The utilization of traditional and non-traditional gender roles in the novel “Song of Solomon” written by Toni Morrison shows the influences, expectations and impact that the gender roles have and place not only on the individual characters but on men and women in general and within the different communities.
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:
Besides being invisible, in order to be visible, the society expected women to be obedient, subjective, and silent. Mark Cartwright studied the Greek philosophy and concluded that the freedom of Greek Women was very limited (Mark Cartwright). Women were supposed to be quiet which was the behavior that conformed to accepted standards of respectability and morality for the female gender. The women who for different reasons, refused to take on the submissive role traditionally reserved for them, the women who were brave enough to act strongly and independently, and the women who were stepping outside of the boundaries of the traditional gender roles were generally condemned to be seen as insolent, self-important, traitors, and liars.
When one thinks about the leaders of early Christianity, an orthodox vision of Jesus’ male apostles and disciples fills their head. While there is no doubt these men were important, their influential women counterparts are often overlooked and underrated. For years, historians were perplexed at the rapid spread of early Christianity, until they considered women. Women had a major role in the rise and spread of early Christianity because they were not only numerous, but also influential in leadership positions and converting others.
During the medieval times, women were not seen as they are today. Although in the world today there are still those who are full of misogyny, it was much more common and intense during this time period. Women during the middle ages had specific roles assigned to them in society. These roles depended on the type of women they were, whether it be a peasant, noble woman, or an evil temptress. These roles that women have served have shown up in numerous stories from the middle ages including: Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and The Wife’s Lament.
The stories told about women in the bible illustrate the importance of their role and contribution to society. Although the Bible does not explain God’s relationship with women as with Moses and other prophets, it illustrates love and devotion women had for Him. The stories of the bible describe brave, nurturing, and God fearing women whose decisions impacted the existence of the Israelites.
The Ramayana is an Ancient Indian epic poem that follows the story of a young prince named Rama who is a mortal incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. The plot follows a narrative that starts from his first time outside the royal palace, through his banishment from the kingdom and his quest to save his beloved wife Sita from Ravana, the evil King of Lanka, all the way to his coronation as King of Ayodhya, the kingdom from which he was originally banished. Throughout the whole narrative, there is one factor that remains constant, the role of women in the culture. The acceptance, or rejection of these cultural values by the women directly corresponds with how their character is perceived by the reader and how their role directly influences the
Did you know that a lot of people back in the Middle Ages did not have a lot of authority. There were many different roles people played back in the Middle Ages. The people were lords, ladies, teenagers, nurses, friars, pages, and servants. Their roles are way different then times today, because we do not have all those special names for everyone. For instance Lord’s were a great thing back then if you were strong enough to be one.
The oppression of women is seen throughout time and well documented within the Old Testament. Specifically, one can examine the scriptures of the book of Exodus to see this oppression. More importantly, the bible shows that this oppression is not able to reach its goal. Today, this is seen in corporate cultures within various Fortune 500 industry leaders. Through the book of Exodus and examining corporate cultures around women in leadership. One can see how the Old Testament still speaks truth, as the lessons are applicable in the present day.
As many would believe, women were thought and viewed to be inferior to men throughout history. Based on this, they were not seen as ones to take on the same important roles as men would in their societies like political jobs, warfare, influencer and innovators, and scientists. During the Medieval period, women rose and began defying the normal stereotypes, even more than usual, and were recognized by their actions. One woman was Margaret of Anjou, the queen consort of England. Margaret was the daughter of René of Anjou and the wife of Henry VI. Her home country France was at war against England and she was offered to King Henry VI as a peace treaty. Being a queen consort, she did not rule and was an asset to the king. When King Henry suffered from an illness, Margaret believed she was the one who should temporarily rule in his place. Unfortunately, title was given to the Duke of York. This occurrence caused a rivalry to emerge between the House of Lancaster and the House of York; This was called the War of the Roses as Lancaster wore red roses in battle and York wore white. The second woman is Lady Murasaki, a daughter of Fujiwara family and a Japanese novelist in the Heian period. She was very intelligent was a young girl and her father still allowed her to get an education despite it being unsuitable for girls. After the death of her husband, she went to court and wrote in a diary about the life she has in court and her thoughts. It is believed that Murasaki sensed that
The duty of women portrayed in Greek society is a major subject in Euripides Medea. In old Greek society, ladies are delicate and compliant as per men, and their social position is viewed as exceptionally mediocre. Feminism is the hypothesis of men being viewed different in contrast to women and the male predominance over ladies in the public eye. Women's lives are spoken to by the parts they either pick or have forced on them. This is obvious in the play Medea by Euripides through the characters of Medea and the medical attendant. During the day and age which Medea is set ladies have exceptionally restricted social power and no political power by any stretch of the imagination, despite the fact that a ladies' maternal and residential power was regarded in the protection of the home, "Our lives rely upon how his lordship feels." The constrained power these ladies were given is diverse to present day society yet parts are as yet forced on ladies to acclimate and be a devoted spouse. Ladies have dependably been dis engaged because of their sex in present day and antiquated circumstances alike. In Corinth they are required to run the family unit and fit in with social desires of an obedient spouse. Medea, being an eternal and relative from the divine beings has a specific power in insight and guileful keenness. Being an outsider, Medea's wayward nonsensical conduct was normal in this play as she was not conceived in Greece and was viewed as an exotic foreigner. She goes over to the group of onlookers as an intense female character regarding viciousness. Some of Medea's responses and decisions have all the earmarks of being made a huge deal about as creators for the most part influence characters to appear to be overwhelming; this makes a superior comprehension of the content and the issues which are produced through the characters. Medea's ill-conceived marriage and the double-crossing of Jason drive Medea to outrageous vengeance. Medea acts with her immortal self and confer coldhearted demonstrations of murder instead of legitimize the results of her actions. Medea see's this choice as her lone resort as she has been exiled and has no place to go, "stripped of her place." To make sensitivity for Medea, Euripides
Despite its first performance being in 1608 where women were not allowed to take part in theatre, William Shakespeare’s King Lear is arguably dominated by the female characters. The story focuses on a king who is driven into madness and decides to handover his power to his two eldest daughters, Regan and Goneril. These two daughters are exceptionally important to the development of the play since it can be argued that they are the ones commanding a fair share of the events that take place. This can also be said about Cordelia. According to Kate Downey Hickey and Catherine S. Cox, Cordelia is the essence of the play as she offers truth and evasiveness. In the following, the role of women will be discussed in King Lear. How are the female characters
Readers of the three Greek plays, Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Medea, can easily gather an abundance of information about the different cultural details within the Greek society at that time. One of the major cultural values that can be picked up from these three plays, is the roles of women in this society. The roles of women can be observed through a comparison between them and their male counterparts.
Upon losing the election to become the 45th president of the United States, Hillary Clinton gave a concession speech and told “all the little girls who are watching this...never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and to achieve your own dreams” (Clinton). While Candidate Hillary Clinton said these girls are “deserving of every chance,” our society may prove otherwise. Although women today are no longer denied basic rights such as voting, our patriarchal society still sets up barriers, which limit a woman’s ability to be considered equal to a man. Here, “equal” would be defined as being perceived in the same light for equal opportunities and outcomes. Similarly, Christian women today are not limited in the same ways they were in early Christianity; however, the Bible still presents women in subalternate roles, compared to men. In American society today, there are double standards in the way men and women are perceived that date back to “traditional” Biblical expectations of women being subservient to men.