Inequality and the patriarchal view of women by the Greek philosopher influenced the later Western thinkers.
Biology of women
Women present a lower form of life because, according to their physiology, they are colder than men. Women are lower than men because they are infertile and passive. Women’s emotions are jealousness and unhopeful
Women in society: their role and perspectives
As women are weaker than men, they have to be controlled by their husbands in the home. Though women are defective by nature, they should be happy as well as men because a great state is impossible without happy people (men and women).
- Role of Female in the Society According to Christine de Pizan
- Defender of the fair sex – she argued against stereotypes in terms of women established in the contemporary society
- Writers of the Malleus Maleficarum: Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger
Witches are women (and only women) who make deals with the devil to gain supernatural powers Women are strong personalities and they become witches to overstep the proper personal decorum appropriate for females.
Religious Views of Women in the 17th Century
Religion empowered women rather than oppressed them. Young girls could learn more about art, music, and literature instead of natural sciences. Some women could obtain jobs at different houses which were engaged in making food or pastry. However, women were mostly housewives and helped their husbands on farms and in business.
Catholic Europe believed women to be the source of a genuine sin as they saw women as lustful and sexual individuals and the act of sex was thought to be sinful in its nature.
Women Were Believed to be Sexual Temptresses and Mothers
From one side the image of sexual temptress was more influential for all women of that time. Women were considered sinful by nature because sex was considered sinful as well.
However, the image of a mother can be regarded as influential as well as the image of the sexual temptress. Women were only housewives. They were supposed to maintain the house and deliver children
As you can see Christine de Pizan’s views can be opposed to those possessed by Aristotle and the writers of the Malleus Maleficarum Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. She was the only woman who defended the rights of women and insisted on their equality with males. Meanwhile, Aristotle can be considered a severe misogynist, though Kramer and Sprenger argued against women as well. However, the writers of the Malleus Maleficarum claimed that females are strong personalities (maybe only those who become witches). The role of women can be considered extremely humiliating with a view to their image. As the Catholic Church believed women to be sinful by nature, they could not obtain normal positions typical of men only.
The women were oppressed by the religious beliefs of the Catholic Church; they could only be housewives, sexual temptresses, and mothers of children. Women were considered defective members of contemporary society. They could do nothing without a man’s permission. Women were believed to be lustful and sexually weak; they provoked men to act sinfully. It was because of women that men sinned.