Images of women in technical books from the English Renaissance

Technical books written for women in the English Renaissance provide a rich source for furthering knowledge of the literacy of women, particularly middle class womenthe audience for these booksand the roles these women assumed. These technical books for women show that Renaissance women assumed active roles, were generally as literate as men, and needed books to help them execute major responsibilities in home medical care, home and estate management, animal husbandry, cooking, and gardening. These books also show that women's literacy increased rapidly by the end of the Renaissance and that the increase in the demand for books was most certainly due in part to demands by women for technical and other forms of how-to books. The effectiveness with which Renaissance technical writers adapted content and style for women readers should remind the modern technical writer of the value of gender considerations in designing content and style. 1992 IEEE

Images of women in technical books from the English Renaissance Academic Article