What would life have been like for women in the 18th century?
Like everyone else they would have a shorter life experience as they would be in constant danger of disease in those times and a lack of hygiene only heightened that. Your probably fishing for a lack of rights though so here it is the corset which became fashionable in those times lead to many women fainting due to lack of oxygen and created the myth that women are a weak group that needs the protection of men. Because of this women's rights were limited further over time as the myth became accepted. So to summarise born, hard life, dangerous fashion statements which probably ended after only a handful of decades after they caught an illness you could treat at your local pharmacy.
What was it like to be a Women in the 18th century (Jane Austen Time)?
Depends where they lived....but 18th Century would be 1700's So it took 2-3 hours to dress, and prob had help if they were well to do, and yes $ and statue meant just as much back then if not more. If she was poor..she prob scrubbed and cleaned her house until her husband came home from hunting for that days meal..if they were lucky.
What was it like to be a Women in the 18th century (Jane Austen Time)?
Depends where they lived....but 18th Century would be 1700's So it took 2-3 hours to dress, and prob had help if they were well to do, and yes $ and statue meant just as much back then if not more. If she was poor..she prob scrubbed and cleaned her house until her husband came home from hunting for that days meal..if they were lucky.
What would life have been like for women in the 18th century?
Like everyone else they would have a shorter life experience as they would be in constant danger of disease in those times and a lack of hygiene only heightened that. Your probably fishing for a lack of rights though so here it is the corset which became fashionable in those times lead to many women fainting due to lack of oxygen and created the myth that women are a weak group that needs the protection of men. Because of this women's rights were limited further over time as the myth became accepted. So to summarise born, hard life, dangerous fashion statements which probably ended after only a handful of decades after they caught an illness you could treat at your local pharmacy.
How did the 17th and 18th century society keep women powerless? were there any exceptions to womens gender?
Back then, women weren't allowed to go to college (if they were educated, it was usually only for a short time, and sometimes at an all-womens school that didn't teach traditional education); they couldn't get a divorce; they were ostracized from society if they remained unmarried; property laws were restricted (in England, unmarried women could hold property, make a contract, and sue or be sued, but a married woman gave up all of these rights)--but not in America: "During the early history of the United States, a man virtually owned his wife and children as he did his material possessions. If a poor man chose to send his children to the poorhouse, the mother was legally defenseless to object."; married women were not issued independent credit cards by retail shops in America... This is a great site: http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm This will tell you info about the Revolution's impact: http://www.legacy98.org/move-hist.html
How did the 17th and 18th century society keep women powerless? were there any exceptions to womens gender?
Back then, women weren't allowed to go to college (if they were educated, it was usually only for a short time, and sometimes at an all-womens school that didn't teach traditional education); they couldn't get a divorce; they were ostracized from society if they remained unmarried; property laws were restricted (in England, unmarried women could hold property, make a contract, and sue or be sued, but a married woman gave up all of these rights)--but not in America: "During the early history of the United States, a man virtually owned his wife and children as he did his material possessions. If a poor man chose to send his children to the poorhouse, the mother was legally defenseless to object."; married women were not issued independent credit cards by retail shops in America... This is a great site: http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm This will tell you info about the Revolution's impact: http://www.legacy98.org/move-hist.html
Why did women of the 18th century marry so young?
Guess what brainiac? Men married young then too. People died much younger then, and women lose 90% of their eggs by the age of 30, so marrying later is stupid, not what is natural. @Asquared: The ones that did so married young women because they had money and the parents would let their daughters marry them. Men wanted to marry young as well, but you had to have enough money to marry the girl. "The average age to be married (in 18th century lower-class Virginia) was 23 for women, 26 for men. (It was even higher in England; the marriage age in the Americas decreased the more land there was available-- for instance, on the frontier. The upper classes often married younger as well.)" "Most other defining characteristics of unions were dictated by social group, wealth, and cultural geography. The nobility, for instance, married young, at 23-5 years old for men and 18-20 for women, with very young unions quite frequent. Other classes were more constrained by the diminishing prospect of an inheritance large enough to set up and support a household. Therefore, as the population increased and land-hunger developed as rural France slowly changed from a lightly populated state of 16 million inhabitants after the Black Death and Hundred Years War to the chronicly overpopulated territory of 28 million inhabitants in the late 18th and early 19th c., the average age of first marriage rose accordingly. In 1500 it was about 24 for men and 20 for women; by 1700 it had risen to 261/2 and 241/2 respectively, and in the late 18th c. reached about 28 for men and 24 for women (where it remained more or less steady until after World War II). Because mortality was so high and life-expectancy so short (38-40 for those who reached adulthood), remarriages were frequent in all classes of society, for one partner might die much earlier than the other. Men found it easier to remarry than older women, but step-parents, wicked or otherwise, were a normal fact of life for many children." Hmm, looks like the asker of this question heard wrong...
