Women Troubadours Response

In her book The Women Troubadours, Meg Bogin states “Throughout the Middle Ages women were the pawns of men.” Historically speaking, women have been subordinate to men. This is especially true of medieval Europe, a place in which power and physical or military prowess often coincided. Since women were not fighters, they were often denied positions of power. Bogin identifies women as pawns of men because they were often used as tools for creating alliance and peace as well as for the consolidation of resources. Often times, a father with daughters would marry them off to the most “worthy” suitor for political or social advancement. The happiness of the woman was of little concern in these marriages. In the chapter “Historical Background,” Bogin states that women had no say over whom they married and in fact, “marriages were generally contracted when the future spouses were in infancy, and girls were married in their early teens” (24-25). Regardless of their rank, women “were wards throughout the Middle Ages, always under the official guardianship of a man” (24).

In modern Western society, women are generally not controlled the way they were in the Middle Ages. Women have fought long and hard for autonomy from their fathers’ and husbands’ control. However, there are still inequalities between the sexes. Despite these inequalities, most women choose their spouses and have the ability to maintain complete independence from men and be successful. However, there are parts of the world where women are still used as political pawns. In many cultures, marriage is used only as means of combining resources. In these cultures, men still largely determine the marriages of women, and love is rarely considered part of the equation.