17. Gender Dynamics in New Worlds
The “New World” was what those in the Afro-Eurasian nations used to describe the Americas “discovered” or, rather, rediscovered by Columbus in 1492, as well as newly explored lands around Africa and Oceania. Long before the arrival of European explorers, the people living in Mesoamerica, Oceania, and Africa had rich cultures and empires with their own gendered dynamics and attitudes toward women.
How to cite this source?
Remedial Herstory Project Editors. "1000-1600-GENDER DYNAMICS IN NEW WORLDS" The Remedial Herstory Project. November 1, 2025. www.remedialherstory.com.
Across great swaths of ocean from the Afro-Eurasian world, entire civilizations were thriving in what today we know as Mesoamerica, Oceania, and Africa. The civilizations were isolated from the rest of the world, so cultural diffusion did not play a major role, yet, cultural developments that existed in the "Old World" were also evident in Mesoamerica and Oceania. For those in the "Old World,'' these territories were unknown, but technology was developing at a rate that would allow for exploration and sustained connection to far away places, and worlds soon collided.
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Oceania
The people of Pacific Oceania created enduring cultures that didn't have large cities, states, or empires. They settled in the islands of Southeast Asia, Micronesia, and Melanesia as late as 50,000 years ago. Polynesia, which goes further into the Pacific, was likely unsettled until about 3,500 years ago. Societies in general were arranged around patriarchal chiefdoms ruled by councils, so chiefs didn’t have an inherently elevated status, though some island cultures, such as the Hawaiians, had powerful patriarchal rulers with thousands of warriors at their disposal.
As in most of the world, Oceania peoples idealized motherhood as nurturing, sheltering, cleansing, fertile, and chaste. They simultaneously displayed a sense of terror toward the dangerous, mystical, and carnal feminine qualities. Particularly, women in Oceania were - as they were in the rest of the world - considered dangerous and even foul during menstruation. The word “taboo” is derived from the Polynesian word for menstruation or, “tapu,” which means a holy prohibition; something not to be touched. Whether this was intended as a condemnation or an elevation, is lost to the history of colonization. Yet there was a liberal nature to women’s sexual lives, as one scholar observed, "Sensualism, eroticism, and a high level of sexual activity are actively cultivated throughout the area. Homosexuality is unstigmatized. Relations between men and women are relatively harmonious and mutually respectful.”
Melanesian women saw strict gender stratification, where Polynesian women, further out at sea, had greater political influence. Polynesian women were also heavily involved in productive labor, including food production and making mats and clothes. Agricultural labor was divided between the sexes. In some places, men cleared land and women planted. In other locales, crops were divided by gender, with men maintaining cash crops like bananas and women tending staple crops for sustenance. Aboriginal women labored in the water all day, fishing and gathering underwater roots. On the islands of Hawaii, for example, women built offshore dams to trap fish by the shore and provide their community a consistent food supply.
Polynesian peoples traveled as far as the west coast of South America and brought back sweet potatoes and other goods, but sustained connection across these cultures would not come until well into the Age of Discovery.
Oceania and its four subregions, Public Domain
Woodcut of Tahitian people offering gratitude to Hina, Public Domain
Age of Discovery (n.), a period in the 15th–17th centuries when European explorers explored and colonized the world.
Mesoamerica Cultures
The Americas have been settled by humans for tens of thousands of years. After likely prehistoric crossings on a land bridge, city-states and empires thrived as early as 2000 BCE under the Maya, Olmecs, Chavin, and the Norte Chico – preceding the Aztecs and the Incas by a millennia. While much is known about the later Aztec and Incan gender dynamics, less is known about some of the major empires and city-states that preceded them such as the Maya, Teotihuacan, Chavin, Olmec, and Moche.
Painting titled, “The Triumph of Winter,” by Antoine Caron, Medici’s official painter
A portrait of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, believed to be painted in Lucrezia Borgia’s likeness
Painting titled, “The Triumph of Winter,” by Antoine Caron, Medici’s official painter
One of the eight Valois Tapestries, titled “Elephant”
Renaissance Writers
Not all women of this time played the role of patron; many of the writers of the Renaissance expressed hopeful ambitions for women at the time. The way was paved by Christine de Pizan, who is sometimes considered the first feminist. Pizan was born in Venice in 1364 but grew up in the French court where her father was the king’s astrologer. Although not noble herself, her participation in the French court gave her contacts and support.
