Fun fact: this is simply incorrect. It was simply an occupational descriptor. OED has a citation from 1380 when none of our current cultural baggage applied.
I feel like 6 months ago everybody decided to start telling me what "spinster" means for some reason and it remains the only context in which I've ever heard it used
I could not verify the "so good at weaving that she was financially independent" part.
According to wikipedia it originally refered to women who spun wool - usually unmaried women. Over time it became derogatory.
While I don't think that article proves or disproves a woman being financially independent through spinning, it does hint that wool was extremely expensive and a huge business.
14 Comments
DrBob@lemmy.ca · 52 pts · 272d
Fun fact: this is simply incorrect. It was simply an occupational descriptor. OED has a citation from 1380 when none of our current cultural baggage applied.
ryannathans@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 272d
Paywalled
DrBob@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 272d
JackLSauce@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 272d
I feel like 6 months ago everybody decided to start telling me what "spinster" means for some reason and it remains the only context in which I've ever heard it used
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 272d
Spinster means a person so good at riding a bike, they got an award made of wool. Usually fashioned by unmarried women.
KokusnussRitter@discuss.tchncs.de · 13 pts · 272d
I could not verify the "so good at weaving that she was financially independent" part. According to wikipedia it originally refered to women who spun wool - usually unmaried women. Over time it became derogatory.
remotelove@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 272d
It's so much more complicated than that, it seems. Wool was a major business, even back then: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/urban-history/article/organizing-specialized-production-gender-in-the-medieval-flemish-wool-cloth-industry-c-12501384/A173396BD9F8E10E74634263506620BE
While I don't think that article proves or disproves a woman being financially independent through spinning, it does hint that wool was extremely expensive and a huge business.
Skullgrid@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 272d
there's layers to my man Mickey7
krooklochurm@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 272d
Spin on my face
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 272d
spits on your face
.........did you say somethin'?
krooklochurm@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 272d
More please
Nomorereddit@lemmy.today · -14 pts · 272d
Do you know what fun is op? Ill try to enlighten you.
What's the difference between 5 black guys and a joke.....your mom can't take a joke.
cannedtuna@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 272d
I thought that was a pretty fun fact. Learned something new
Nomorereddit@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 272d
Well I like tuna, so carry on w them good vibes.