During history class, I was mortified to learn that women in some tribes of India widows had to jump into her decreased husband’s burning parlor, they were not given a choice but had to do it as it was her duty. Bad enough? Not really. In a book I read about marriage customs, I was shocked to learn that in certain rural tribes, husbands sew up their wives’ virginals. When they want to copulate with them, they will unstitch and sew it up again after they are done. Disgusting isn’t it? And that’s not fair!
The attitude towards women in the East was at first more favorable. In ancient India, for example, women were not deprived of property rights or individual freedoms by marriage. But Hinduism, which evolved in India after about 500 BC, required obedience of women toward men. Women had to walk behind their husbands. Women could not own property, and widows could not remarry. In both East and West, male children were generally preferred over female children.
Many say money is the root of all evil. But in some religions, women were viewed as “the root of all evil”. “Woman is the gate of the devil, the path of wickedness, the sting of the serpent, in a word a perilous object." It is self-explanatory; women in some societies of the past were viewed as evil, demons and immoral creatures. Yes some women are immoral, yes some are devils but to generalize all women as evil is absolutely “not fair”.
One might feel I am overly paranoid with this topic of the “unfairness”. Yes one might say that all these happened in the past and that women now mostly have equal rights and opportunities alongside with their male counterparts. Yes one might question the “unfairness” of the treatment of women of the past.
But what about the whole eras that were influenced by women rulers for instance, Wu Zetian the empress of China’s Tang dynasty in the 7th century, Queen Elizabeth of England in the 16th century, Catherine the Great of Russia in the 18th century and Queen Victoria of England in the 19th century? What about the time when women were allowed personal and intellectual freedom, and made significant achievements?
Yes, I do realize that there were times when women were empowered and could rule over themselves and even over others including men. But it was not consistent. Throughout most of history, women generally have had fewer rights and opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions. In fact most of the time wifehood and motherhood could not be considered a profession but in fact a responsibility, a duty, something women were born into this world to do. They were generally regarded as reproductive machines and possessions of men.
Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century Christian theologian, said that woman was "created to be man's helpmate, but her unique role is in conception . . . since for other purposes men would be better assisted” Do you not see the perception people of long gone had on women? Do you not see that women were considered as objects by men? Do you not see that they were treated like dirt?
“That’s not fair! That’s not fair! That’s not fair!” Cry out for the women of the past!!!
Done by: Cheong May Anne (3)
Class 3/14
Dated: 27th January 2003
