e，and therefore it is sufficient for me to follow my husband，” wrote Lucy Downing， and her brother declared，“A true wife accounts her subjection to be her honor and freedom.” Married women could neither make contracts nor own property，neither vote nor hold office. The extraordinary high birth rate of Puritan women was one mark of their “subjection.” The average woman， marrying in her early twenties and surviving through her forties， could expect to bear eight children. Aside from abstinence，there was no form of birth control. There was significant cultural suspicion about wives who failed to have children or widows who were economically independent.

 

但是，当时文化上的理想是妇女对男人的服从。露西?道宁写道：“我不过是个妻子，因此只要顺从自己的丈夫就合格了”，她的兄弟则宣布：“真正的妻子把自己的顺从视为荣誉和自由”。已婚妇女既不能订立契约，也不得拥有财产，既无投票权，也不能当官。清教徒妇女异乎寻常的高生育率也是她们“顺从”的一个标志。平均来说， 20出头成婚，并活过40岁的妇女，可望生8个孩子。除了禁欲 ，别无其他节育方法。不育的妻子或经济独立的寡妇，都会引起文化上的深深怀疑。

 

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