Male Dominance

[sexy brunette]

Until very, very, very recently, in most parts of the world, women had almost no rights. And it's been that way since the dawn of humanity...

How did that happen? How did it come to be that men were the all-dominant rulers of the world, and women were just weak, inferior, oppressed slaves, objects, insubordinates... practically worthless nothings?



I can't count how many civilizations had male-preference primogeniture, or where women weren't allowed to rule at all regardless of the circumstances. Women couldn't be soldiers, doctors, police officers, lawyers, none of those things... and if they pretended to be a man in attempt to fulfill their dreams, they could be killed, tortured, or thrown in prison.



Fuck, if you were a woman living a couple of centuries ago, a man was allowed to slap you around like a dead dog and no one would do shit about it!



And if some guy raped you, you'd have to fucking marry him!



Fuck, even today, in some ass backwards parts of the world, you'll be shot dead if you leave your house without covering yourself up like a tent!


And even in Canada and the U.S, you'll likely have the cops on your ass if you go walking around outside topless. Or at least you'll have a lot of people staring at you, making comments, taking pics of you, etc.



Just how the hell did all that shit come to be, huh?

[Ultros]

Originally Posted by sexy brunette

Just how the hell did all that shit come to be, huh?

I'm guessing because men are naturally stronger and they used that advantage throughout history in order to seize and maintain their power.

But, there are still examples of woman ruling society in the past. But you're right because these cases (such as Japan before the Asuka period) are few and far between.

[tucker!]

I've read about this before, I believe. It goes something like this.

The first humans were a nomadic people. There was no such thing as agriculture, and they relied on hunting and gathering for food. Since early human males were generally stronger than females, they were the ones who did the hunting. Females stayed close to the camp/village so that they could keep the children close by while they foraged.
It is believed that women were actually the first ones to discover that plant seeds grew plants and could be cultivated by humans. When people started using this (and domesticating animals as well) to their advantage, the men were usually the ones out in the field doing the labor while the women stayed home and raised the children. Over time, as civilization developed, women were forced more and more into domestic and submissive roles, and were eventually not allowed to hold a job position, own land, or any other of the things men could do.

Fortunately, though, we as a society have progressed enough that we have no need for such dramatic gender roles, and we're slowly starting to realize it.


P.S. It's generally not a good idea to call other cultures "ass backwards"

[Ultros]

P.S. It's generally not a good idea to call other cultures "ass backwards"

Any society that punishes a woman for being raped is barbaric and deserves to be referred to as such.

[Kevohall]

Originally Posted by Ultros

I'm guessing because men are naturally stronger and they used that advantage throughout history in order to seize and maintain their power.

Exactly. Men always had the edge down through history. Heck, things would still be the same as they were 100 yrs ago if it werent for men bowing to the pressure of women's groups. Personally though, I never see any major society in the world becoming female dominated. I just cant see it happening!

[Proley]

Originally Posted by sexy brunette

And even in Canada and the U.S, you'll likely have the cops on your ass if you go walking around outside topless. Or at least you'll have a lot of people staring at you, making comments, taking pics of you, etc.

In many provinces in Canada, a woman's right to be topless in public has been legally tested and affirmed. Nudity below the waist, as it is with men, is considered sexual in nature and not permitted.

[Comrade Tickle]

P.S. It's generally not a good idea to call other cultures "ass backwards"

But most of them are.

[Ultros]

Originally Posted by God.

But most of them are.

But it's "politically incorrect" to say the truth.

[Oxford]

In humans, males are genetically stronger, larger, and more aggressive than women. This creates clear roles for men and women. It's only in modern, industrialized cultures that gender roles start to fade.

[iwpoe]

What's the point of this thread? There is little but vague gestures at a mythical contourless blob of a past followed by vague gestures at an explanation of said mythical past.

