Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Medieval Single Women: The Politics of Social Classification in Late Medieval England

Medieval Single Women: The Politics of Social Classification in Late Medieval England

Beattie, Cordelia

Hardcover

Medieval & Renaissance HistoryLinguisticsGeneral Gender Studies

ISBN10: 0199283419
ISBN13: 9780199283415
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Oct 25 2007
Pages: 195
Weight: 0.80
Height: 0.80 Width: 5.60 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
The single woman is a troubling and disruptive category. Does it denote all unmarried women, therefore creating a group which every female was part of at some stage in her life? Or, were the categories maiden and widow so culturally significant in late medieval England that single woman was a residual category for women seen as anomalous? Was the category single man used in an equivalent way and, if not, why? This study offers a way into the complex process of social classification in late medieval England.

All societies use classifications in order to understand and impose order. In this book, Cordelia Beattie views classification as a political act, an act of power: those classifying must make choices about which divisions are most important or about who falls into which category, and such choices have repercussions. Defining how a group or an individual should be labelled, means variables such as social status, gender, or age, are prioritized. Rather than isolate gender as a variable, this book examines how it relates to other social cleavages. Using a variety of approaches, from social and cultural history, to gender history, and medieval studies, its original methodology offers an innovative approach to a range of historical texts, from pastoral manuals to tax returns, and guild registers.

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