Misogyny and the Political Economy of Marriage: ‘The Detestable Wickedness of Women’

An inescapable feature of the sumptuary discourses is that frequently, although not universally, they deployed an all too apparent misogyny. The most common manifestation was a presumed link between the critique of luxury and the vanity of women. This chapter may perhaps be regarded as something of a digression. I confess that in finding myself in the unfamiliar territory of premodern social history I was disconcerted by the misogyny exhibited by the men who debated in the public arena and made the laws. One response might have been to adopt the entirely plausible view that misogyny was a well-known ideological component of patriarchal forms of power and to pass on to other matters. However, I kept finding myself asking questions about why it was that misogyny was so widespread and unquestioned. In a simple minded way I was struck by the paradox of the coexistence of these vitriolic discourses and the evident powerlessness of women. As I started to track this issue it receded further and further into the early cultures that had formed modern civilizations. The question of the roots of misogyny simply became 'too big' and I came to accept the limit that the best I could do was to try to trace the connection between misogynous discourses and the sumptuary impulse.