Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe (New Approaches to European History)

New edition of Merry Wiesner-Hanks' prize-winning survey of women and gender in early modern Europe. The updated edition features an entirely new chapter on gender and race in the colonial world; expanded coverage of eighteenth century developments including the Enlightenment; and enhanced discussions of masculinity, single women, same-sex relations, humanism, and women's religious roles within Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. All of the chapters incorporate the newest scholarship and the book preserves the clear structure of previous editions with its tripartite division of mind, body, and spirit. Within this structure, other themes include the female life-cycle, women's economic roles, artistic creations, education and witchcraft. Coverage is geographically broad, including Russia, Scandinavia, the Ottoman Empire, and the Iberian peninsula. This is essential reading for all students of early modern Europe and gender history and is accompanied by a website featuring extensive updated bibliographies, weblinks and primary source material.

This book covers topics from Laws regarding Women and Women's Economic Role to Religion and Witchcraft. For a 21st century reader some of the ideas are almost comical, unfortunately, it's how people really felt at the time. One particular chapter entitled "The Female Life-Cycle" talks about the mis-understanding of menstruation and thus it was often compared to male nosebleeds or hemorrhoids. Not to mention that menstruation carried a great many religious taboos. Under the chapter of female education there was an interesting topic about women writers of the time period. Since sex of any type was rarely, if ever, discussed, it is very difficult to find any type of writing, but particularly, by a woman which talks about sexual activity. One of my favorite chapters is entitled "Women and the creation of culture" which covers culture as being dominated by religion but how women influenced culture anyway. Female artists of the time are discussed and it is explained how they got away with being artists in a time when it was highly discouraged. Sofonisba Anguissola and Judith Leyster are both discussed and some of their paintings are available in this book.

This is an excellent book for research or just general knowledge of women and the time period. All the chapters are interesting and easy to read.