Envisioning Women In World History Assignment

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02 Nov 2017

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Dalton Wicker

History 105-01: World History I

Essay Question #1

Dalton Wicker

Dr. Quist

Essay Question 1

4-25-2013

Envisioning Women in World History Assignment

In the book Envisioning Women in World History, you may note that many of the societies described were dominated primarily by the male population. The majority of these societies listed in the book were male dominated and in addition it accounted for the patriarchy and subordination of women. In this essay, I will use examples from different societies to help answer my question as thorough and straight forward as possible. The question that I will be answering is how does Envisioning Women account for the creation of patriarchy and the subordination of women? Throughout this book I learned the historical analysis of patriarchal structures and women’s experiences within these civilizations. So throughout this essay I will try to touch base on the evolving roles of women throughout history and the conditions that inhibited them. I will also try to include the origins of patriarchy from a global perspective to help ensure your understanding of the question being asked.

Like I mentioned above, this is an on-going debate today even, as women ensure a lower status than men within society. Simone de Beauvoir tried to explain why this happens in her book called "Le Deuxieme Sexe" (Envisioning). However, I believe the book Envisioning Women displays more of a universal perspective on women’s civil liberties. In saying and talking about the global perspective this book gives to us. I would now like to define a few words in which will be used frequently throughout this assignment. Patriarchies as you might have already heard, are male dominant social organizations in which the father is the supreme authority within the family, clan, or tribe (Dictionary). The next word is subordination, which is simply the act of being placed in a lower rank or position (Dictionary). Now that I have addressed the topic and ideas that I will be discussing, let’s move into the first civilization in which we will be talking about.

The first society I would like to begin discussing is Eurasia, and the women that lived there around the time 1000 BC. What was then Eurasia, is now the area occupying modern day Iraq. In Eurasia, women’s fortunes as a whole declined between appearance of the first human communities of hunters-gathers and the preeminence of urban centers during this era. In this explanation, you will see the reverse progress of women’s lives broken down into four different types of communities. All of these in which emerged before and around the year 1000 BC.

The first type of community I would like to bring up is the hunters and gatherers. Evidence suggests that the greatest amount of gender equality lied within this particular community. The women gathered plants as the men hunted for food. By doing this, both men and females were equally important because without these foods it would be hard to survive at that time. Although women in hunting-gathering communities played a predominant role in gathering plants and in raising their youth, gender roles for work as a whole were much more flexible than in other types of communities. After 10,000 BC, humans entered a new historical era, that of the pastoralists and villagers. Hunting and gathering groups continued to flourish, but some people began to specialize in the domestication of animals such as farming.

The next community is known as the Pastoralists and Villagers. Those who continued to live a migratory existence but specialized in domesticating animals for survival were called pastoralists. Those who gave up nomadic lives and moved into permanent agricultural locations were known as villagers. While showing some degree of inequality between men and women, pastoralists and villagers tended to consider gender roles a fairly flexible manner and still held women’s work in high regard. This is the first example we see of inequality between men and women, but is fairly minor compared to ones I will be discussing later on in this assignment. Pastoralists and villagers certainly experienced different lifestyles, but nevertheless interacted with each other. We begin to take note that women’s positions within these societies were still relatively high. Many village communities and pastoral bands continued to allow social traditions that elevated women’s role within their communities. This valued women’s work as much as men’s and placed female spirituality on a high level.

In contrast to the groups of hunters and gatherers, the pastoralists and villagers elevated the association of family and made it their foundation. Villagers were much more successful at creating a food surplus, which allowed for women to have more children. These women were more likely to live long enough to raise their offspring compared to women that belonged to the hunter and gatherer group. With more children to tend to, women would have had to devote more of their time to nurturing their young. Village communities would sometimes develop matrifocal or mother centered communities in which women played a large role in the leadership of families. For example, one demonstration of women playing a role in leadership evolved in a group called the Linear Potter Culture. Although, not all village and pastoral communities were matrifocal. In fact, between the years 4500 and 3500 BC many of these societies in patrifocal or father centered. The varied activities of village and pastoral women were crucial to the existence of their communities. What I came to find out was that the labor of pastoralist women tended to be less restricted by gender roles than that of villagers. This was because the nomadic lifestyle of pastoralists required less job specialization.

