how the fuck did all of those renaissance dilettantes learn so much crap? Like they spoke 3 languages and were foremost in several branches of science, plus they wrote poetry, played the violin, and were master artists? And they still had time to be gay?
none of them ever did any laundry at all
The emotional and physical labor necessary to maintain the lifestyles of Renaissance and Enlightenment polymaths was shunted almost entirely to their uncredited servants, slaves, wives, and daughters.
Whenever we compare ourselves to the ‘genius men’ of the past, and wonder why we fall so short, remember this: their intellectual capacity, energy, and freedom was because there was someone else washing the damn dishes.
Rosalind Miles’ “Who Cooked the Last Supper?” is about how women throughout history provided critical services so men could have leisure time.
Fuck
I mean men still demand this leisure time from their female family members/spouses, except now instead of using it to paint or read or learn they mostly just play video games and watch football
ALSO:
During the Renaissance there was fear of opening the pores and letting disease in. Hands and faces were cleaned in cold water but cleanliness was maintained by wearing white linen shirts and caps and socks and shifts under your regular clothing. Skin was cleaned by rubbing arms and legs with a dry linen cloth to absorb sweat and revive circulation. All this linen was changed as often as possible, depending on how many sets of underthings you owned. While Ruth Goodman has proved that this is surprisingly effective at keeping dirt and smell to a minimum, it could double or triple the laundry women and servants were responsible for.
So not only were the women and household staff doing all the laundry and mending work while men explored academia and art, they were doing piles and piles more of it than we wear. Without piped-in water. All by hand.
Imagine how many potential Renaissance masters and language nerds and musical geniuses spend their days washing dirty underwear and died in obscurity instead of going to school because they weren’t born rich and male.
