Women and Patriarchy

WOMEN AND PATRIARCHY
TONI LEANN GIBSON
GLOBAL HISTORY UP TO 1500
February 1, 2013

Patriarchy is defined as the institutions and values of male dominance. According to the text, Historian Gerda Lerner states that by the second millennium B.C.E , written laws codified and sought to enforce a patriarchal family life that offered women a measure of paternalistic protection while insisting on their submission to the unquestioned authority of men. From that point in history, possibly before, and even in today’s society, women have been considered to be beneath men. Sadly, women of the classical era accepted their place in society, particularly within empires such as, India and most places within China. On the other hand, the women of the Roman empire protested a law that forced them to wear rags. If I were a woman living in the classical era, I would choose to live in the Roman civilization, simply because they lived with less severe punishment for disobedience than the women of China and India. Women of China were expected to obey whether the command given was believed to be right or wrong, and the women in India were not forced, but voluntarily became nuns in a monastery to escape having as many restrictions imposed upon them. It seems apparent that women and patriarchy have a history that stretches as far back in time as historians can trace and it more than likely dates back to before the first civilizations were established. Sometimes, accepting one’s fate makes the hardships encountered easier to handle on a day to day basis. The women of the classical era had become accustomed to the patriarchal attitude of the societies they lived in, and for them life was easier if they bowed to the will of men than it would have been if they had defied their position. The women of China felt as if they would obtain a bad reputation, and lose their family’s as well as their own honor if they disobeyed. Ban Zhao makes understanding why women bent to the word of men by saying, “If a wife does not serve her husband, then the proper relationship between men and women and the natural order of things were neglected and destroyed.” Women of the classical era in most civilizations were never to be independent, and for centuries were subject to this notion, which could be an explanation as to why these women were so willing to accept the position in society that they were given. There were a few that refused to accept that the rules of men were all that life had to offer, but for the most part, a lot of them were content serving the needs of men When you stand up for something you believe in, you are not just standing up for yourself, but for those who are suffering along with you. The women of the classical era had small ways of defying the patriarchal societies in which they lived. In China, Empress Wu helped to elevate the position of women in society. She commissioned the biographies of famous women, and decreed that the mourning period for mothers be made equal to that of fathers. Needless to say, she did not reign for long. In India, women would become bikkhunis, a Buddhist nun, where they were less restricted than everyday Indian women. These women were also able to exercise more authority than in ordinary life. During the second Punic War with Carthage, Rome passed the Oppian Laws, which restricted women’s use of luxury goods, so to preserve resources for the war effort. Well twenty years after the war was over, women started demanding that the laws be revoked. These women would accost officials in the streets and blocking streets. It was these small acts of defiance, of making themselves known as people and not property that earned these women a place in history. The choices we make are part of what singles us out as individuals. If given the choice to pick which empire of the classical era I would want to be a part of, I would choose classical Rome. Women did not have as many rights as men no matter which empire one chooses, but the lives of Roman women were easier and a little less restricted than places such as, China and India. Once Rome became an empire, women were allowed to own land, run businesses, have jobs, and free slaves. Though women had these freedoms in classical Rome, they were still considered to be under the guardianship of their father or husband. Women of China worked slightly harder than the women of Rome seeing as they were required to be the last to bed and the first to rise in-order to get all of the required household chores taken care of. In India, women were never to be independent. According to Document 6.3, An Alternative to Patriarchy in India, “In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons.” With the evidence provided, it is obvious that Roman women lived lives that were less restricted than women in other empires, and Rome is the obvious choice if one had to choose an empire to be a part of. Patriarchy is one of the few customs of the first civilizations and classical era empires that has survived through the centuries to today’s society. It may not be as strong or as enforced as it once was, but men are still considered to be above women. Some women of the classical era were perfectly content with the patriarchy societies they lived in, while others had small ways of rebelling against the restrictions imposed upon them. When historians look at the evidence provided, it is clear that Roman women had an easier, less restricting life than those of other empires. Over the centuries, patriarchy changed amongst the first established empires to allow women small freedoms they had not had before, but they were still, as ever, under the control of the dominating men who established the flourishing empires.