Ancient Greek Women

For thousands of years humans have divided people into two genders—male and female. And based upon these gender classifications, labor has been assigned, families structured, and powers divided in various ways from culture to culture. At times, the roles of women throughout history can be harder to pin-point. This is because the vast majority if societies where (or later became) strictly patriarchal and thus the power and focus remained on men, often disregarding the experiences of women. That said, through what is known of women’s experiences it can be determined that, although the social status and treatment of women varied greatly from culture to culture, some tasks were unilaterally viewed as womanly. Although the overall societal standing
of women in the Japanese, Iroquois, and Greek cultures varied greatly prior to 1600 CE, certain labors in all three cultures were relegated as feminine.
In early Japanese culture the idea of balance was an powerful concept that permeated peoples’ understanding of the world and life (Reese). Different characteristics tended to be assigned to a specific gender, but one characteristic was not necessarily to be better than another characteristic (Reese). The qualities were simply different and it was vital that the remained in balance; that one specific quality never became more powerful or prominent than its counterpart.
In Japan, women’s work remained largely domestic, such as weaving and childrearing. Men worked outside the home performing physical labor, such as plowing the fields. The prominence of Shintoism enabled women to enjoy a high status in early Japanese culture. Under Shinto beliefs, Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess to whom all emperors claimed lineage, was greatly revered for her mystical powers. Amaterasu possessed all of the traits considered necessary for perfection (intelligence, purity, beauty, and fertility), and thus the female gender was regarded with high esteem for many centuries. At this point in Japanese history, women were seen as strong rulers with great powers, and thought to bring peace and regulation (Silva-Grondin). In essence, women were thought to be good at maintaining balance. It is plausible that, at this time, women enjoyed a social status comparable to that of men. Unfortunately, over the years the roles of women in Japanese society fluctuated, due largely to religious ideas and change brought by new religious philosophies. With the arrival of Buddhism and Confucianism to Japan, the influence of Shintoism was weakened and women’s status began to degrade (Silva-Grondin). The initial form of Buddhism to arrive in Japan had a generally negative perception of the female gender and preached an androcentric understanding of the world (Silva-Grondin). Confucianism impacted women’s social and political status as the patriarchal family structure it employed placed women at the bottom of the hierarchy (Reese). These influential changes in thought ultimately led to the oppression of women and the relegation of females to an extremely submissive role in Japanese society (Silva-Grondin). To give a general understanding of time, it was under the Shogunate, particularly the Tokugawa Shogunate, women lost almost all of their freedoms (Reese). Traditional gender roles in Japan evolved largely due to religious influence, although political reasons contributed as well (Silva-Grondin).
In Iroquois culture, land and houses were not individually owned, but rather shared (Zinn). Iroquois extended families lived together in longhouses and the eldest female of the family line was the dominant figure within the longhouse (Richter). Iroquois families traditionally lived in clans and were matrilineal (Zinn). Ideally, a husband would live with his wife’s family, however, some evidence suggests that did not always occur (Richter). Instead it appears that the family’s standing could have come into play, so a woman might have lived with her husband’s family if his family was more powerful than the woman’s own family (Richter). An Iroquois woman had a right to divorce, which could be done by placing her husband’s belongings outside the longhouse (Richter). According to Daniel Richter, author of The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization, divorce was common and often fathers did not live in the same longhouse as their children. Children still shared a close relationship with their fathers, however, it was often their mother and an uncle who raised them (Richter).
Iroquois men represented their individual clans at councils, however, women in the village chose the representatives for the clans (Zinn). Furthermore, women could attended clan meetings and, at times, would even remove men from the meetings if they strayed too far from the women’s desires (Zinn). As females controlled many of the supplies necessary for war, such as food and clothing, they also exercised power regarding military concerns (Zinn). Iroquois women traditionally took care of the home, children, foraging, and agricultural work (Richter). Iroquois men were hunters, fishers, and warriors (Zinn). Men and women were considered equal in Iroquois society (Zinn). In the Iroquois culture there was a deep understanding of the necessity for women and men to work together in order to survive. Vital tasks were shared and each genders’ work was of great worth. The coming European colonialism would eventually drastically alter the gender structures in Iroquois culture (and these changes would not be for the better) (Zinn).
