Because of my papers this term I have to read a lot of feminist literature and literature about living conditions of women in past centuries. It makes me very angry and very sad. Sometimes my stomach starts to cramp when I read something really devastating. It is unbelievable how women were seen and treated in the recent past and it is always a shock to realise how many aspects have not changed yet. I am very surprised that women started to be systematically excluded of public life and forced into domestic space quite late in history. The image of the housewife and mother "only" looking after the household and family was created in the 18th century. Before the 18th century it was quite common for a woman to run her own little business or to travel as a nurse or a craftsperson. An important factor to rob women of the little power they owned was to rob them of their ability to decide whether to give birth or not. The witch-hunt throughout the Middle Ages up to the late 18th century is supposed to be one of the methods to prevent women from birth-control: mainly women who knew how to perform an abortion unwanted babies were chased and killed. By robbing women of the only instrument they possessed (i.e. their body) men ultimately could constituate their power. I moan a lot about the stress and all the work I have to do for my studies but reading all these stories makes you think differently. I am really grateful to be able to study the subjects I am interested in and to know that the people I love will support me in whatever I want to do with my life. I am so glad not to be forced to marry a man twice my age or be called a spinster because I 'm single at the age of 22 and being frowned upon because I love reading and learning.