Essay The Treatment of Women of Ancient Babylon

Throughout this course, we learned that women’s studies originated as a concern at the time that “women and men noticed the absence, misrepresentation, and trivialization of women [in addition to] the ways women were systematically excluded from many positions of power and authority” (Shaw, Lee 1). In the past, men had more privileges than women. Women have battled for centuries against certain patterns of inadequacy that all women experience. Every culture and customs has divergent female

Reading the Aristotle's work On a Good Wife from Oikonomikos that was written in c. 330 BCE, one may see the reflection of the leading ideas, opinions, and rules in the Ancient Greek society. This work concentrates its attention on the guidelines for the young wives and husbands, their chords, values, and relationships. Reading through a long list of the requirements the wife should meet in order to acquire the respect and understanding of the husband, it becomes clear that the wives were expected to accomplish all the monotonous routine work and keep away from complaints. The author puts a strong emphasis on the importance of the reciprocity of the appropriate treatment in order to make the patriarchal way of life seem more democratic and

In society in the 1950’s the average woman played an inferior role to men. Men considered themselves superior to women and often expected women to cater to their wishes. Females were expected to adjust their feelings , thoughts and actions to accommodate men's beliefs. The “do not speak unless spoken to” rule was common for women. They were expected to obey their husbands and fathers without hesitation. In order to be judged as respectable, they would have to remain sexually pure until marriage. After a minimum amount of schooling, women had to find a suitable young man to marry. In some instances a woman’s parents would orchestrate an arranged marriage to benefit their social status or income. Being put in such a position deteriorated a woman’s power. Today, women have fewer guidelines to abide by. First, women

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.

“If a man violate the wife of another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her father’s house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to death, but the wife is blameless” (Hammurabi).

This left women with a clear disadvantage. The system worked well in happy marriages, but if a situation such as a husband's death, desertion from his family, or divorce were to arise, it was usually the woman who suffered as a result. According to the Code, a contract was necessary for marriage. Also, when a man and woman were getting married, the most important item to be negotiated was the bride price. This, again, shows that men were superior to women when it came to the ownership of property. Regardless of the amount of this bride price, it was managed by the husband and it was used to support the wife and her children: "If a woman who lived in a man's house made an agreement with her husband, that no creditor can arrest her, and has given a document therefore; if that man, before he married that woman, had a debt, the creditor can not hold the woman for it" (Pritchard 155). The bride's father had the right to change his mind about the marriage, in which case he would have been required to refund the purchase price in full showing again how women were nothing more than a piece of property: "If a man bring chattels into the house of his father-in-law and pay the price; if then the father of the girl say "I will not give you my daughter," he shall give back all that he brought with him" (Pritchard 156). Another horrific example of how women were regarded as nothing more than mere possessions was that if a wife died before giving birth to

They did not have the right to divorce their husbands, and almost all women were uneducated. In Mesopotamia, women were also treated very poorly. They were taught to attend to all of their husband’s needs, and could be punished severely if they did not do as their husband said. In Babylonia, during Hammurabi’s rule, there was even a law that stated that if a woman did not obey her husband or was unfaithful to him in any way, he was legally allowed to throw her in the river, ultimately drowning her.

Women have played important roles throughout history. They have been responsible for the rise and fall of nations, sustaining families, and have been the focal point of worship in ancient religions. Moving forward in history, women's roles have continually changed. Their status as matriarchs changed as the more advanced ancient civilizations rose. The patriarchal societies of ancient Greece and Rome viewed women differently from some societies of past eras. The study of the economic and political status of women, their rights, and their contributions to both these ancient societies reveals how views change throughout history.

In Ancient Mesopotamia, one of the earliest civilizations in history, the status of women was much lower than that of men. They did not have as many rights and privileges as men did. They were expected to be submissive to their male guardian, whether it be a father or husband, and carry out their specific duties. According to the textbook, “A woman’s place was in the home, and failure to fulfill her expected duties was grounds for divorce…” (Duiker and Spielvogel 14). During this time, Hammurabi, who came into power and ruled most of Mesopotamia in 1792 B.C.E., developed a code of law known as the “The Code of Hammurabi” that described Hammurabi’s strict system of justice. Under the code, men had the ultimate authority over their families and society in general. The punishments for women who neglected their household duties and the law were severe compared to those for men who broke the law. “The Code of Hammurabi” states, “If she is not innocent, but leaves her husband, and ruins her house, neglecting her husband, this woman shall be cast into the water” (143). This law is one of the several laws of the code regarding family, especially the relationship between a man and his wife. In the law, it says, “If a man’s wife be surprised…with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into water…” (129). Women were expected to stay faithful to their husbands since they were under their authority. This is also because the family unit was a key element to the development and growth

A man could divorce his selected wife for any reason that he desired, though if the reason was other than adultery then the man was forced to give up one half of his property to his wife. Greek woman were possessions to society as well, they had limited freedom, but could not own any property because they were not considered citizens.

During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women’s efforts during the 1800’s were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women’s place in society.

Women's lives, roles, and statuses changed over various early world history eras and culture areas in many ways. Ancient Persia, Paleolithic, Athens, Mesopotamian and Roman eras were all different in very unique ways. The Paleolithic era treated women fairly and were treated equally. During the Neolithic era women were not treated fairly. She was the daughter of her father or the wife of her husband. Women rarely acted as individuals outside the context of their families. Those who did so were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status.” (oi.uchicago.edu, 2010) Athenian women were not treated fairly

Ancient Greek literature always seems to have one thing in common; writers either perceive the wives as faithful and ideal or lustful and selfish. By looking at the effect literature and writers had in shaping the role of wives, one can find several differences. However, many ideas stayed the same, and exploring the reasons these concepts did not change describes a great deal about the ancient Greeks and their strong belief on the duties of wives.

Throughout history women have been overlooked and left in the shadows of the powerful men who controlled them. In Pre-Colonial time being oppressed, beaten, and raped was a method to train women to be domesticated. During the epoch of industrialization women in lower class societies would prove to be essential for the economic growth of America. Chapter 6 THE INTIMATELY OPPRESSED by Howard Zinn points out important distinctions between societies that seem to make women subservient in their roles as wives. In fact, he states “the very invisibility of women” and how they suffered double oppression as both slaves and women, is a sign of their submerged status. He also restates the Native Indian communal

Civilization affected various groups such as women in many diverse ways that had caused a negative impact on civilization. Women in ancient civilization industrialized negatively due to the lack of respect women had gotten from men. The thought women had gotten from the males was that their only purpose in life was to be the mother; only seen, not heard for both women and children. To show that women and their children had no freedom, independence, and were considered a property of the male: “210. If a woman should die, they shall kill his daughter” (“FROM The Code of Hammurabi” 23). By men treating women as if they had no freedom, independence, and were the property of the men they negatively influence the development of civilization for women by making it more difficult for their civilization to expand.