To answer these questions, we stopped in at the once active Enfield Shaker Village, founded in 1793. There was nearly complete separation of the sexes and they lived in equality.
Shakers strove for perfection.
Their industry and cleanliness were a form of worship and they were dedicated to the goals of discipline, joy, and craftsmanship. Their formal worship meetings included rigorous dancing, yet still separated men and women. The Enfield Shakers were mostly gardeners and survived by selling garden seeds and medicinal herbs. The settlement was deserted in 1923 when the last eight Shakers left. The only active Shaker community is at Sabbath Day Lake in Maine.