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Assignment 2 Miguel Montana

Silvia Federici explains how the privatization of land had a very specific and calculated impact that affected not just the economy, but women as well. The privatization of land through enclosure forced women into a position where they felt the need to riot. It was explained that communal farming land was one of the places where women could share information, advice, and consult the men working and have almost equal footing. By abolishing open land farming, women lost this privilege and in turn, lost a lot of what gave them power (Frederici, 2004:81).  Later, during the Jacobean period, riots led predominantly by woman surged. The reason for this was because it was largely believed that women were above the law as their marriage offered them protection because of their husbands. However, this protection would quickly be removed when men were caught being disguised as women to avoid punishment. (Frederici, 2004:83). Women were the most affected by the removal of community lands as they could not become nomadic workers due to violence by men as well as the burden of children and pregnancy. All of these issues made it hard for women to find independence and not rely on men. And all these issues were largely brought on by the privatization of land. The only other options left were to join the military as cooks, prostitutes, washers and wives. But this too would no longer be an option by the 17th century when the armies became further regimented and women were expelled from the battlefield (Frederici, 2004:83).The limiting of options,  the change in lifestyle, and the forcing of women to feel as though they had no other option but to riot and protest the changes that were happening are obvious signs that women suffered at the hand of economical shift from communal land owning to a more capitalist approach.