Remember the question from yesterdays documents What is

Remember the question from yesterday’s documents? What is the question for todays? Comparing the role of women in various societies from the ancient to the classical

Document # Comment Thesis Doc 1 - Male control, ritual purity Doc 2 - more laws Doc 5 - still more laws and responsibilities Attitudes toward women from 1800 B. C. E to approximately 200 C. E definitely changed but men were still basically in control. Early times, females purity was emphasized and women were subordinate to men. Later, laws governing conduct of husbands that were slightly more fair to wives… Support Documents 1, 2 and 5 Documents 3 softer yet holds women in the same position Document 4 to show changes and difference in perspective Group 1 1&3 versus 2 &5 Shows no laws versus more laws and judicial involvement. Could include others Group 2 4 (and others) versus 1, 2, 3, & 5 (and others) Written from the female perspective versus from the male perspective Group 3 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 versus others All define women only in terms of the role of wife. Other docs may not. Number 1 -7 Check off each as it is used to outline so that you know you have used them all (or at least 6) Synthesis Identify how these documents address another time, region, theme. Women today, women in Classical Americas, economic role of women

� No division of human society has had greater significance for the lives of individuals than that between male and female � Patriarchal systems emerged, systems that favored the dominance of men over women � Men were regarded as superior to women and sons were preferred over daughters � Men had legal and property rights unknown to most women � Public life was a male domain while women’s roles took place in domestic settings

� Sati, Child Brides and Dowry in Classical India � Only Brahmin males could achieve Moksa � Early Buddhism and Christianity appealed to women ( open to all) � Paterfamilias in Roman Twelve tables gave father right over families � Patriarchies fluctuated but remained strong � In Athens, women were excluded from public life and subordinate to men � Even in Sparta, patriarchy was strong with women serving as breeding machines for its military system and lacking any formal role in public life but it was a lighter patriarchy than Athens

Similarities in attitudes toward women Document one provides only the husband with the right to divorce his wife ( without any reference to her say). Her defilement makes reference to her coveted virginity illustrating the perception of a woman as procreative property. This work of the old Testament dates back to ancient civilizations. Document two , also from the ancient world looks at Mesopotamian society and illustrates the rights of the husband with regard to divorce without providing much say of the wife however… Differences in attitudes toward women Document two also provides some opportunity to present grievances that if her husband is not congenial (just and kind), then she may possibly receive her dowry back and return to her father’s house. This suggests some level of women’s elevated status at least in compared to document #1

� Author � Place and Time � Prior knowledge � Audience � Reason � The main idea � Significance

� Status � Greek women did not have citizenship and had � no independent legal rights. A Greek woman was � considered to be the property and sole � responsibility of her husband or eldest male � relative. The highest status she could attain was � to be the wife of a citizen. Spartan women had � greater standing. They could own and inherit � property and were more highly respected, � especially if they were the mother of a son. � Spartan women did not, however, have � citizenship or political influence.

Source: Private letter, ca. 296 -297 CE, Coptos This letter is written by a Greek who resides in Egypt Paniskos to Ploutogenia, his wife, greeting � This document addresses a wife who has not returned her husband’s letters and did not listen to his requests. His tone is still respectful contrary to traditional Greek Patriarchy. Note his respect for sisters and mothers.

� Status � Roman women did not have citizenship and, � during the republic, they had virtually no legal � rights. They were the legal responsibility of their � fathers or husbands. If a woman’s father or � husband died, a guardian (usually the eldest � male relative) was appointed by the state to look � after the family’s affairs. During the empire (from � 27 BCE), the guardian’s role became mostly � ceremonial and wealthy Roman women � controlled their own financial and legal affairs � later in life.

Source: Plutarch, excerpt from “Women’s Life in Greece and Rome, ” Moralia, 242 B. C. E � Plutarch as a scholar identifies the relationship between a woman and man is harmonious but with man having the dominant role. Provides some understanding of a partnership but with man in the dominant role.

� Women’s Duties according to Confucius women did not participate in public life duties � cook � look after her parents-in-law � make clothes � follow the “three submissions”: her parents, husband son Marriages arranged � She left her home to go to her future husband’s home had to prove herself � Dissension common between wife and in-laws � Competed for influence and power in the family � During the Han Dynasty Several authors began to write about the role of women � Ban Zhao, sister to a court historian, wrote Admonitions for Women a text of advice on the appropriate virtues for aristocratic women Humility Resignation Subservience Self-abasement Obedience Cleanliness Industry Throughout Han times (but not after) women could: � inherit property � divorce � remarry after divorce or widowhood

� As a female working for the emperor to ensure the roles of women are in compliance with the Confucian 5 relationships, Ban Zhou reinforces the submissive role of women in the family by rendering the primary domestic duties to women and their natural order to serve men

� Women in the Caste System � Dominance of Males � Dominance of husbands and fathers was very strong One Indian code of law even recommended that a wife worship her husband as a god Limits on Women arranged marriages contracted unions at a very early age goal of arranged marriages ensure solid economic links result of these marriages women came into a new family in which they had absolutely no voice Husband wife were to provide mutual emotional and loving support as the marriage developed family an important part of society In the Gupta Empire, women’s status declined � Lost right to own or inherit property � Barred from studying sacred texts � Treated as the lowest class, the Shudras � Expected to obey their father, husband, and sons � Married at very early ages (6 or 7) to be sure they were virgins � Sati a ritual in which a woman was expected to cremate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre � If declined she is forbidden to marry and is shunned

� Laws to regulate Hindu society which clearly provides some responsibilities for men to care and provide for their wives but provides more rights for men to take away property, and spend as much time away with women having to remain loyal ( note: This does not apply to the male)

� 8 th ruler of Palenque was a woman � Mostly weavers and harvesters � Arranged marriages � Separations of gender at young age (girls with mothers boys with fathers) � There existed many Mayan Goddesses

� Grouping suggested two ways but here are some others: � Ancient Middle East, Mediterranean, Asia Early, middle, later Good, bad, neutral Political, economic, cultural � � Thesis: The rise of the earliest civilizations gave rise to patriarchal institutions where women were viewed as personal possessions and property limiting their rights. During the Greco-Roman reforms, however, women were viewed as important partners but still deferred to men while the patriarchy in Asia became increasingly codified through religious laws and bureaucratic decree. An additional document from a Spartan women would allow for a greater understanding of the elevated status of women and how this was a unique feature in an era dominated by men. � Politically, laws served to subjugate a women’s role in the ancient and classical world, economically, the wife was generally reliant upon her husband mostly served him being denied property, however, women were looked as domestic partners in the Mediterranean world while in the Middle East and Asia, they maintained their obedience to their husbands. Although we hear from a woman like Ban Zhou, she is clearly writing for the Emperor, it would be important to hear from a Chinese mother to view her reaction to the three submissions first as daughter, then as wife and , finally as mother. While these were her duties she might have felt restricted in this submissive society