My first name is Stephanie and I am 48 yo.
I live in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia - The "NT" being the state with Uluru, Kakadu National Park, crocodiles, camels and kangaroos. So, since we are a bit short on one of my interests - European history - I love the internet! I have a health science degree, have always been interested in sociology and history, and have been a technical writer, proof reader and editor.
I have just started using Wikipedia as a one-stop-shop for intitial research on a few topics I am interested in - eg Richard III King of England, and, as a side bar, a couple of feminist issues that have arisen while researching this King. One issue is the blame put on women in the middle ages, and later, for not bearing surviving male children to reigning monarchs - when in fact (unknown to everyone) the husband and wife were related, by blood, so many times over, there was a significant impact on the couple's ability to have any children who had a good chance of survival into adulthood.
The other feminist issue I am interested in is the role of females in medieval espionage,ie before Henry VIII. I have not been able to find anything on the internet on this subject (through Google). I find it difficult to accept that women did not act as secret agents, because I am pretty sure we females participated in events then, if we felt passionately about them, just as we do now - that is, the socioeconomic roles dictated to women at the time would not necessarily have been a barrier, and may even have been an advantage. Also, I believe people were just as intelligent and devious then as we are now. So any pointers, tips or information on this subject (ie females as secret agents before HVIII's time) would be greatly appreciated. And, to answer the obvious, I have not found anything in Wikipedia either.
Scmcnt 05:28, 8 November 2006 (UTC)