Pastoralist women played a predominant role in several areas besides just child bearing and nurture and around the year 4000 BC women took up the manufacturing of textiles. One textile women invented was felt cloth which was primarily made of sheep wool. This was a labor intensive process, and in the end was used for tents, beds, rugs, clothing, bags, etc. As you can see felt production was a critical component of the pastoralist economy. On the other hand, village women’s labor tended to be more gender specific than the pastoralists work. Village women also took up weaving, but unlike pastoralists, village women often used fiber plants such as hemp and cotton to weave clothing rather than felt. One interesting product created by female weavers was silk which played a very important role within trading in China. Some women often fished and created crafts which were used to store food and made cooking more effective. In the end I guess you could say that women in pastoralist and village communities played a pioneering role in agricultural production throughout the transition between hunters and gathers.

The next community within Eurasia was the urban dwellers. These were the people who primarily lived in city-based societies. The creation of Eurasian cities began as early as 3500 BC and in general foreshadowed a new degree of inequality for women. Urban dwellers set out to create laws in which people were to abide by, create irrigation systems to ensure the food supply, and exercise a military defense to prevent being attacked. In order to manage this type of society institutional governments were needed. In many urban centers you will see an increase in wealth and prosperity. This overall disparity in status of wealth, power, and prestige became the start to worsening women’s position within society. Technology was also a big cause of this as well and decreased women’s social status. Ultimately however, when the communities began using plows and more laborious intensive methods of cultivation, women’s status changed for good because they weren’t really needed as much compared to past communities I described.

These are the broadest economic trends in women’s history, and it’s crucial in realizing these four types of communities- hunters and gatherers, pastoralists, villagers, and city dwellers overlapped one another in time and often shared borders with one another. Hunters and gatherers often interacted with pastoralists and villagers as well as urban dwellers. Thus women’s position differed greatly depending first on their society’s ecology and whether or not they were urban dwellers. Archaeological evidence and comparisons with modern hunter and gathering societies suggest that ancient hunter-gathering women enjoyed a higher status than those in other types of communities due to the bigger role they played within the survival of the group. Many cave art paintings depict women searching for plants, therefore suggesting that they were the primary plant gatherers. An example of this could be seen by an autopsy done on the Kung people of Africa. The reports showed that their bodies obtained 30% calories from meat and around 70% from plants (Envisioning). This alone shows that women were held at a higher respect compared to urban dwellers where the population was much larger.

The next region I would like to talk to you about is that of China. Between the years 618-1279 CE women of Tang and Song China were experiencing a vacillating change in their status. There were three particular eras that are important when discussing China. These were the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties each in which had a different perspective on patriarchy and ways to achieve social status. These dynasties are often referred to as the most prosperous periods in Chinese antiquity. For example things such as gunpowder, porcelain, printing, and the magnetic compass were all contributions that transpired at this point in history (Voyages). To explain the difference between them I would first like to discuss the Han dynasty. The Han introduced a new system into the Chinese government that was based off of Han Confucianism. This was called the Confucian Three Obediences and created somewhat of a fundamental tradition for behavior. Daughters obeyed their fathers, wives obeyed their husbands, and widows obey their sons (Envisioning). This behavior within the family and the state was a sense of coherence or logic to the Chinese communities. As this dominant cultural tradition emerged in the Han era, a powerful unified Han Chinese state was created which sustained itself with an elaborate bureaucratic system. Military and political life from which women were excluded, were than main pathways to a high status and prestige for men. Patriarchs were popular within families and male ancestors were honored more than women. Confucianism emphasized that the only way for women to achieve honor in society was by fulfilling their familial roles as wives and mothers.

However, with that being said, a new way for women to achieve a higher economic status increased as a new erratic era was born. This was the Tang dynasty, and what this did was provided new outlets for women to achieve honor and dignity. Tang Chinese rulers and elites adopted nomadic steppe practices in politics, culture, and attitudes which all contributed to greater freedoms for women than had been in the past. Both of these internal and external changes weakened the Han patriarchy and created a new form of Chinese equality. As the Tang dynasty started to decline due to a series of rebellions within China itself, a new dynasty had emerged.

