Mary Beth Norton is a historian who specializes in women’s history, her interview with Barker-Benfield uncovers her experiences and involvement in discovering the importance of female involvement in the late 17th, early 18th century history. Mary Beth and professor Peter Lapsion’s He Said, She Said article both explain why gender roles were so important in shaping and revealing todays gender morals in society.
Mary Beth explains in her interview that in order to get a clear understanding of history, both women and men needed to be included to look at life in the 17th century. Norton clearly states that men and women had secret lives that were written in their dairies. Historians could dissect both genders inner thoughts and experiences and get a true understanding on what troubles they were physically and psychologically dealing with, and use that information to better interpret the human beings mind in early century history. The people are who make up the culture, women played such a big role in history, they saw the soft, affectionate side of their husbands, raised the children, and took care of the household. Denying women from early history is removing a big piece of culture in the understanding of colonial
…show more content…
The defendant sometimes called himself Thomas and dressed as a man and sometimes called herself Thomasin and dressed as a woman. T. Hall’s gender was rather confusing to diagnose according to historical records, so T. Hall’s was held to trial. They examined Halls body parts and decides that he be both a man and a woman, as well as wear articles of clothing that reflect both genders. The court also claims that “hee had not the use of the man’s parte”, meaning T could not sexually function as a man and bare children. The ability to impregnate a woman was an important part of manhood in the 17th century, which is why Hall was also presumed a