Gender issues - "Women should remain at home, sit still, bear and bring up children".

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Gender Issues

Mark Buchanan 5ba

“Women should remain at home, sit still, bear and bring up children”

Martin Luther

1483-1546

Martin Luther (not to be confused with Martin Luther King) was born in 1483, Eisleben, Saxony.  He was an important religious figure of his time, playing a leading part in the 16th century Reformation of the Christian Church.  He had extremely definite views of the role of women in society and in the home.  Martin Luther believed that it was natural and according to God’s plan that men should have authority over women.  However views like that of Martin Luther were not uncommon at this time.  We must remember that they lived in a patriarchal society.

In recent times, however, married women have gained the right to be taxed independently from their husbands.  In practice this means that a woman can now fill out her own tax return and keep her financial affairs to herself.  A married man still receives a tax allowance on his income and this has approximately kept pace with inflation over current times.  Family allowance is paid to the mother of the children but its value in real terms has declined in the precedent ten years or so.

This economic dependence of women has changed as society’s attitude to women has changed.  Most women still give up their father’s name on marriage and tale their husband’s as a symbol of dependence on males, but some people ask – does it still have any meaning at all?  Some of the more overt inequalities, which limited women’s ability to become independent, have been made illegal.  With the erosion of economic dependence of women on men, there has been a corresponding increase in the power and independence of women in many other areas in society

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Over the past 40 years there have been a number of important changes in Britain in the economic independence of women.  In them field of employment the major changes have occurred since World War II.  From the 1940s onwards there has been a massive increase in the proportion of women in regular paid employment.  The growth in the female labour force is described more clearly in an article by Hilary Land, ‘The Myth of the Male Breadwinner which I have read as a background source to this unit.  The article also points out a tendency for the importance of ...

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