When humans began farming and establishing permanent settlements in the area that would eventually be called Greece, women (who did the brunt of the agricultural work) gained power as they became the primary providers (Cantarella).
Then, as societies gradually became more focused on military prowess, women’s social (and political) status began to decline (Cantarella). In traditional Greek culture women were expected to be beautiful, good homemakers, and obedient (Cantarella). A woman was supposed to listen and obey her father, husband, and adult sons. Even the ‘best’ women, who followed societal expectations faultlessly, were regarded with distrust. Females were seen as inherently weak and fickle creatures (Cantarella). A female belonged to the males in her family, be it her father or husband, and could be punished harshly for any perceived transgressions (Cantarella). Women in Greece were generally married quite young to much older men, and, while women had to remain loyal to their husbands, a man generally had many concubines and outside relationships (Cantarella). It was expected as a sign of his power and masculinity (Cantarella). Women had no rights and were supposed to devote themselves to childbearing (Cantarella). Eventually, the practice arose for men with the means to confine the women of their family within the house (Cantarella). Women performed domestic work and likely saw no one outside the family. Only the poorest women would be seen outside the home
(Cantarella,). Though generalizations can be made, the roles of women in ancient Greece can be difficult to categorize as Greece was composed of so many different poleis (History.com Staff).
Life for women in Sparta, for example, differed greatly from the experiences of women elsewhere in Greece in regards to gender expectations (History.com Staff). Women in Sparta enjoyed comparatively more freedom and held some minor rights (History.com Staff). Spartan women received an education (though it was very different in subject matter from the education of their male counter-parts), participated in athletic events, and had some property rights (History.com Staff). Spartan women often did not have to perform many domestic/household duties, though that was the result of the extensive system of slaves in Sparta (History.com Staff). As the slaves performed such tasks as cooking and clothing making, Spartan women where free from the majority of these tasks (History.com Staff). That said, the primary purpose of a woman remained to marry and have children (specifically sons) to contribute to the prosperity and the ongoing survival of the warrior state (History.com Staff). On a whole, women still had a lower social status than men, enjoyed far less opportunity (politically, socially, and economically) than men, and were expected only to bear children, but they did have some small freedoms (History.com
Staff). Although the Iroquois culture was the only culture of the three studied here that was matrilineal and maintained a high view of women, both early Japanese and early Greek society held women in high regard as well. Early agrarian societies revered women in the connection they saw between women and the earth. Women gave life, and so did the earth. Fertility of the earth was reminiscent of the fertility of the woman. The earth, essentially, was a mother, and thus many of these societies revered the abilities of women.
In the Japanese, Iroquois, and Greek cultures domestic tasks such as cooking and childrearing fell to women. Women traditionally tended to agriculture as well, although in some cultures much of the more intense farming labor was eventually taken over by males. Men tended to handle more dangerous and/or hard labor tasks such as hunting and fighting in battles. Men also tended to have more political power than women. Even though Iroquois women held far more political power in their communities than their Japanese and Greek counter-parts, they exercised this power through their control over the men in their communities. It was men who were the official representatives of their clans. Women were a hidden power, pulling strings behind the curtains. Even in times when the social standing of women was elevated in their communities’ men and women still had different and specific roles they were expected to perform based upon their genders.
Prior to 1600 CE, the social status and treatment of women varied greatly across the Japanese, Iroquois, and Greek cultures, however, certain expectations and jobs remained constant in all three cultures as feminine roles. Domestic work was largely relegated to women, as was work dealing with childcare and homemaking. It is important to note that the information here is generalized, as societal expectations may have differed quite a bit between different groups within a culture, such as the wealthy and the poor. More information exists regarding the lives of the privileged and their experiences.