Women In The Italian Renaissance

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During the Italian renaissance, the notion of cultural change loomed the society. Elites maintained the mentality everything needed to change to show how advanced and civilized the people lived compared to the medieval years. In the beginning of the Italian renaissance, architecture and the fine arts became severely important and consequently developed as the focus for the societies. Additionally, the renaissance asserted the focus towards one’s ability to shape the world, thus improving the culture and area where someone lived. Although, the notion of change and progression applied to males who obtained property, who followed the Christian faith, and those over a certain age, this dogma of change unfortunately did not apply to the female population. …show more content…

Society perceived men as being more intelligent, physically strong, and professionally savvy. Professionalism ran rampant throughout the male population, causing females to fall short when it pertained to expressing their need to be economically independent. During this time period, the male dominance led to women having little to no activity outside of the home. Woman’s work meant to be in the household, while the males tackled the dirty work of the outside world. Although society tried to confine women into the households where they were expected to raise children, women broke down the walls and made space for themselves . In the beginning of females fighting against the social chains, a way into the economic world was having more involvement with the church and religion. Women began to have monasteries predominantly occupied by females, but this type of activity did not last long due to the need for economic stability. Once the women needed money, they grew more dependent on the opposite gender . If women could not get involved with the monasteries, many women would turn to prostitution. Prostitution was always a way to make quick and easy money, but inevitably, the occupation was dominated by male needs and …show more content…

The wife was expected to raise the children, take care of the animals, maintain the order of the household, and assist the husband whenever he requested . Rural wives did not receive the same opportunities which the city dweller had, the rural families had to follow the strict gender oriented occupations to avoid getting hurt. As a result, the females in the countryside most important contribution to the family’s economic standing was producing and training the children . Children were seen as another mean of obtaining more money for the family. Both boys and girls would work for neighboring families and complete small tasks for an allowance, thus contributing to the revenue flow. Although the family had the children working to assist in stabilizing the economic trouble, many rural females sought other means of making money. Females, if they felt desperate enough, would steal crops from neighbors, kill cows for their insides, or commit other crimes to ensure their well-being . The pressures the females had in the rural areas matched that of the females in the city. Both groups needed money, but making money as a female was difficult and a rarity. Laziness was never an option because appeasing the strong patriarchal society required a lot of energy and the work women had to do was seen has weak or nothing compared to the grinding jobs men occupied

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