ABSTRACT
Writing mothers were well aware that their culture assigned domestic roles to girls and women. When historical men write legacies for their own daughters, they tend to focus on their domestic duties. While legacy writers worry that prideful daughters may be lured into compromising their chastity, they fear that sons will actively seek lustful liaisons. Writers of mothers' legacies have distinct visions for girls and boys. They believe that each gender must be protected from a different set of foibles. The primary difference between legacy writers' advice to boys and to girls is their emphasis on sons' duty to preserve and increase the family estate, particularly when those sons stand to inherit substantial wealth. Girls should learn to avoid the sin of pride and to protect their chastity, while boys should learn to suppress their tendencies toward prodigality, wrath, and lust. By following their mothers' advice, daughters and sons can ready themselves to assume gender-specific roles in later life.
