There are certain tasks that have been traditionally completed only by men, and others that have been assigned to women; most of which are separated by the realm of the domestic sphere. During the period of the Renaissance, men and women were assigned very different roles within society. The value, social expectations, legal status, and rights of citizenship differed greatly between the sexes as well as among the classes.
Gender Role of Women in the Renaissance
“When England was ruled for half a century by Queens but women had almost no legal power; When marriage, a women’s main vocation, cost them their personal property rights; when the ideal women was rarely seen and never heard in public; when the clothes a women wore were legally dictated by her social class; when almost all school teachers were men; when medicine was prepared and purified at home; when corsets were
constructed of wood and cosmetics made of bacon and eggs; when only half of all babies survived to adulthood?" (Hull 15).
The role of women was a very scarce role:
Gender Roles of Men in the Renaissance
"All forms of public and domestic authority in Elizabethan England were vested in men: in fathers, husbands, masters, teachers, preachers, magistrates, and lords” (Montrose 68).
The role of men:
There are certain tasks that have been traditionally completed only by men, and others that have been assigned to women; most of which are separated by the realm of the domestic sphere. During the period of the Renaissance, men and women were assigned very different roles within society. The value, social expectations, legal status, and rights of citizenship differed greatly between the sexes as well as among the classes.
Gender Role of Women in the Renaissance
“When England was ruled for half a century by Queens but women had almost no legal power; When marriage, a women’s main vocation, cost them their personal property rights; when the ideal women was rarely seen and never heard in public; when the clothes a women wore were legally dictated by her social class; when almost all school teachers were men; when medicine was prepared and purified at home; when corsets were
constructed of wood and cosmetics made of bacon and eggs; when only half of all babies survived to adulthood?" (Hull 15).
The role of women was a very scarce role:
- Women were meant to be seen not heard, but were rarely seen.
- Were meant to be prim and proper
- Were able to speak their minds, but thoughts and ideas shaped by men
- Women were controlled by their parents from birth till marriage
- Were legally owned by their husbands
- Were uneducated
Gender Roles of Men in the Renaissance
"All forms of public and domestic authority in Elizabethan England were vested in men: in fathers, husbands, masters, teachers, preachers, magistrates, and lords” (Montrose 68).
The role of men:
- Men held absolute authority
- To rule or govern their wife in all duties that were required
- Held the duty to go off to war
- Were in charge of making goods to sell
- Were educated
- Did all the farming and labor work
- Was in charge of providing support and protection for his family