Babylonian Women

The empires of Rome and China were very great ones, they both had many similarities and differences in the way they ran their empires. One major difference was the way they treated their women. Both Chinese and Roman women were unequal in social status than the men of the empires were, but they were definitely treated different in both empires. Women of China were treated quite harshly and were expected to take orders at all times by their husbands, and were to serve them always. This started to happen especially after Confucius died because he taught people to treat each other the same, “after his death women became less free and lost status,”(Arvind 10). Women of Rome were treated like goddesses; they were to stay at home as housewives

In some cultures, people didn’t marry for love and those who did were looked down upon; whereas in modern times, it’s the opposite in many parts of the world. Coontz tells of a culture where,“A Taita man normally marries a love wife only after he has accumulated a few more practical wives” (255). This shows the different perceptions of marriage between the Taita peoples, who let men remarry several times in loveless marriages, and those of certain religions that forbade divorce, as well as today’s society where people often marry for love the first time around. The perceptions differed in that some societies believed in remarrying and marrying without love, while others didn’t. Coontz explains some very different marriage traditions than what Bennett says is normal and right-A man and a woman who fit traditional gender roles- as shown in his essay, “Complementary nature of men and women-and how they refine, support, encourage, and complete one another” (272).

Neither Mary Wollstonecraft nor Karl Marx were content with the society in which they were living in during their time, and they both had different ideas and how to change it. They both agreed that our species is unique in that all humans have the ability and potential to control their lives and make what they want out of it. They have the ability to feel good about themselves and have a sense of self-fulfillment. However, each of these philosophers had a different opinion in mind on which obstacle was preventing humans from making full use of their potential to succeed and be happy. Wollstonecraft, in particular, was referring to how women do not get the same opportunities as men due to the fact that they are not looked at as equal to men. This was due to a few reasons. Men were being biased towards females, they could not get a good education, and most women themselves did not see a need to change. Wollstonecraft felt that the way to combat all this was to start allowing women to get the same education as men do, which would also allow them to be independent. Only then will they realize that women are just as intelligent and rational as men themselves are. Marx, on the other hand,

Gender roles in ancient Mesopotamia were clearly defined (teachmiddleeast.edu). Generally, men worked outside of the home and women stayed inside of the home while focusing on raising their children and keeping up with work that took place in the home. However, there were exceptions; we know of women who were “bartenders” and even women who were priestesses, but with limited responsibility. Due to the fact that some were from socially higher families and owned large amounts of property, those women were not allowed to marry. Women at the time were given much less freedom than men, however, women were more protected than men, which is seen in Hammurabi’s Code of Law, specifically in his 130th law:

As Mary Wollstonecraft once said, “I do not wish them to have power over men, but over themselves.” In this quote, “themselves” is referred to as women of course. It is somewhat customary to pick up a paper in today’s light and perhaps see read about Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, or First Lady, Michelle Obama, even media specialist, Oprah Winfrey. The list could go on and on, but the point remains the same. If King Hammurabi of Babylon were living in today’s world and saw how dramatic the power of women has transformed over the years, he would perhaps declare himself Queen of Babylon. Kevin Reilly accurately depicts the struggling role of women from this early period of civilization through Assyrian

The marriage of an Athenian woman and man is hard to define exactly because there has not been an exact word translated that is equivalent to the word, “marriage.” The Athenians have words that translate as physical acts for a marriage for the sake of having a child, they also have words that translate as “cohabit” or “live together.” This leads to the conclusion that our traditional connotation of marriage as a bond is not the way it was in Athens. The reasons for a man and a woman to be joined in marriage were nor for love, as we would expect, it would be for profitable and more pragmatic reasons. Usually most beneficial to the male’s in the bride’s life. Since the women were not supposed to be unattended they are assumed to have accepted what was decided for them in terms of a husband. “…A husband normally addresses his wife as “woman.” The Greek word for woman, is

One day a man will have a daughter and will want a better future for her. No one wants to hear that their daughter didn't get the job because she went up against a guy or that she has a higher position than a man but he gets paid more. Without the positive support of men, woman equality might not exist. Having equality in marriage will make for a healthier environment, splitting the duties 50/50. Gender equality in education will make for a higher economic growth all around the world while improving employment opportunities for everyone. It will allow woman to increase agricultural making an increase in world

