The patriarchal society of the world has always aimed to keep the women of the society under subjugation. The societal institutions of nation states have devised their ways of keeping the women in passivity over the span of history of human civilization. Even in the era of feminist movements, the situation of women in the society is that or inequality and subordination in comparison to the domination of the males. Women in ancient times as well as today belong to a lower class and have not been acknowledged for their contributions to the building of those societies and have not been treated equally then or today in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
One has to take into consideration the fact that in ancient Mesopotamia, women did not have the opportunity to exercise proper personal sovereignty. The women of the society were defined and identified as per their relation to the male members of the family, rather than being an autonomous person. Apart from this, the laws did not allow the Mesopotamian women to inherit the property of their husband in case there was a male heir to it. (Noonan) The women mostly worked indoors- something that established their domestication and subjugation. In ancient Egypt, men used to gift the father of the woman if he intended to marry, and this could be interpreted as purchasing the woman for marriage. On the other hand, in Mesopotamia, the father of the groom had the right to hand over the bride to one of the groom’s siblings if the groom died or was dissatisfied with the marriage.
In the modern day scenario in the nations like Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, the women are kept under subjugation. The enforcers of law validate the mandatory use of the veil. The women are made to stay indoors most of the time. Their role is restricted to domestic chores. The rights of women in these countries are not at par with the rights of the men. The victims of rape face the stigma of the society, and divorce laws also don not favor the women. The society aims are segregating women from mainstream education and set up separate curriculum for them. As such, it can be opined that the condition of women remains quite the same as they face subjugation and domination at the hands of patriarchy in these countries. Mere political change would not facilitate the change in the psyche and perspective of the people of the society so as to provide equality and respect for the women in these countries.
Works Cited
Noonan, Keith. “The Social Status of Women in Ancient Egypt & Mesopotamia.” In
Synonym. Classroom.synonym.com, n.d. Web. 1 July 2015.