She was married and then widowed quite young and was able to write for a living while her children grew up. She depended on patrons and tended to write whatever they hired her to write - from love ballads to military strategy handbooks. Once her career was established, Christine de Pizan wrote works designed to elevate women in society.
One work, The Book of the City of Ladies, recounted the histories of intellectual women or great leaders and heroes who were women. She wrote this to offset the hateful images of women that were common in the literature of the day. A second book, The Treasure of the City of Ladies, was written as an advice manual for a French princess. Along with advice for princesses and nobles, Christine de Pizan included sections on advice for women of each rank and role in society. She made it clear that all women were essential and that the expectations of a baroness or an artisan’s wife were just as important as those of a leader. She wrote, “No matter which way I looked at it, I could find no evidence from my own experience to bear out such a negative view of the female nature and habits. Even so [...] I could scarcely find a moral work by any author which didn't devote some chapter or paragraph to attacking the female sex."
Not everyone appreciated the role played by patrons of the arts. Dutch poet Anna Bijns lamented how creative work had been diminished by its trendiness in her poem, “’Tis a Waste to Cast Before Swine.” She considered the ability to craft words to be a gift from the Holy Spirit and lamented the fact that so many poets were willing to work on commission for ignorant patrons. In 1528, she wrote,
When Rhetoric I see on sale for money,
Like snow for sun my joy melts away,
And thus I repeat my initial remark:
‘Tis a waste to cast pearls before swine.
Bijns, sometimes referred to as “the Germanic Sappho,” in reference to the Greek poet, never hesitated to speak her mind. She wrote another controversial poem, “Unyoked is Best! Happy the Woman Without a Man.” In it, she warned maidens not to rush into marriage and to consider all their options before they commit to a husband.
Other women writers of the day promoted education for girls, even as they faced challenges. The French poet and adventurer Louise Labé went to war dressed as a man before settling down to write sonnets. Late in her life, she regretted that she had not devoted more time to studying music, philosophy, and history. She wrote to a friend in 1555, “Study differs from other recreations, of which all one can say after enjoying them that one has passed the time. But study gives a more enduring sense of satisfaction [...] for the past delights and serves us more than the present.”
Christine de Pizan lecturing to a group of men
Artists
In the visual arts, women also made an impact, even though they were usually not permitted to enroll in arts academies. Women artists tended to be the daughters of artists who learned the techniques at home. They were also limited in their subject matter in many cases because it was not appropriate for a woman to work with nude models, for example. Thus, the greatest women artists of the Renaissance got their start doing portraits—portraying their subjects at home was a fitting, domestic theme for a respectable woman.
Levina Teerlinc was an artist in Bruges in the mid-16th century. Like her father, she specialized in miniatures of exquisite detail. After her marriage, Teerlinc traveled to England, where she attracted the attention of the royal family. She became a court artist under Henry VIII and stayed in that position through the reign of Elizabeth I. Very little of her work survives today, however, accounts written during her career were especially enthusiastic about a miniature of the Holy Trinity she had presented to Queen Mary and a portrait and a decorated box she made for Elizabeth.
Sofonisba Anguissola was not the daughter of an artist but of an Italian nobleman of modest rank. He was impressed with the literature of the day that promoted education for girls, and he made sure his daughters had every opportunity open to them. Sofonisba was the oldest and her talent was obvious, even when she was a teenager. A visitor to their home saw her portrait of her sisters playing chess, one of her most famous paintings, and wrote that the girls looked almost alive on the canvas.
After her marriage, Anguissola moved to Spain and continued painting portraits. Word of her skill reached King Phillip II, and he invited her to join his court. Once there, she expanded her portraits to adopt a formal style appropriate to the high status of her subjects. Anguissola had such a grand reputation across Europe that other women were inspired to emulate her.
One such painter who sought to emulate the work of Sofonisba Anguissola, was Lavinia Fontana, the daughter of a painter. She benefited from the unique opportunities available in Bologna, where women were permitted to attend university in certain subjects. Fontana earned a doctorate at the university around 1580, and she was also unique in that she was a woman who managed to launch a career outside a court or a convent.
Fontana worked privately for commissions - just like the male artists of the day - working on portraits and also took on large projects with mythical or religious themes. She was very popular, and the noblewomen of Bologna competed for her attention. Many patrons of high status employed her, including one who would go on to become pope. Lavinia Fontana was so successful that her commissions served as her dowry in marriage. Her husband worked as her agent and assistant.