Why did women of the 18th century marry so young?
Guess what brainiac? Men married young then too. People died much younger then, and women lose 90% of their eggs by the age of 30, so marrying later is stupid, not what is natural. @Asquared: The ones that did so married young women because they had money and the parents would let their daughters marry them. Men wanted to marry young as well, but you had to have enough money to marry the girl. "The average age to be married (in 18th century lower-class Virginia) was 23 for women, 26 for men. (It was even higher in England; the marriage age in the Americas decreased the more land there was available-- for instance, on the frontier. The upper classes often married younger as well.)" "Most other defining characteristics of unions were dictated by social group, wealth, and cultural geography. The nobility, for instance, married young, at 23-5 years old for men and 18-20 for women, with very young unions quite frequent. Other classes were more constrained by the diminishing prospect of an inheritance large enough to set up and support a household. Therefore, as the population increased and land-hunger developed as rural France slowly changed from a lightly populated state of 16 million inhabitants after the Black Death and Hundred Years War to the chronicly overpopulated territory of 28 million inhabitants in the late 18th and early 19th c., the average age of first marriage rose accordingly. In 1500 it was about 24 for men and 20 for women; by 1700 it had risen to 261/2 and 241/2 respectively, and in the late 18th c. reached about 28 for men and 24 for women (where it remained more or less steady until after World War II). Because mortality was so high and life-expectancy so short (38-40 for those who reached adulthood), remarriages were frequent in all classes of society, for one partner might die much earlier than the other. Men found it easier to remarry than older women, but step-parents, wicked or otherwise, were a normal fact of life for many children." Hmm, looks like the asker of this question heard wrong...
What was the role of women in 18th Century France?
Well, in the 18th century the 'domestic sphere' still overlapped very much with the work sphere. Businesses were often run from home, and women tended to be involved in family enterprises. A farmer for instance would need his wife to look after the poultry and the dairy, milk the cows, make the butter and cheese etc. She would sell her surplus produce and contribute to the family economy. The wives of businessmen often ran the family business in their husbands's absence. Deborah Reed Franklin for instancde ran all of Benjamin Franklin's many business enterprises while he was away in Europe, and this would be considered normal at this time. Widows ran businesses after their husbands died. Betsy Ross, for example, ran a successful upholstery business for 50 years after her husband died in the Revolutionary War. And a great many single women and poor married women had to work for a living as well. Many of course were employed in 'domestic' occupations, that is they were servants, but they were working nevertheless. Midwives played an important role in the local community. The textile trade dependend on women, it was women who did the spinning before mechanical spinning machines were invented. women worked as dressmakers and milliners, and in the catering trade, and were sometimes apprenticed to other trades, like printing for instance. Some women worked as teachers or as governesses. Many women simply had to be part of the economy whether they liked it or not. There were women engaged in artisitc activites as well. For instance the well-known French artist Marie Vigee lebrun, who painted many portraits of the French royal family. And Marie Groshetz, who took over her uncle's successful waxwork show, made many images of famous people, and after the Revolution became famous as Madame Tussaud. And there were actresses like the famous English tragedienne Sarah Siddons.
What was the role of women in 18th Century France?
Well, in the 18th century the 'domestic sphere' still overlapped very much with the work sphere. Businesses were often run from home, and women tended to be involved in family enterprises. A farmer for instance would need his wife to look after the poultry and the dairy, milk the cows, make the butter and cheese etc. She would sell her surplus produce and contribute to the family economy. The wives of businessmen often ran the family business in their husbands's absence. Deborah Reed Franklin for instancde ran all of Benjamin Franklin's many business enterprises while he was away in Europe, and this would be considered normal at this time. Widows ran businesses after their husbands died. Betsy Ross, for example, ran a successful upholstery business for 50 years after her husband died in the Revolutionary War. And a great many single women and poor married women had to work for a living as well. Many of course were employed in 'domestic' occupations, that is they were servants, but they were working nevertheless. Midwives played an important role in the local community. The textile trade dependend on women, it was women who did the spinning before mechanical spinning machines were invented. women worked as dressmakers and milliners, and in the catering trade, and were sometimes apprenticed to other trades, like printing for instance. Some women worked as teachers or as governesses. Many women simply had to be part of the economy whether they liked it or not. There were women engaged in artisitc activites as well. For instance the well-known French artist Marie Vigee lebrun, who painted many portraits of the French royal family. And Marie Groshetz, who took over her uncle's successful waxwork show, made many images of famous people, and after the Revolution became famous as Madame Tussaud. And there were actresses like the famous English tragedienne Sarah Siddons.