Gender Discrimination in the Elizabethan Era Essay

Gender Discrimination was strongly evident in the Elizabethan Era between 1558 and 1603 with women ‘generally’ considered the inferior race and treated with subhuman actions based purely on their gender. Whilst is can be stated that women were treated wrongly is it fair to accuse the male men of that era with gender discrimination when it was what they were brought up to believe? Our morals and beliefs are derived from society’s general perception of right and wrong and in the Elizabethan Era it was considered normal to associate women with being a substandard class of citizens. This essay will attempt to understand what the roles were of men and women were in English society and the implications this had on both genders. Although the†¦show more content†¦They carried most of the burden of society’s issues and the expectation that the country was reliant on their leadership and participation in public life. Men in relation to the public life took precedence over women in succession to the throne, with a male being superior over his older sister in the line of progression to the throne. In the case of politics only men could sit in the House of Lords, be elected to the House of Commons and be a lawyer, judge juror or court official. All Justices of the Peace roles were male dominated and in most cases country officials and parish constables were too. In relation to military only men could serve in the armed forces and women could only serve in the military if they were successful in disguising themselves as a male. The institutional churches within England were run by males with most cases being that only men were able to preach in public, be a lay official or a priest or minister. Although women did have a smaller role within the church as nuns, this was a less significant role associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Economically was to an extent less exclusively male, although the public and recorded economy was male dominated. Men owned most land and ran most businesses; they had exclusive rights to nearly all the professions with the exception of midwifery. Men in preference to women usually inherited most property depending on the variance ofShow MoreRelatedOthello - shakespeare and saxs film adaptation923 Words   |  4 Pagesinequality between genders. The context of a text plays an essential role as it is the way in which the composers convey their message and this is done effectively as both composers are conveying an important message about racism and gender inequality. Racism is a theme that is prominently evident throughout Shakespeares Othello. Through this theme, there are several perceptions of an individuals race which are exhibited to establish the texts context. 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