Fede Galizia was the daughter of a painter, but he did not intend to train her until he learned of Sofonisba Anguissola’s career. Reaching her prime around the turn of the 17th century, Galizia is best known for her still-lifes, and she was considered a pioneer for her delicate touch in that artform. Like Fontana, she worked on commission, and also painted portraits and religious works, and was even hired to create altar pieces for a church in Milan.
One of the most interesting things about Galizia is that she was first in a series of women artists to focus on the portrayal of heroic women in the Bible. A popular tale from the Bible was Judith decapitating Holofernes, and Galizia, like the women who emulated her, depicted subjects like Judith as strong and dignified, with none of the suggested sexualization that male artists tended to use.
Just a generation behind Galizia, Artemisia Gentileschi was one of most famous artists of her age who also famously painted Judith decapitating Holofernes. She was raised by her father, who was also a painter, and became a member of the Academy of Arts and Drawing in Florence. She was painting professionally in Venice by the time she was 15, worked on commissions, and briefly served as a court painter, especially for the Medici family. Some of the greatest houses in Italy, such as the family of Michaelangelo, hired her to create a ceiling panel.
Gentileschi also corresponded with great thinkers across Italy, including Galileo Galilei, who may have been the inspiration for the work she did on that ceiling. It features a nude holding a compass, and is entitled “The Allegory of Inclination.” Like Galizia, Gentileschi created a series of paintings of the biblical Judith, as well as other strong women such as Esther, Mary Magdalene, Cleopatra, and Saint Cecilia.
Finally, in the mid-17th century, in Bologna, Elisabetta Sirani had an amazing career, but her life was cut short by a mysterious illness when she was only 27. Her father was a painter and an art dealer who took over the school of his own master and trained Elisabetta himself at first. As Bologna offered opportunities for women, she was able to move on to other academies and eventually opened an art academy for girls.
Sirani did not hesitate to tackle grand historical or religious subjects in her paintings. More than 200 works of hers survive, and she signed just about every piece. Sirani also painted a few versions of Judith and a variety of saints, but she might be best known for her painting, Timoclea Kills the Captain of Alexander the Great. According to the ancient historian Plutarch, Timoclea was a noblewoman in Thebes who was assaulted by the titular captain. In revenge, she pretended to lead him to her hidden wealth at the bottom of a well. When he stooped to look in, Timoclea pushed him to his death.
Sirani was, by all accounts, a dazzling artist. Some observers said she painted with such speed and perfection it was almost like she was “laughing” instead of working. Male critics who refused to believe a young woman could have produced such amazing work challenged her to paint a prince’s portrait in front of an audience to prove it was her own skill. She did so. Suddenly, in August 1665, at the peak of her career she died. While one of her servants was initially accused of poisoning her, it is argued that her death was likely due to a ruptured or untreated ulcer. She had such a loyal following that upon her sudden death, contributions poured in to cover an elaborate funeral. Musicians composed works for the event and poets outdid one another with their heartfelt eulogies.
Miniature of Elizabeth I, painted by Levina Teerlinc
Miniature (n.), a small, fine portrait on vellum, card, copper, or ivory, often kept in a locket or small box.
A self portrait painted by Sofonisba Anguissola
Fontana’s painting, titled, “Wedding Feast at Cana”
Galizia’s painting, titled, “Judith with the Head of Holophernes”
Gentileschi’s painting, titled, “The Allegory of Inclination”
Titular (adj.), denoting a person or thing from whom or which the name of an artistic work or similar is taken.
Sirani’s painting, titled, “Timoclea Kills the Captain of Alexander the Great”
Eulogy (n.), a formal speech given at a funeral in honor of the person who has passed.
Ottoman Women
It is important to note that while these women of unique skill and means had emerged and influenced the world of the arts in Europe, in the same time period, in the Muslim world, just beyond Europe’s borders, women’s rights and freedoms looked considerably different. After the Mongols sacked Baghdad, destroying the riches of the Islamic Empire, the Muslim world was in disarray. Eventually, the Ottoman Empire emerged out of Turkey in the 14th century. There, the role and position of women shifted from the more public roles they had played in Turkish tribes to the more segregated lives they lived in a thriving empire.
