L’ambiguità delle idee di genere nella storia delle donne tra Medioevo e prima età moderna: considerazioni storico-antropologiche sulla parità di genere

The essay proposes a historical-anthropological reflection on the relation- ship between gender perceptions (understood here as culturally and histori- cally determined) and women’s concrete lives in the medieval and early mod- ern period, with the aim of contributing to today’s debate on gender equality. It will be argued that perceptions of femininity and masculinity influenced women’s lives in complex and ambiguous ways, not only oppressing them, but also offering them opportunities for self-assertion. The article first shows how ideas concerning femininity can be found in a wide variety of fields, such as theology, medicine, law, education and even the world of work, strong- ly influencing women’s concrete lives. Subsequently, it will be argued that women overcame the limits imposed by gender norms through three main ways (among which the one implemented by the “living saints” was partic- ularly significant). However, it will be argued that these modes of women’s affirmation proved to have little impact from the point of view of achieving gender equality and that, therefore, in order to achieve this goal, the contents of the cultural construction of femininity and masculinity must be revealed and questioned.