Women's Role In Ancient Civilization

Roles Played By Women In Classical Civilizations Women weren’t always seen as equal to men, throughout history women have been mistreated and thought to be less than men. In the classical times,the Rome Empire and the Han dynasty had many similarities and a couple differences in the way they treated their women. During the Classic period from 300 BCE-600 CE, women in Rome and the Han Dynasty were treated and seen as less than men, in China were to submit to their husbands while in Rome women were to be married as soon as they hit puberty and had many disadvantages in divorce,in both civilizations the main role of women was to of taking care of children and the home. In ancient Rome women weren’t given much rights and treated like second class citizens. Women belonged to their fathers or husbands, they weren’t allowed to be independent.

Life for women in the colonial society was determined by their wealth, religion, and statues. Most of the things were similar for the women, they would have to run the house and or farm, raise the children, and maintain. Woman were married in their early twenties and would have large numbers of children. Around eight children were normal but due to sickness and other things, up to five or so of the children would have been dead before reaching their teens. Men held their normal ego and expectations of themselves but woman were looked at differently, unlike Europe where they were the weaker of the two sex.

In the early 1900s, many women in the Chinese heritage were treated like slaves before they were married. Once they were married, their job was to bear the husband’s children and fulfill the household needs. However, in the novel “The Good Earth,” Wang Lung’s wife, O’lan, did not only bear his children and attend to the household needs, but she also worked in the fields with Wang Lung even when she was pregnant with his child. O’lan was always obedient to her husband and was always resourceful no matter what the situation was. Therefore, one could start to understand the many myriads of characters O’lan is and how she is considered to be the virtuous woman throughout the novel and all she truly wanted in life was to be wanted but never was

The roles and expectations of women were based on the perception that women were inferior to men. Frist, there were numerous tasks and roles for women in the 17th century. Women were to obey and serve their husbands which included tending to their children, maintaining the household, and other chores around the house. Governor John Winthrop stated, “A ‘true wife’ would find contentment only in subjection to her husband’s authority.” (George Brown Tindall, 110) The modal woman at this time was one who would silently do as she was told by her husband. However, there were other roles for women.

In The Joy Luck Club, Lindo Jong’s rural Chinese family depends on a matchmaker to find “the best marriage combination” for their daughter (Tan 50). Lindo herself acknowledges the decision and recognizes that she has “no choice” in the matter for the majority of her childhood (Tan 51). In “Matrimony with a Proper Stranger,” Rajiv asked his parents to arrange his marriage. They were the ones that took it upon themselves to “seek out suitable partners” for their son (Helft 84). For families in the Chinese countryside, the wisdom of matchmakers and the compatibility of zodiacs had a heavy influence on the perceived outlook of one’s marriage.

But still, although scholars advocate the importance of female education for them the education of women was rather a sacrifice to ensure that sons would be raised right. With this, more young and unmarried women become teachers for girls’ schools which resulted in a higher literacy among females during the seventeenth century. Especially men decried the development of female education arguing that women would start to neglect their duties as a housewives, which was not necessarily true but many women understood that there was more than just the domestic life they led until

Thirdly, most wives in the late 19th-20th century didn’t have much of an education, because they were forced to stay home and take care of domestic tasks. Today, they receive the same education as their husbands, and are treated equally, if not more respectfully than men are. They have the same rights and freedoms, but unfortunately are paid less, and are given lower-ranked positions than men. Thus, it is better to be a wife in the 21st century rather than have to face the difficulties wives had to face in earlier times. Rather than have to face these obstacles, and be treated worse than they deserve, being a wife in the 21st century brings women much more freedom.

Women in ancient Rome, much like other places during this time, were not treated equal to men and had to work even harder than men to get noticed. However, a few Roman women did go down in history as great influencers. A women was saw as the housekeeper and the caretaker of the children. Although women were not considered important to the Roman empire, they were crucial for Roman life and made an impact on the ancient world. During this time, men were considered superior to women.

Gender roles in The Bell Jar were really important to the character in the novel. Esther Greenwood thought women should have a husband that would help support their family in many ways (Telgan 25). Most women in the 1950s did not attend college to ultimately support themselves. Around that time women were expected to marry. As the novel continues, Esther did not want to feel left out because most women lost their virginity (Wagner 36).

Widows had a hard time keeping their families together and support them while still maintaining the proper role of a woman in the time.Some women decided to stay single during this time because it was easier to not start a family and some decided to focus more on their education. In order to be equal to a man who graduated from elementary school, a women had to get a full education. ()No matter if women were good at their jobs and work as hard as a man they wouldn't get paid about half compares to a man. () If they were involved with either their careers or jobs; the more disadvantages they faced was because of their gender.Instead of viewing women as a helping hand, they were viewed as a threat because of the typical stereotype of American men had in families. The discriminations put upon women were shallow in way because they did not go into the workforce to compete with the men, but to save their family from