Women in World History

Women in World History

Chrissy Pitre

Since early times women have been uniquely viewed as a creative source of human life. Historically, however, they have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men but also a major source of temptation and evil. In Greek mythology, for example, it was a woman, Pandora, who opened the forbidden box and brought plagues and unhappiness to mankind. Early Roman law described women as children, forever inferior to men. From the beginning of time a women biggest profession was motherhood and being a wife. And now in the 20th century women in most countries are able to vote and furthered their education and their job opportunities. Time has changed drastically and women have evolved with time. They went from being weak and confined at home to being great role models and strong independent women in history. Congress and presidency was once men only and now we have strong women like Hillary Clinton who tried running for President. In certain things such as her role in her family or lifestyle. Women went from working the farm and taking care of the house and children to going out to war and having a career. Men had more rights in society then women, they were allowed to do more things than the women and even racial groups were separate from each other. In the Dark Age women were basically invisible. Women were not allowed out of their own home if the husband told you can't. You can say at times women were like slaves for men a long time ago. From the beginning of time till now women couldn't vote and now women have the right to on any issue involving the government. Women are now allowed to go out of the home and explore the life outside like working or to just have some fun. Women went from being nothing to being involved in the government doing jobs such as becoming a Judge, fighting in the war and even the law enforcement. Women have elevated themselves to be fully capable in doing most jobs a man can do. Men and women were determined through their clothing, behavior, choice of work, personal relationships and other factors. These factors have evolved through time. Traditionally only feminine and masculine gender roles existed, however, over time many different acceptable male or female gender roles have emerged. After World War I women had no choice but to learn how to do the jobs the men did. After World 1 there were several different wars where women had to take place back at home while men were once again at war. And from now in the 20th Century women fight side by side with the men on battlefields at war. Women still struggle to prove themselves now as more superior then men. Sometimes in certain jobs now men take offense when they see women trying to become higher or stronger than them in the same field. Women were once known as weak and have become very strong with in time.

In the beginning of the Neanderthals (250,000-50,000 BP) were ancestors to Homo sapiens. The first women in time helped their men hunt and even developed skills to grind nuts and seeds. They also sewed their own clothing and materials used for shelters. There have been fossils of female Neanderthals found in Iraq that show evidence of osteoporosis and anemia which indicate that the women were confined to their caves. The work load on women was light on whatever they did because the more important role for them was childbearing and nurturing. They helped their men hunt but they did more of gathering harvest to eat and staying in the cave. The Minoans were a peaceful society that flourished from about 2050 BC to 1470 BC. They lived primarily on the large isle of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. Their seat of government was located at the town of Knossos and Men and women are interpreted to have been equal without regard for race, sex, gender or age. In their culture Minoan women were goddesses and they associated their goddesses with Zeus a Greek sky god. Since in their society women were as equal as man Minoan women were able to become priestesses, functionaries, administrators and participated in sports. They also became an important part in political life. Then there was the Dark Ages and some are not sure when the Darks Ages began. It would be around 1000 A.D. During this time women were invisible. In religion with Christianity the women were blamed for the misery of life. The Dark Age was said to have begun because of Religion. But there was a choice for women to make their mark at. They were primarily the ones who were Christian martyr, chattel or queen. Some women were able to achieve something during this terrible time.

Then there was the First World War 1 and that is when the world changed for the better. Women were now able to prove themselves in a male dominated society. Women were now doing more than cleaning the house, cooking and taking care of the children. With so many men going to war women had