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Gender Role and Women Essay

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5.3 Discussion Questions 1. Why did Cato object to repealing the Oppian law? What was the basis of his objections? Cato objected to repealing the oppian law because he thought that if women started to become equals with men, they would start to become their superiors. Cato referred to their ancestors and how they “permitted no woman to conduct even personal business without a guardian to intervene in her behalf,” meaning a woman can’t make her own decisions and how a man decides her fate basically. Cato believes that women are getting more rights and therefore will try to overpower men. As he asks in the article, “if [woman] win in this, what will they not attempt?” If woman start to get more rights, that will just be the beginning …show more content…

However, Valerius, like Cato, associates women with matters that are less substantial and not entirely connected to the empire as a whole. “No offices, no priesthoods, no triumphs, no decorations, no gifts, no spoils of war can come to them; elegance of appearance, adornment, apparel-these are the woman’s badges of honor.” The apparent connection between women and appearance shows that women in Roman society were something to be looked at or shown off. Women were the prizes of men and the better they looked or the more they had been directly linked to his status in society.
4. What does this excerpt show about the republics government? Women were always classified based on their relation to a male: wife, daughter, mother, etc. Secondly, women were basically under the control of their male counterparts because of the assumption that they were not of sound mind to make important decisions. The article alludes to these facts that not only were there gender role distinctions, but also class distinctions. Whether it be that you were an office holding general or a woman adorned in gold, the rich were on top of society. Their apparel and positions only confirmed their status. The Oppian law proved to be taking away what made the rich the elite. When these women could not wear jewelry or ride in carriages, they were seemingly on the same level as the lower classes, and in turn their male counterparts were by means of association on that lower level too. Gender

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