The status of women in Islam had certainly declined as Muhammad’s original teachings and views on women melded with the existing cultures where it spread. One Ottoman writer explained, “The responsible officials [have] the great desire to restrain the barbarous and irrepressible bestiality of women who [...] with that reprobate and diabolical nature, force their men, with their honeyed poison, to submit to them.”
When the Ottomans successfully conquered Constantinople in 1453, the empire was poised to control the Mediterranean economy. The Ottoman patriarchy set about doing what all major empires had done before them: telling women what they could and could not do. Women were removed from society as a social convention more than any dictate in Islamic law. During festivals, women were allowed to appear in public, yet old concerns about women’s public morality created a backlash that forced them away again once the festivals had ended.
One of the most enduring images of Ottoman women's segregation is the harem. The exotic and eroticized image of the harem is a Western obsession that overlooks the much more complex functioning of this important institution. The harem represented a contrast between European and Ottoman societies. Ottoman harems were also much different from Chinese harems, though both were eroticized in the Western imagination. In Ottoman society, the harem served to exclude women, but also to grant them freedom of expression. One contemporary observer wrote,
the women dress themselves very richly in silk. They wear cloaks down to the ground, lined just like those of the men. They wear closed-up boots but fitting tighter on the ankle and more arched than those of the men...They are fond of black hair, and if any women by nature does not possess it, she acquires it by artificial means...They decorate their hair with small bands of ribbon and leave them spread over their shoulders and falling over their dress. Covering their hair they have a colored strip of thin silk...On the head they also have a small round cap, neat and close fitting, embroidered with satin, damask, or silk and colored.
Mothers and other relatives of sultans living cloistered lives still became powerful and influential. Women of the harem used their wealth to support important projects and charities such as schools, hospitals, caravansaries, baths, fountains, soup kitchens, hostels, and mosques. Some estimate that about a quarter of Ottoman charitable foundations were started by royal women. This shows that women who owned land in Ottoman society were able to manage their wealth reasonably easily.
Women of all social levels also had the right to manage their property without patriarchal interference. They used the courts to defend their financial control, and it seems in most instances judges upheld these rights. Women were even borrowers and lenders and had their own private businesses.
As is true of every society, lower class women lived different lives from their wealthy peers. They intermingled with men because they ran businesses, performed domestic errands, and did other work that necessitated such conduct. Women monopolized work in textile production, winding silk and spinning cotton, but women also sold food, were traders, operated public baths, brokered slave trades, and were entertainers. In the rural areas, women typically worked in agriculture and animal husbandry.
Ottoman law also created a marriage system that favored men in numerous ways. Muslim men could marry non-Muslim women, but Muslim women could not marry outside the faith. Men were permitted absolute authority over as many as four spouses, but women were permitted only one husband. Men could divorce with relative ease, but women could not. Yet, outside of the law, marriages were a bit more egalitarian than meets the eye. Marriages were arranged, but women obtained prenuptial agreements and had the right to refuse a match. Even though the law allowed up to four wives, in the Ottoman Empire, 95 percent of husbands had only one wife. Muslim women had, in reality, a much easier time getting divorced from neglectful and abusive husbands than their non-Muslim peers within the empire. So much so, that some women would convert to Islam in order to get divorced.
It can be argued that Ottoman women's status was probably equal to that of European women. In 1785, Lady Elizabeth Craven traveled through Crimea to Constantinople, and observed, “I think I never saw a country where women may enjoy so much freedom from all reproach, as in Turkey [...] The Turks in their conduct towards our sex are an example to all other nations.”
Painting titled, “The Battle of Lepanto”
Bestiality (n.), savagely cruel, animal-like, or depraved behavior.
Reprobate (adj.), unprincipled.
Diabolical (adj.), characteristic of the Devil.
Ottoman woman
Caravansaries (n.), an inn with a central courtyard for travelers in the desert regions of Asia or North Africa.
Animal Husbandry (n.), the practice of raising and caring for animals for their products or for captivity.
Prenuptial Agreements (n.), legal agreements signed by both parties before marriage that primarily address the protection and division of property and wealth in the case of divorce.
Conclusion
The Renaissance was a rebirth of art and culture, but it was, in many ways, a rebirth of the patriarchy. While some women were able to achieve great heights and fame in this period, women overall did not see widespread access to education or a major change in their status.
How many more women would we know about today if only they had had the chance to try? How would women find greater access to education and other means of self improvement? And what would bring about that shift?
