Women and Their Roles in History

In the last three decades women’s roles in society have changed. We are now seen as more than just a pretty face that can cook, clean, and take care of our children. Throughout history, we have seen more and more of these “gender roles,” and also viewed differently in the past. Women played a major role in prehistory to 1500 CE. So, what roles did women play in society at that time? Were they treated or viewed differently or the same as men this this time? In this essay I will be trying to answer these

When in Ancient Rome, women were granted barely, if any, freedom at all. These women were not viewed as their own person or respected as a part of society or even a human being. They were not even granted their own proper authority to a nice strong household. The conceiving of a child and the expectations of an ideal woman stayed the same throughout most of Ancient Rome’s history, although some did improve after a while. The rights among the Ancient Romans were unequal and very unfair to women in their empire.

Women of Ancient Greece, by Sue Blundell, explores how women were portrayed and how they lived their live between 750 and 336 B.C.E. Blundell breaks Women in Ancient Greece into two main categories: portrayals of women in myths, and portrayals of non-mythological women that lived in the Archaic and Classical Ages. Part I explores how Greek mythological women are portrayed in hymns, poems and narratives from great Greek poets such as Homer, Hesiod and Sappho. Part II discusses Greek women during the social and political changes that occurred in the Archaic Age between 750-500 B.C.E. Part III expands on social and political changes that occur between 500-336 B.C.E. Part IV explores the laws and ideologies that make Greek women seem subordinate to men. Women in Ancient Greece depicts how women were viewed in Ancient Greece, generally through the eyes of men. Blundell argues that Greek women in poems, literature and paintings were portrayed as unpredictable and inferior to men.

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.

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,).

Women in second wave civilizations from China, Rome, and Greece around 600 BCE to 200 AC were treated very differently from each other and their male counterparts from this time, but they also shared some similarities. In this essay, I'll be exploring the differences from each other, and how women played a role in their civilizations during this time. Women in this time period don't have as many rights as they do today, but they still play a part in their civilizations/empires. So without further ado, let's see the similarities and differences between these civilizations.

Throughout the ancient world women possessed few rights and privileges. A woman’s freedom varied depending on where she was born, in this case Athens and Sparta. But it can be said that most women were second-class citizens during this time period. Most women had limited social roles, little education, and no involvement in politics. Power and freedom was something that only existed in a man’s world, while women were expected to be submissive, docile, bear children, and take care of the household. Surviving records from ancient Greece show that women’s roles did not differ much from city-state to city-state but there were exceptions that include noble women and most notably, Spartan women. Some civilizations treated women with respect

The Roman woman had a very limited role and they could not attend, speak in, or vote at political meetings. Women were not allowed to hold any position of political responsibility. They were not allowed to voice their opinion in public but in the Greek society, the woman was considered just like an object.

This book covers a number of aspects throughout history, and more specifically, the role women played in them. The overall theme of the book is the role that women had throughout history. It explorers a chronological view of history of women and the impacts they made. A lot of

In today’s society, we as women often take for granted the rights, freedoms, and equality we share with men that women in the ancient world were not granted. As all civilisations in the ancient world exercised different treatment towards, this essay will illustrate a few comparisons in the status of women during ancient Egypt with women during ancient Rome. Academic sources will be relied on to provide the necessary actualities when one considers ancient civilizations. The legal status of women in society, the domestic atmospheres and roles that each unique region’s women held, and the possible occupations available to these women, will be discussed.

Throughout the course of history until the present day, there were always expectations of what roles each gender had. Presently, there are many improvements in gender roles where our society has become indifferent to a specific role that each gender has to take on. However, in the past, it was a common practice that men and women each had specific roles that it was strictly placed upon each gender to carry out, in order to live up to the standards and perceptions of their societies. The most stereotypical role that women had were to take care of the household, whereas men took care of the business and worked and generally were the head of the family. To expand on gender roles, the examination of the roles of men and women in ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, and ancient Rome all show prominent and depicted roles for each gender.

In the case of this topic, reading between the lines is especially important. This is due to the fact that of the Eurasian Empires, none of them really out shined each other when it came to views on women. In all of the Empires, women as a group generally lacked any sort of power. But, it’s certainly not impossible to contrast women’s roles among the various empires. In Rome, upper class women were allowed various freedoms in society. They were even allowed to spur political discussions as evidence by woman protesting the restrictions on their luxuries during Early First

Society’s change altered the way women were seen and were seeing themselves. The liberation led to a change in the role of women from the ancient world to the Roman

Much of western civilization involved a patriarchal society with women acting responsible for home life and rearing of any children. Module 6 follows the Roman Empire and Chapter 6 of the textbook, which discusses women in the context of the Roman Empire. Women in the Roman Empire enjoyed more freedom than most in that day and age, in part because of the dying out of the marriage custom of transferring the control of her father to that of her new husband. With their husbands no longer controlling their dowries, women were able to enjoy more freedom, which included the ability to own property and make investments. Many high-ranking women were even, “educated in the liberal arts and lived cultured lives” (Levack 6.4.3). In Module 9, during the medieval age, noble women were relied on to protect the castle and city often in the case of their husbands traveling to fight in the crusades. The Weblink of “Women & The Crusades” follow the role of women at war and at home during the crusades. Eleanor of Aquitaine is a fantastic example of a woman who rose to the occasion in order to defend her home when she ruled England during the Third Crusade. Another example, Shagrat al-Durr, wife of the Egyptian sultan, organized a defense during her husband’s illness and became sultan in his steed and later defeated Louis IX, King of France at Damietta. While women were able to lead in the stead of their husbands and generally happy to relinquish control whence their husband returned, when their husbands did return, much of the patriarchal society continued to function normally.

Throughout the course of human history, societies worldwide tend to follow a specific pattern of male domination in politics, economics, and culture. From the earliest city-states of Mesopotamia to the massive empires of China and Rome, women were forced to take a limited role in society. This systematic oppression of women is indicative of a patriarchal society, in which “women have been subordinate to men in the family and in society generally” (Ways of the World 59). Though these civilizations share the characteristic of male supremacy, each had different practices governing interactions between the genders. Each society had a unique idea of exactly what rights women were afforded and how the patriarchy was enforced. The Mesopotamian, Chinese, and Greek civilizations were undeniably patriarchal, but how the dominance of men was expressed varied between each society.