestic responsibilities, and they were to take care of any children in the household. Common female jobs were cooking, laundry duties, spinning yarn to make clothing, tending to gardens, milking cows and attending to other animals the family may have, churning butter, and preserving food. It is clear to see that the womens role was extremely difficult, exhausting, yet society was very unappreciative.
While women did not get nearly enough credit from society for the work they did, the product of men’s labor was enjoyed by the whole community. Men were to have social power, be educated, maintain a family, own property, and contribute to the community. This patriarchal way of living life could be dangerous for women since men were responsible for all aspects of their wife, including discipline. In these times, it was legal for husbands to beat their wives. If a women ran away from her husband, she was considered stealing the clothes she was wearing. Not only would she be told she had stolen the clothes she was wearing, she was told that she had stolen herself away from her husband.
Men representing a family in public and private life stemmed from the beginning of the relationship due to the fact that women couldn’t even choose their own husband. Their future spouse was chosen by the females parents as they considered the said males property, family, and religion. Once married, all of the wife’s money and property would go to her husband, and women were considered legally dead once they were married. Women had absolutely no control of their earnings, inheritance, and property. It is blatantly obvious why women accepted men being the representer of the family.
Women did have a role in the family, however. They had domestic responsibilities, and they were to take care of any children in the household. Common female jobs were cooking, laundry duties, spinning yarn to make clothing, tending to gardens, milking cows and attending to other animals the family may have, churning butter, and preserving food. It is clear to see that the womens role was extremely difficult, exhausting, yet society was very unappreciative.
While women did not get nearly enough credit from society for the work they did, the product of men’s labor was enjoyed by the whole community. Men were to have social power, be educated, maintain a family, own property, and contribute to the community. This patriarchal way of living life could be dangerous for women since men were responsible for all aspects of their wife, including discipline. In these times, it was legal for husbands to beat their wives. If a women ran away from her husband, she was considered stealing the clothes she was wearing. Not only would she be told she had stolen the clothes she was wearing, she was told that she had stolen herself away from her husband.
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https://prezi.com/rhwrp7ohyeqt
https://prezi.com/rhwrp7ohyeqt