The Analysis Of The Economic Activities Of Rural Women In The Late Medieval England

By participating in every walk of life, rural women were one all-importantforce in the late medieval England, either in the development of family economicor social economic. In view of this, the author studied the farmers’ production andliving from gender perspective, and focused on the economic activities of Britishrural women and their impacts.The thesis mainly introduced rural women’s involvement in agriculturalcultivation, land management, family sideline activities and occupation labor asservants and midwives. In agricultural field, women worked not only in their ownfamily land, but also worked to meet the service of feudal lord or to earn moneyfrom other villages. Moreover, as brewsters, market traders, innkeepers andborrowers,etc., rural women played important roles in the village economic life. Inthe lower productivity of Medieval Ages, women’s work was not only the vitalimportance to the survival of their family, but also promoted the development ofrural economy and society in some extent. But because of the factors, such as thesexual division of labor and domestic position, women’s work showed thecharacters of affiliatedness, disguisedness, low payment and unsustainabledevelopment. The conclusion part mainly discussed the influence of women’seconomic activities on their marriage and family life and thought that throughparticipating in economic activities, rural women not only won more autonomyand independence for their own marriage and family life,but also improved theirfamily status. The relationship between husband and wife were developing intoequal partnership.