Women were irritated that men made the political decisions while they were stuck making sandwiches for the men. If changing these degrading roles meant almost losing their lives, women were willing to at least give it a shot. They endured exposure to poisonous chemicals due to terrible working conditions, almost being shot by Russian soldiers because they demanded more bread, and last, but certainly not least, oppression. Their determination to execute all of these bad experiences is the reason that women have much more freedom today. The women that overcame the struggles of feminine oppression proved too strong to be held down. Even though women today are still not completely respected and are not as valued as men, the way women fought for the enhancement of their lives heavily impacted women in society

Women, normally viewed as the weaker gender, deserve equal rights for all of the hard work that they do to support their own families. While men were out doing their jobs and getting paid for them, the women were forced to stay at home to complete more difficult jobs that they were not gaining pay for. The women were responsible for the well-being of the children and for the well-being of the house. Staying at home to do all of the cooking and cleaning took a lot more effort out of the women than sitting behind a desk all day did for the men.

One of the most striking differences between ancient Athenian women and ancient Egyptian women was the ability to hold positions of power. Egyptian women were monarchs and held other positions depending on their social status. (Capel 1996, 176) Women were allowed to participate in low ranking government jobs, especially during war when the men are off fighting and leaving behind their positions. However, these positions were not kept for long because the men upon return automatically earned their position back by being the superior sex (Watterson 1991,).

In current times in America, the role of women and the role of men is about equal. When it comes to home life, it’s just as common for women to go out and work as it is for a man to do it. Women have even run for President. However, in the Harappan society in ancient India, and in Sumerian times in ancient Mesopotamia, the equality and respect of women weren’t as strong as it is today. Regardless, women were respected to a certain level. Overall, the respect of women in ancient India was similar to the respect of women in Mesopotamia because goddesses were seen as powerful, young women were admired, and women were highly regarded for being able to give birth.

Sociologist, Emile Durkheim would answer this question with his theory on “Division of Labor”. Just 100 years ago, the structure of the family was quite different than what we see today. In the early 1900, predominantly agricultural, the father was the sole breadwinner and the mother worked in the home and tended to the children. The division of labor was based on gender and it was centered on the home, all members having a particular job to do which was an important part of the family’s survival. This provided a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Sociologist, Karl Marx shared a similar view in his theory of an individual reaching his or her “Species Being” which is an individual’s shared commonality with others, finding his or her place in society. Why the change? The Industrial Revolution separated the workplace from the home and altered the division of labor between men and women.

Throughout history women have faced many struggles in gaining equality with men. Freedoms and boundaries have been dependent upon the time period, rulers, religions and civilization. Ancient Greek women and Ancient Egyptian women were both equal to men as far as the law was concerned in certain areas; however, their equalities were different in the sense that Greek women were married out of necessity and viewed as property while Egyptian women were respected and loved by their husbands. Ancient Greek women and Ancient Egyptian women also both lived with limitations such as being thought of as domestic servants, yet these views solely depended on the time and polis.

Some aspects of the lifestyle ancient civilizations lived almost seem appalling or intolerable when compared to the very developed and carefully shaped the world inhabited today. One of these characteristics of previous societies that prove to be rather challenging to conceive in current times consists of the lack of rights, privileges, and equity women had. Society maintained this assumption of a man’s superiority up until the women’s rights movement of the early twentieth century; yet with the two sexes essentially equal in America today, imagining a restricted life as a female proves unfathomable. Looking back at the history of human kind, men almost always subdued women and treated them as property. When focusing on the first

In both civilizations, marital relationships were not ones of love. In Han China, the Confucian use of Yin and Yang created a prevented the couple from loving each other. In Ban Zhao’s Lessons for Women, she states that because the concept of Yin and Yang are starkly different, man and woman have different qualities. The Yang is strong, but Yin is weak and yielding. A man was honored for his strength, yet a woman was glorified for her beauty (Zhao). Yin and Yang created a barrier for love. Han women had no control over who they married; it was the groom’s parents who chose the bride. Because the couple often did not know one another until the wedding, it was impossible to get to know the other’s personality, hence, they did not marry for love. Similarly, in the Roman Empire, marriages were arranged by family members, and the bride had no say in whom she married. According to historian Jo-Ann Shelton, because “marriages were arranged unions rather than love matches, husbands and wives did not have romantic expectations of their life together” (Shelton 44). The marriage of Agrippina, a descendant of Augustus, and Claudius, a Roman emperor, was one of sole convenience, where both parties had their own agendas. According to historian Anthony Barrett, “Claudius would need a wife, not for sex or companionship...but because he needed an ally to