I'll explain precisely how your story came about, Shauna:

You don't read history but- perhaps by no fault of your own -instead hear vague sourceless, timeless, exaggerations and distortions of the past lives of women. You put these together into a story that lacks narrative or concreteness and then asked for an explanation. I would call your account Whig history, but that would imply that you had managed a narrative of progress.

Women lived difficult and complex lives in history and their struggle is degraded by pulling them out of their times and places and talking about them as mere nameless objects of oppression only. It is not as 'male dominated nothings' that we know these women, but rather in the difficult and complicated stories of Cleopatra, Héloïse, Elizabeth I, Susan B. Anthony, or even the wispy traces of Mary and Sappho. The disrespect done he is a failure to understand the different historical contexts of the women in question- contexts which will not provide excuses, even less mere relativism, but which actually throw light on the real character of what it is to live as a women, why such would come to be, and how both women and men live in ongoing and changing sets of fraught tensions.

Originally Posted by Ultros

But it's "politically incorrect" to say the truth.

Who are you quoting? Tucker said that it was not a "good idea" to call cultures "ass backwards". Nothing about "political correctness" is required to hold such an idea.

This is true, first, because the term "politically correct" is a nonsense term of degradation that is never used by anyone who actually holds the opinion being degraded. People may have bad reasons to believe things but they don't hold these beliefs because they are "politically correct".

Second, one can on the basis of the very term "ass backward" object. Backward in comparison to what? Cultures are not moving towards some set place, and certainly not towards your ideals. It's also an uncouth phrase in any intellectual discussion of history or sociology that betrays an inappropriate level of personal resentment towards one's area of study: "ass backward" is not among the traits one finds in the study of cultures.

[Mr.Scientist]

I'm wondering if religion throughout the scope of history has played a huge part in much of the understanding of women. The Bible for instance placed women in a subservent role under the head of house(the husband). In some religions around the world, women are ordered to cover up their entire bodies.

Placing cultures like these as below the line of what is acceptable in modern society or making these cultures seem less than our own is completely ignorant though. As Iwpoe mentioned, it denies these women the respect they deserve. Furthermore, none of these cultures are backwards except through your own understanding of them.

[Da Silva]

Originally Posted by Mr.Scientist

I'm wondering if religion throughout the scope of history has played a huge part in much of the understanding of women. The Bible for instance placed women in a subservent role under the head of house(the husband). In some religions around the world, women are ordered to cover up their entire bodies.

Placing cultures like these as below the line of what is acceptable in modern society or making these cultures seem less than our own is completely ignorant though. As Iwpoe mentioned, it denies these women the respect they deserve. Furthermore, none of these cultures are backwards except through your own understanding of them.

Yes, religion has played a part in this. Then again, the judeo christian religions are very paternalistic. They have a male god, male priests and mostly male prophets.
As far as I know, its only Islam which orders women to cover up their entire bodies!

The judeo christian religions were started by men!

[iwpoe]

Originally Posted by Da Silva

Yes, religion has played a part in this. Then again, the judeo christian religions are very paternalistic. They have a male god, male priests and mostly male prophets.
As far as I know, its only Islam which orders women to cover up their entire bodies!

Why is regulating women covering up called oppression, but pressuring women subtly to wear revealing clothing called freedom?

Originally Posted by Da Silva

The judeo christian religions were started by men!

Well, they all had male central figures. The Jewish tradition kind of had a ambiguous cultural origin, and Christianity appears to have started as a quasi-political/religious with both women and men playing important roles.

[Mr.Scientist]

Originally Posted by Da Silva

Yes, religion has played a part in this. Then again, the judeo christian religions are very paternalistic. They have a male god, male priests and mostly male prophets.
As far as I know, its only Islam which orders women to cover up their entire bodies!

The judeo christian religions were started by men!

Although much of religion is very paternalistic, I believe the Hindu religion by contrast seems to embrace the feminine qualities of life. It may be hard to come by but there are other religions that may embrace femininity as well.

[Danny56]

I believe in early humanity women did most of the hunting, fighting, and etc