WOMEN IN THE WESTERN WORLD SINCE

THE 16TH CENTURY

Shelby Best-Miller, Jaclyn Rodrigues,

Erin Rousseau & Chelsea Morris

Women

Making

History

THE DAILY LIFE OF WOMEN

16th century – 18th century

16TH CENTURY WOMEN Most professions were unavailable There jobs were useless and low paid Usually housewives Helped run the

farms Self-sufficient

households Women were

responsible for running the house

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16TH CENTURY WOMEN CONTINUED...

Tasks of a housewife: bake bread, brew beer, curing bacon, salt the meat, make pickles, jellies and preserves

All tasks done daily

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16TH CENTURY WOMEN CONTINUED...

Women makes soap and candles too Also spun wool and linen As well, women milked cows, fed

animals, grew herbs and vegetables A woman also had to clean and cook for

the entire familyE.R.

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Women were expected to have knowledge regarding medicine

Middle class women were kept very busy

The wealthy women had duties too

Rich women had to organize and direct servants

Rich women hunted deer and rabbits

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16TH CENTURY WOMEN CONTINUED...

Married women were supposed to obey their husbands

Women seen as they weaker vessel

Men allowed to hit their wives

Violent age were physical abuse was acceptable

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16TH CENTURY WOMEN CONTINUED...

A married woman could not own property

Marriages were usually arranged

Divorce was unknown Legal age of marriage

was 12 years old Majority of women

married in their mid 20`s

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16TH CENTURY WOMEN CONTINUED...

Childbirth was dangerous Many women died because on unsanitary

midwives Poor women gave birth once every 2 years

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17TH CENTURY WOMEN

Women in the 17th century shared

similar traits and daily tasks as the

women in the 16th century

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18TH CENTURY WOMEN There were three social

classes that women were split into:- Upper-Working Class(wealthy), Lower-Working Class and the women of the under-class

More freedom to obtain jobs Life for women in the

eighteenth century consisted of many obligations and very few choices of their own E.R.

18TH CENTURY WOMEN CONTINUED...

Completely controlled by the men in their lives

Purpose in life was to get married and have many children and then take care of her family for the rest of her life

To stay single was frowned upon in society and ruined her family’s reputation

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18TH CENTURY WOMEN CONTINUED...

A husband had a right to everything that the wife owned, including her body

If a woman was not happy and tried to escape an unhappy marriage, she could be banned by society and punished by the law

The men made sure that their wives were suitable women and good influences and showed respect to all men

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WOMEN’S ROLE IN THE

SALONS

THE SALONSWhere were Salons first started?a) Franceb) Germanyc) Britain

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THE SALONSWhat is a Salon?

b) A room where an intellectually oriented hostess would entertain selected guests

a) A place where women went to get their hair and make-up done in the 17th century

c) A room where an intellectually oriented group of people had lunch

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WOMEN AND THEIR ROLES IN THE

SALONS Gather to

discuss politics, literature and other topics of interest

Women were seen as equal to men in the Salons

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LITERATURE

JANE AUSTEN

One of the most famous women in literature was from the eighteenth century. Jane Austen was a major English novelist whose brilliantly constructed literature is still looked at today

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ART

Mona Lisa

Leonardo Da Vinci

Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

A portrait of Mona Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo

Da Vinci set a new standard for composition and expression of complex emotion

Most recognized painting in the worldSignificance: An ideal portrait, echoing renaissance interest in Platonic theory, when the beauty of the body reflects the soul.

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Judith Slaying Holophernes

Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith Slaying Holophernes by Artemisia Gentileschi

Depicts the biblical story in which Judith seduces and murders the marauder Holophernes with his own sword

Gentileschi was known for adapting the technique of chiaroscuro (the strong contrast of light and dark) as seen in many of her works

Significance: Gentileschi was one of the first woman artists to make her mark in western history.

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OdalisqueJean-Auguste Ingres

Odalisque by Jean-Auguste Ingres

Odalisque: female slave of a harem (Turkey)

Odalisques were among Ingres favorite subjects

Ingres often contorted the body to achieve desired pose

Significance: The painting is in a style recalling the renaissance however the subjects, a woman of a harem reflects foreign elements ofromantic thought.

