Introduction
Despite the commonly-held belief nowadays that women and men have more or less equal roles in the society nowadays, there still arises the issue of gender inequality every now and then. One of the factors that can explain the underlying gender inequality in the society is the influence of historical events and beliefs. Since history affects to a great extent on the development of a society’s core values and traditions, then it can be said that it has also played a major role in developing people’s attitudes towards the issue of gender.
Analyzing the history of gender inequality can give insight on how this issue is seen by society nowadays, and it can help in the decision-making processes of the community. In order to do this, texts that provide evidence for this argument can be pointed out and then discussed.
Gender Inequality in the Ancient Times
Many texts have proved that gender inequality have existed since ancient times. For example, Aristotle wrote in his The History of Animals that women are more prone to be swayed by emotional side and thus more susceptible vices such as envy, slander, and falsehood. In addition, he says that males are more courageous than females. He further emphasized the difference between the two sexes by outlining the difference between the bodily fluids produced by males and females in the text The Generation of Animals. In this text, he argues that while the seminal fluid produced by males is the cause of generation of offspring while females only provide a vector for its development. Implicitly, he argues that men provide more when it comes to the development than females do.
In addition, Galen has also written that the female is an imperfect form and as such is only fit for childbearing. He also likens the female body to an underdeveloped male body, suggesting that females are inferior to males.
Aristotle and Galen’s texts revolve around the belief that males are biologically superior to females and they try to support this point by pointing out the inequalities in the bodies of both sexes. However, based on our modern knowledge in anatomy, we now know that this is untrue. Still, it provides an insight that people from ancient times tried to attribute the superiority of males via biological reasons.
The gender disparity can be seen in ancient laws and guidelines. The Code of Hammurabi is the Babylonian code of law in ancient times, and it is well-known for being fair and unjust when dealing out punishment to those who have committed wrongdoings. However, it is prominent from their laws of marriage that women are treated as properties of the man and not the way around. This can be seen in laws such like repaying the dowry for the divorce, among other things. In addition, laws are stricter when it comes to transgressions caused about by women. This can be explained by the patriarchal laws of their society—since fathers hold control over their family, they hold authority over the family in general; women were seen nothing more than supporters of the man’s power over the household.
Gender Inequality in the 16th Century
The concept of gender inequality persisted until the sixteenth century, where it can be perceived in the texts written at that time. Of particular note is Rousseau’s short novel Emile, in which he gives his insights about the role of women in the society. In the novel, he states that the primary goal of women is to give pleasure to men and not much else. He also added that it is the duty of a man to please the woman as well, but is not as important as the need for a man to be pleased by a woman. In addition, he stated that the primary goal of a woman is to provide a nourishing home for her man and their children. This way of thinking explains why women are preconditioned to be homemakers as their foremost goals, which still persists to the present day.
With regards to the women being relegated to the duty of housekeeping, society also expects women to treat this obligation to the utmost of their abilities. Flora Anne Steel, in her essay The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook, details how she manages her Indian servants in a large household. Since she knows that it is her duty to become an excellent homemaker, she narrates how she keeps the servants under to work efficiently and thus she gives advice on how to do so in the essay as well.
However, not all women in that era agree with the general idea of the roles women are expected to play during that time. Mary Wollstonecraft, for example, gave a good counterargument about Rousseau’s views on women. While she agrees that women have different roles to fulfil compared to men, she clarifies that these duties are of human nature and not as sexual ones as Rousseau would like to believe.
Conclusion
One of the reasons why there is gender inequality in our society is that there is a history of gender inequality in general, which persisted back to the ancient times. This can be seen in texts from Aristotle, Galen, and the Babylonians’ Code of Hammurabi. The idea that women are inferior to men can be traced to the patriarchal nature of the society, which gives rise to the belief that men hold control over women. This idea was further supported in the 16th century, such as in Rousseau’s readings in which he argues that the primary objective of women is to please men, which is then repeated in countless writings throughout the era. Another prevalent idea is that women only are destined to become house makers and not much else.
These ideas about women have continued until the present day. With this in mind, the general mind-set of the population about men are inherently better than women can be understood and then challenged to give way to more radical and all-encompassing ideas like feminism. Perhaps it is time for governments and the like to give women a chance to analyze problems based on their own perspective, and then incorporate their ideas with those of men in order to come up with a more fruitful solution regarding these problems.
Bibliography
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DiCaprio, Lisa and Merry Weisner. “Lives and Voices: Sources in European Women’s History”. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001
Lerner, Geda. “The Creation of Patriarchy”. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Reilly, Kevin. “Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader”. 3rd ed.New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007.
