Women's Rights Dbq

Therefore, general assumptions to one extreme or the other on the status of women in the ancient world of Rome are difficult, because theory and reality were often far apart. For example, whereas Greek men usually regarded their wives as unimportant, Roman men placed a high value on marriage, home and the family and this made a difference in the way society treated of women.

Throughout culture, women have gone through various types of adversity as well as treatment. Some cultures, such as Persia, treated women with great respect and gave them social as well as legal freedom. Although they were treated less than men, they were given much more respect in comparison to many other cultures. In Athens, women and slaves were somewhat held to the same standard. “Citizenship was limited to males” (Crash Course) in Greece, so slaves and women were not given much respect and did not have very many legal rights.

In Mesopotamia, women’s inferiority to men was taken for granted, but they shared the social standing of their fathers and husbands.

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

Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals wholly or partly due to their gender. It arises from differences in gender roles. Gender inequality isn’t a exercise which has just recently developed instead it is a practice which has been part of our community since civilizations have begun. When one thinks of gender issues they directly connect it with females however this issue consists of both men and women which can be heavily seen in the early eras.

Women in ancient Rome and China were very different but quite similar as for as their treatment and roles were concerned. In both cultures they were under the protection of their fathers until they married. When they married they were to stay home and be wives, they were not formally educated and learned to manage their households. They were not allowed to disgrace their families in any way and were inferior to men from the moment of birth. Chinese women whether from a noble or a poor family could not escape oppression, but it was somewhat easier for the women from Noble families. (8) Comparing the women of Ancient Rome (750BC – AD500) and the women of China (350BC – AD600), from the roles they played in

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.

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.

Moreover, the Persian’s vision toward women was not much differing from the Egyptian. They observed women with much respect and gave high rank. The article (“Women’s Lives in Ancient Persia”) provided an example that how they regarded women in royal family by giving different names. The author mentioned that the king’s mother had the highest rank after that was his wife and king’s daughters, and sisters followed the wife. However, the author did not clearly mention about the punishment of women

The role of women in Ancient Roman society was not as important as men; it was always men first then women. They had very little rights as they were owned by their father, then owned by their husband after they were married. Women were not able to vote or hold political office. Their role in Ancient Rome was mostly being housewives or if you lived with a wealthy family you were able to attend

The role of women within ancient Roman society is different to women in modern day society. Roman women have many responsibilities, roles and rights that they follow. They also had many restrictions to what they could do, and could not do such as getting divorced. Women were placed on the social structure according to where ever their male guardian was. If her father were a peasant, she would be too; if her husband were the emperor, she would be the empress etc. Ancient Roman woman had many strict marriage rights as well.

Moving ahead into the great civilization of Ancient Egypt, women and men had typical gender roles. Women were still seen as child bearers and domestic housekeepers and men taught their sons and became heavily involved in civic affairs (“Ancient Egypt”). The treatment of men and women was essentially equal in that woman did maintain civil rights, were given their own tombs upon death, and were even permitted to leave their husbands if necessary (“Ancient Egypt”). This was mainly because all property was passed from generation to generation through women- not men- giving them higher status and importance since Egyptians saw their land as sacred.

Sparta, a militant society in Ancient Greece, allowed women more freedoms than any of the other Greek city states. Women were able to educate themselves, have physical training, and own property. But their general priority was to bear and birth more healthy Spartan males. The Muslim empire allowed women to keep their property both before and after their marriage, and according to Islamic scripture women were made at the same time as man, meaning that they are equal to a man. Women could serve as leaders, warriors, and even generals. But the death of Muhammad and the continued spread of Islam led to more conservative values and essentially the imbalanced treatment of women. Through examining each of these civilizations, it can be inferred that pre-modern civilizations generally had varying ideas of what the role of women should be in

By not following, what is considered to be, the traditional patriarchal structure of society, that in which excludes women from active participation within social institutions; Egyptian society pervaded from the proverbial social norms, allowing women access to what is commonly associated to male-dominated schemas and institutions. Ancient Egyptian women were the most privileged, in regards to women’s rights during ancient times. Women were thus granted into the “man’s world”, allowing the same or similar

The women’s movement in Iran is well-known as a dynamic, powerful movement within a state under various levels of Islamic regimes. Beginning from the constitutional period from 1905-1911, women began to mobilize and organized acts of defiance such as boycotts, riots, and protests. Despite the numerous odds against them, including not being classified as “citizens” equal under the constitution, women’s movements in Iran grew steadily over the early 1900’s. Women’s organizations produced scholarly publications discussing women’s rights and arguing for representation (Mahdi 429). The Pahlavi period from 1925 to 1979 brought about a vastly different environment in Iran. Iranian women made considerable progress in areas such as education, parliamentary representation and family law. While the number of women in high-level governmental positions was the highest in history, women were still subject to a patriarchal political world. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 shifted the dictatorship from a Western to Islamic influenced regime. Ayatollah Khomeini reversed much women’s rights legislation and suspended the Family Protection Law. Women were barred from working in the public sector save education and nursing. Socially, Islamic dress and the veil was strictly, and at times, violently enforced. Sharia law dominated, and women’s movements seemed destitute in the face of an Islamic state. Any attempt at rebellion was strictly pushed down. Yet while many consider the women’s movement