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Liberty Leading the PeopleEugene Delacroix

Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix

The three days of riots led to the downfall of Charles X and the enthronement of Louis-Philip despite the attempt of the people to re-establish the republic, the day is celebrated in the painting

The woman with the flag represents hope and urges people to follow her

Delacroix painted the woman as real instead of ideal

Significance: This painting caused uproar at the salon of 1831 and indicated the critical meaning of contemporary art. C.M.

WOMEN & THE ENLIGHTENMENT

WOMEN & THE ENLIGHTENMENT

Characteristics that impact women: Freedom of thought Freedom of expression Supremacy of Reason Emergence of the idea of equality Education for all The spread of intellectualism

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POLITICAL ACTIVISTS & WRITERS

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT

1759 – 1797 Wrote “A

Vindication of The Rights of Woman” (1792)

An enlightened individual

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MARY WOLLSTOENCRAFT’S SIGNIFICANCE

REASON = VIRTUE + KNOWLEDGE

Believed that man was responsible for their own actions

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JOHN STUART MILL

1806 - 1873 A 19th century intellectual Wrote “The Subjection of

Women” (1896) Believed there was

injustice in society

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JOHN STUART MILL’S SIGNIFICANCE

Campaigned against wife-beating in the 1820’s

Argued the following question:

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How can we be enlightened when

50% of the population is being

treated with disrespect?

WILLIAM THOMSON

1824 - 1907 Lord Kelvin Wrote “An Appeal of One

Half of the Human Race, Women, Against the Pretensions of the Other Half, Men, to Retain Them in Political, and Thence in Civil and Domestic Slavery”

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WILLIAM THOMSON’S SIGNIFICANCE

Stated that the home was not “the abode of calm

bliss”, rather “the eternal prison-house of the wife...The house is

his house, with everything in it; and all of the fixtures the most abjectly is his breeding-

machine, the wife”

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Women &

Politics

CATHERINE DE MEDICISignificance Involved in the “Wars of

Religion”, most famously Saint Bartholomew’s massacre which is where the Parisian mobs wiped out hundreds of Huguenots (Protestants). This all happened under the command of Queen Catherine.

Saint Bartholomew’s massacre ended up killing 6000 Huguenots

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ISABELLA OF CASTILESignificance Isabella and Ferdinand are known as the

couple that united Spain

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CATHERINE OF ARAGONSignificance Catherine was well-known for

belonging to the House of Habsburg which was one of the most important royal houses in all of Europe and the fact that she was Henry VIII’s first wife. Henry wants to divorce Catherine of Aragon but cannot because of her connections to the Pope. The reformation begins in England as a result of this.

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MARY I “BLOODY MARY”

Significance Her reign was known

as the Catholic restoration because she brought back Catholicism.

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ELIZABETH ISignificance Elizabeth I was known for

her political excellence and her responsibility for starting England towards its economic and political power. Also because of her religious changes from her sisters Catholic restoration to making Protestantism the national faith of England.

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ANN BOLEYN

Significance The marriage

between Ann Boleyn and Henry VIII began the start of Anglicanism in England.

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JANE SEYMOURSignificance She was finally the

wife that was able to provide Henry VIII with a son to heir to the throne and also because she was the only wife that was buried alongside him.

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CATHERINE THE GREATSignificance Catherine the Great

implemented all of these enlightened ideas but what about the serfs? She never helped to decrease the amount of serfs in Russia because she wanted to keep the nobility happy (serfs worked for the nobility). This completely contradicts her enlightened ways.

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MARIE ANTOINETTESignificance Not only was Marie Antoinette

known for her title as the Queen of France, she was known for alienating the nobility in France that eventually ended up creating many enemies for her husband Louis XVI. “Let them eat cake” is a popular saying from Marie Antoinette. People thought that her acts of kindness and her extravagant behaviour was the cause of the poor French economy at the time.

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JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE

Significance Josephine was the

first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Just like Catherine of Aragon to Henry VIII, she was not able to provide him a son to heir to the throne.

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MARIE LOUISE BONAPARTE

Significance Marie Louise

Bonaparte was the Empress of France even after Napoleon had to resign. She also helped to bring Austria and France together because of her connections to each.

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