The Song dynasty had now gained power over most of China and established its wealth in Kaifeng which started a period of economic prosperity. The Song era created a strong Neo-Confucian culture which reasserted select Confucian values and practices such as the Three Obediences. This then restored and reestablished a firm patriarchy within China. This Neo-Confucian culture that was being born thus rejected the influence of nomadic pastoralists of that region around the twelfth century. In reaction to the subtle increase in power and independence that women had gained during the Tang and early Song eras, Neo-Confucianist’s emphasized segregating the sexes and subordination of women to men in family life, productive work, religious practices, and public life. The tradition of the Song ornamental wife became preserved, and eventually a persistent form of Chinese patriarchy emerged that lasted well into the twentieth century.

What is quite amusing about this is that Song women participated in paving the way for Chinese Neo-Confucian social order. They were indispensable to social order and in their fulfillment of family roles as daughters, wives, and mothers. Equally crucial for sustaining Chinese patriarchal order, but often forgotten were the concubines and purchased women. A concubine is in other words a female slave, and during the mid-Song era it was rare for a man not to have a concubine (Notes). Men were only aloud to have one wife but could have as many concubines as they desired. Song women managed to achieve some measure of power, even as they contributed to the stronger patriarchy that constrained them. One of the most interesting things I found during this chapter in the Envisioning of Women was a custom called foot binding also known as "Lotus Slippers" (Notes). Foot binding was an old Chinese custom in which fairly young women’s feet were tightly bound to restrict and alter their growth. This practice was usually worn by elite and aspiring women, but became so pervasive that a woman whose feet had not been bound would have difficulty finding a husband or spouse. Most families demanded a woman with tiny feet when selecting a wife for their son and this became very common tradition within Chinese culture.

As far as women’s productive rules went at this period in time, many of them still worked making textiles as mentioned in the past. This was not the only occupation they had, and many women took up being entertainers and courtesans. Some women even took up prostitution, singing, and dancing for a hobby as they served the upper-class. As you can see this was a huge downgrade and often lowed women’s standards. From here we can see how women’s role in society decreased from Eurasia to China which will help us in discussing Western Europe.

The next area I felt displayed a great importance to women’s role within society took place in Western Europe in the central and late middle ages. This time period took place between the years 1050 and 1500 CE. In this chapter of Envisioning Women, it talked more about the centuries that saw a rapid change within realms of politics, society, and religion. All of which subsequently made their mark upon women’s lives during the central and late middle ages. During this time, the power of the church hierarchy increased and European cities became more populated. You will also see that political states in some areas became more centralized. These trends began to correspond with the increased regulation of women’s economic opportunities, and the narrow range of political and religious activities that women could commence with public regard.

The situation for women was certainly not one for decline as you will see in just a moment. Since the standard of living and population had increased during this time, women exercised a greater control over their marriages. Throughout this period, some women took religious or political paths that risked public disapproval of state and church authorities. In saying this, it is important to recognize that women who protested their situation acted not out to dispute their equality to men, but rather display the altercation to primitive concerns within their local communities and religious virtue. As the Roman Empire died out, this disbanded many economic and political influences that united the Mediterranean world (Envisioning). As Africa, Spain, and other countries went under the control of Islamic territories, the European concord broke apart and went separate directions. Roman emperors continued to govern a relatively multicultural and prosperous region in the East. As for Western Europe however, a wide variety of political states still existed under the control of Germanic immigrants.

Women’s status in the earlier parts of the Middle Ages varied widely across Europe, but the Germanic population generally viewed females as property. An example of this could be that when a man raped a woman, his society charged him for theft instead of the crime he had actually committed. Polygamy was also a common practice, and what this meant was to have numerous wives. Also many women were prohibited from inheriting property at this time. As you can see women still didn’t maintain a very high status when associated with men. This mainly took place in the early Middle Ages when Europe was still developing. By about the year 1050 CE, much of the political chaos that I explained throughout the early Middle Ages had come to an end.

