In early modern funeral sermons, the life of the deceased came to function as an example of how women and men should live their lives. Although this material gives a good insight into early modern ideals, it has been of less interest than many other sources to Swedish historians investigating gender. In this paper I will present ways that Swedish funeral sermons from the 17th and 18th centuries can give us a better understanding of which ideals and which responsibilities in everyday life were perceived to be female or male