Men and Women Change After

¶ … men and women change after the Agricultural Revolution?

Over the course of time the roles of men and women have changed. Modern feminists may believe that they are responsible for the improved status of women in modern society but they may be surprised to learn that in many ways their efforts have served to return women to the role that they once enjoyed.

Through the information discovered from archeological digs, all of human history can be divided into three broad, and overlapping, periods

The first period is characterized by the hunting and gathering behavior of the individuals who lived during this period. Humans during this period were nomadic and depended on vegetation and wild animals for their sustenance. This period was followed by humans ceasing to be nomadic as they began to grow their own food and tame wild animals. This transition began what became to be known as the agricultural period. Finally, humans began to organize themselves into cities as farming methods improved and the food supply increased to the point that not everyone had to farm in order to eat.

Many experts in the fields of archeology and anthropology argue that women were likely the discoverers of agriculture

. During the hunting and gathering period, women were assigned the responsibility of gathering the vegetation that was used for food while the men spent their time hunting. This familiarity with the vegetation allowed women to know which plants were edible, which grew most easily, and which foods were grown most efficiently.

Women's connection with farming and nature is theorized to be the source of the proliferation of goddesses associated with life and nature

. Women gods were believed by ancient cultures to be responsible for fertility, for the power to heal, for the power to bring life, and the power of life over death. The fact that these cultures determined to honor women in such manner evidences that the role of women was appreciated much more greatly than in either the hunting and gatherer period that proceeded the agricultural period or the urban period that followed it.

The dawning of the urban period brought with it a profound change in the role of women in society. From enjoying near equality in the hunter and gatherer period to being revered in the agricultural period, the urban period saw the role of women in society become gradually subordinated to men. The reasons for this change are arguable but the most frequently cited theory is that it was the result of urbanization. With urbanization individuals began to own private property. Property ownership such as the resources necessary for producing goods, animals, and tools allowed certain men to control the labor of others

. This form of exploitation of other's labor made some men richer than others and these rich men wished to pass their property onto their sons. In order to eliminate the possibility of wives interfering in the process, women began to be placed in a lesser position while primogeniture developed into the law of the land. This theory is not without its detractors but the fact is that as private property ownership increased there was a corresponding de-emphasizing of women's role in society.

The diminished role of women in society continued unbridled for centuries. Once urbanization began women were forced to live in what was largely a patriarchal society. The level of subordination in each society varied but there is no argument that women assumed a diminished capacity. In Greece, for example, the lessened role of women is reflected in how women were treated within the confines of the marriage relationship

. For Greek men, marriage was a duty and not something did because they wanted to. Men entered marriage because they felt a responsibility to their ancestors, city and religion but love did not enter the picture. Marriages were arranged and wives were valuable as caretakers for one's children and for taking care of the home but Greek men did not look upon their wives as someone with whom they wanted to spend time. A Greek man's male friends served this purpose.

Ancient Rome followed the patterns in male-female roles as set by the Greeks for most of their history. Like the Greeks, love was generally not an element of most male/female relationships and prostitution was a major industry. For the Romans, the natural order of things was that men were better suited to labor outside the home while women were considered better equipped for handling matters within the home. Unlike Greek women, however, who were relegated to operating in the background even with the home, Roman women were afforded a much larger role in the home but were still not allowed to participate in affairs that occurred in public. In both Greek society and Roman society it must be remembered that they were societies in which under-population was a concern and not over-population as it is today. As a result, the primary function of women in both cultures was to produce offspring and particularly, male offspring. For the most part, the role of women in Roman culture was not much different than it was in the Greek culture.

As Western Civilization entered the Middle Ages women's place in society varied very little from what it been in ancient civilizations. A woman's place in medieval society was determined by the most significant male in her life whether it was her husband, her father or her brother. Often times, when a woman lost her male benefactor, she often lost her identity and became a social outcast. As dismal as this picture is, women in medieval Europe have few other choices.

In the East, attitudes toward women were much better than the one adopted in the West. Until the introduction of Hinduism in India women were not deprived of property rights or individual freedoms. With the introduction of Hinduism, however, the role of women changed dramatically as the tenets of said religion required obedience of women toward men. Women had to walk behind their husbands; could not own property; and widows could not remarry. Like Greek and Roman cultures, male children were preferred over female children.