At this point in time Italy, Germany, France, and Europe were coming together. Various kinds of governments transpired which was important in understanding some of the events that took place. As these events took place, you can see how the culture of Western Europe influenced women’s place in society and their access to political power. Their participation within religious affairs, were also a very important entity that we must not forget. During this period in time, many people had expectations of what was the ideal female. Obviously some people had different beliefs from others but they were normally described with Christian imagery. One painting that was pictured in the book was Mary holding Jesus, so one assumption we could make from this is that women took care of their young and were passionate people. Women’s work was examined by the types of professions that they practiced. One type of profession that they practiced was sustaining the economy whether this work took place in the household or public. Another type of profession that women often practiced was being the primary caretakers of children and often taking the job of maintaining their home. One thing I seen that stood out from this civilization compared to others is that women had a relatively important role in the European urban economy compared to past eras that Envisioning Women discussed. The situation however for Western European women that lived throughout the central and late Middle Ages varied too significant to be generalized.

Although their position in society was expected to be like all the other sedentary civilizations that were discussed throughout this book, subordinate to men’s, nevertheless women did sometimes enjoy relatively good fortune regarding their economic, political, and religious power compared with many of their sisters from other civilizations (Envisioning). Although women were shut out of the university system, many elite medieval women received some degree of academic education. Writers such as Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, and Christine de Pisan composed works that still remain with us. Most peasant women in northern Europe and many women living after the bubonic plague married later on in life, were able to have more leverage in their choice of marriage partners than women in other societies. Inheritance regulations and dowry rights often benefited women from in the past.

On the other hand, women had very little control over their financial matters. For common women, work opportunities in textile production, brewing ale, and milling grain were profitable in the central middle ages, but declined in the late middle ages as men monopolized many of these trades. Certainly the degree of economic control applied to many medieval women as they surpassed their sisters in earlier civilizations. In terms of medieval religion, women displayed a greater impact compared to most of the other civilizations discussed in this book. Whereas the most popular religious profession for women in the central middle ages was that of a nun, and as time went on spiritual venues opened up for them. As we have seen in other civilizations, Christian mystics earned an unusual degree of public acceptance since they were holy women whose close contact with God could bring assistance to their communities. Despite their positive aspects about women’s lives and opportunities, the medieval period was no parodist for the female gender. As in other civilizations young women were valued less than male children. Medieval European marriage was not based on romantic love but on familial economic and political interests. These women earned less money for their work than men, and like all sedentary civilizations discussed in these chapters were normally excluded from public power. The ability of a woman to take up a religious profession actually decreased during these centuries and those who opted for the life of an ascetic only earned the esteem that came with the job through years of terrific self-sacrifice.

As you can see in hunting-gathering cultures, gender correspondence was most possible because of the centrality of women’s labor, flexibility in family patterns, and limited social hierarchy. This change started with the village life and the domestication of animals, but it was not until the development of cities in 3500 BC until women really started to show inequality to men. You saw how the governments ran most of these cities and as you can see, profound inequalities began to emerge between men and women. These inequalities were mostly due to land ownership and accumulating wealth in society. The reason this happened was because not everybody could own land and further resources, but this mainly applied to women and lower class people. One way this was ensured, was to make patrifocal family structures more common. Also it became necessary to scrutinize women’s sexual behavior in order to guarantee patrilineal descent. As a result, women’s reproductive roles started taking precedence over their other roles in society and the ideals of womanhood had shifted. In some cases this reinforced inequalities and actually caused new ones. When I started explaining Eurasia you would see that women still played a big part in society, however once we got to China and Europe you would have seen how women were somewhat below the men in social status.

In conclusion, I hope you can see how Envisioning Women accounted for the creation of patriarchy and the subordination of women. This was current in our society as well because for the longest time women were not allowed to vote and normally men get paid higher salaries than women. We have come a long way from China 618 CE, and this is something we should all be proud of today. As I went on to explain how these things came about, it’s important that we make the connections between each civilization as each of them played an important role in society. Women started off on the same playing field as men, but as time surpassed they found themselves fighting to regain stability. Some women had it a lot harder than others but it’s important to see how women’s civil liberties changed overtime and what brought about patriarch societies. I highly recommend reading Envisioning Women because it helped shape my knowledge of women in world history. The authors of this book were actually from Shippensburg University and did a great job explaining the different civilizations and how they transformed women’s lives. Hopefully from this essay you can learn as well as I did, the evolving roles of women throughout history.



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