Treatment of Women in Early Complex Societies

Treatment of Women

Dating all the way back to the days of pre history, the treatment of women has varied an awful lot. Women were as equal as men in pre history but eventually evolved into the men being ahead of women in all ways of life except taking care of the household, while the men were gone. The variation of treatment of women from pre history to the Mesopotamian society was a huge advantage for the men, in that they were higher then the women in all standards.

In pre history women and men were equal which meant the women's role was just as important as the men's role in the society. Since the prehistory was a time of hunting and gathering, there were no social distinctions on wealth and no accumulation of private property. All members of the Paleolithic group made contributions in the survival of the community. The men went on expeditions for large animals while the women stayed near the camp and gathered fruits, nuts, roots and plants for eating. The plant foods were essential to survival with a plentiful amount of calories in the plants they ate which sustained the men during their trips. When the men arrived back at the camp without any meat the group relied on the women to provide the camp with enough plant food for them to survive. Since there was detailed interdependence of the sexes from the food collection, the society probably did not encourage the domination of one sex over the other but, rather an equality of the sexes to survive.

The equality of men and women soon changed with the men ahead of the women. In Mesopotamian society a few women held positions as priestesses, scribes, shopkeepers and midwives. Women of Mesopotamia were also forced to maintain their virginity at the time of marriage and the men did not have an obligation to this rule. Women were also not allowed to socialize with married men from other families. Once the women were married, they were required to wear a veil over their face so they would not attract attention from other men. In Mesopotamia women were treated less fairly then the men which was a common theme throughout most early societies. The control of women's social and sexual behavior spread throughout southwest Asia and the Mediterranean, where it was reinforced in patriarchal social structures.

In the Aryan patriarchal society the social order was based on the gender distinctions. Men were dominating the society as priests, warriors and tribal chiefs. Aryans also recognized descent through the male line and not the female's. The women had some influence in the affairs among their family but had no part in public authority. Since the women had no priestly responsibilities, they rarely had formal education, which was mainly for the men. With these distinctions the patriarchal society was prominent in their society.

The issue of the unequal treatment of women affected the each society by the men taking advantage of their "rights" over the women. In some cases men could trade their wives to pay off debts or trade them away for slaves to do their work. Women were sometimes treated as property rather then human beings. Men had more freedom when it came to socializing with the opposite sex outside of their families then women. With the regulation of women being virgins at marriage, the men did not have to be which meant they were allowed to be with any female they wanted to until they fell in love. The females' line of descent also ended when they got married since the husbands took over even if the female was royal or noble. With these distinctions the patriarchal society was prominent in their society.

The issue of the unequal treatment of women affected the each society by the men taking advantage of their "rights" over the women. In some cases men could trade their wives to pay off debts or trade them away for slaves to do their work. Women were sometimes treated as property rather then human beings. Men had more freedom when it came to socializing with the opposite sex outside of their families then women. With the regulation of women being virgins at marriage, the men did not have to be which meant they were allowed to be with any female they wanted to until they fell in love. The females' line of descent also ended when they got married since the husbands took over even if the female was royal or noble. The course taken to