14-07-2018, 09:49 AM
Part of this social equality came from the low population numbers. People were used to working alongside members of the other sex in almost all aspects of life in the third class (mainly peasant agricultural life). You were forced to work, or starve. And a lack of population, especially after the plagues, meant that any skilled hands would be welcome in most cases.
The trick was to be able to get out of having a family and subsidence lifestyle!
It wasn't until the establishment of an urban lifestyle, with increased economic prosperity, and the development of a proto middle class that women suddenly became almost chattel, to be shown off.
The sexist attitude had always been entrenched in Western culture, but it wasn't until people became richer - and able to drop out of the workforce whilst still living well - that sexism in everyday life became entrenched.
I think we can see this process becoming more and more dramatic until we get to the early 20th century, when social mores suddenly imploded.
The trick was to be able to get out of having a family and subsidence lifestyle!
It wasn't until the establishment of an urban lifestyle, with increased economic prosperity, and the development of a proto middle class that women suddenly became almost chattel, to be shown off.
The sexist attitude had always been entrenched in Western culture, but it wasn't until people became richer - and able to drop out of the workforce whilst still living well - that sexism in everyday life became entrenched.
I think we can see this process becoming more and more dramatic until we get to the early 20th century, when social mores suddenly imploded.