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9000 BCE
Introduction
The purpose of this timeline is to outline the differences and commonalities of women's roles in various societies over a chronological period of time. -
8000 BCE
Hunting and Gathering
Women's main role was to birth and raise children during the beginning of civilization. Responsibilities that are upheld by women are preformed close to the home where they can be easily resumed if interrupted. Women worked in a communal atmosphere with neighboring families to raise children and prepare meals. Common responsibilities include gathering fuel and food, collecting water, as well as preparing and cooking food and meals.
http://www.worldclass.net/geo/Reilly/menwom1.htm -
Period: 3150 BCE to 332 BCE
Ancient Egypt Empire
Women were seen as equals to men in every aspect except occupations. Women cooked, sewed, and managed the house although they did have significant power and independence. In certain instances, women were entitled in administer their own property. The most important position a woman could hold in this empire was a "God's Wife". In this position, a woman was to assist the high priest in ceremonies. http://www.ancient.eu/article/623/ -
3100 BCE
Mesopotamia
A woman was to be the daughter of her father or the wife of her husband and nothing more. Individuality was frowned upon. A woman was to carry out the traditional roles of a wife, mother, and housekeeper. A woman is to stay loyal. If a woman is to work outside of the home, that particular work resembled household tasks such as clothing making. Due to childbearing, women also became midwives as well as created medicines to prevent and abort pregnancies. http://mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu -
Period: 800 BCE to 500 BCE
Ancient Greece Empire
Women were expected to know and carry out household responsibilities including rearing children. A significant amount of women were poets, philosophers, leaders, and physicians on top of their housekeeping duties. Women were also expected to participate in public religious ceremonies and festivals. If family was wealthy enough to have slaves, women would help as well as supervise them within the household.
http://www.ancient.eu/article/927/ -
Period: 206 to 220
Han Dynasty
Women were expected to continuously stay submissive to family male figures. This includes husband, uncles, father, brothers, and even sons. The main duty of women was to raise children and maintain the house. If time allowed, women tended to manage shops or write. Women were also responsible for advising and looking out for male relatives during political matters. -
Period: 330 to 1453
Byzantine Empire
On top of maintaining the household, women were to mentor their daughters and act as role models. Education for women was to be limited to reading and writing. By the age of 12 or 13, women should accept and pursue an arranged marriage. Although very rare, some women obtained higher education in order to become doctors who attended only the female population.
http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/HellenicMacedonia/en/D2.5.html -
750
Early Islamic Empire
Priority for women was to care for the home and their family. Some women owned small businesses located within their home. These businesses included sewing, clothing making, and dyeing clothing, any job that resembled the jobs done in the home. Women then had to hire men to sell their products in the marketplace on their behalf as they were unable to attend. Wealthier women attended school and were able to obtain a profession, mainly within medicine.
https://www.sanleandro.k12.ca.us -
Period: 800 to 1500
Ancient West Africa
Women were recognized as having "crucial roles" in the economic development of their community. Due to the recognition of being major food producers, women were given authority to dictate how the lain was maintained, used, and cultivated. Women were also responsible for controlling trade and merchant exchange. Women also took charge of "spiritual systems" within their individual communities.
https://afrikaneye.wordpress.com/2007/03/08/african-women-in-african-civilization/ -
Period: 1206 to 1294
Mongol Empire
Women's main role was to raise children, make clothes, milk animals, make cheese, and cook meals for the family. In addition to raising children, women were responsible for teaching and educating their children. In cases of widowing, a wife is to take on the role and her husband and maintain the property that is to be inherited. Within the society, some women took on the occupation of a therapist for members of the community.
http://www.historyonthenet.com/mongol-society-women-men-and-children/ -
Period: 1300 to
Renaissance
It is strongly believed that women should be seen, not heard. Women were to maintain a description of prim and proper. By maintaining these characteristics, women were always to resemble the "ideal woman". As well as working in the home, women were expected to work for their husbands and help them to "run their business". Peasant women worked in the field alongside their husbands as well as in the home. Women of all social class were strictly regulated.
http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/eng
