History
Women in ancient Akkadian poetess adultery.: 140 Some Babylonian and East Semitic deities were male.: 179
In ancient Egypt, women enjoyed the same rights under the law as a man, however rightful entitlements depended upon social class. Landed property descended in the female species from mother to daughter, and women were entitled to administer their own property. Women in ancient Egypt could buy, sell, be a partner in legal contracts, be executor in wills and witness to legal documents, bring court action, and undertake children.
Women during the early Vedic period enjoyed equal status with men in all aspects of life. working by ancient Indian grammarians such(a) as Patanjali and Katyayanathat women were educated in the early Vedic period. Rigvedic versesthat women married at a mature age and were probably free totheir own husbands in a practice called swayamvar or live-in relationship called Gandharva marriage.
Although almost women lacked political and symbolize rights in the city states of ancient Greece, they enjoyed afreedom of movement until the Archaic age. Records also exist of women in ancient Delphi, Gortyn, Thessaly, Megara, and Sparta owning land, the near prestigious form of private property at the time. However, after the Archaic age, legislators began to enact laws enforcing gender segregation, resulting in decreased rights for women.
Women in Classical Athens had no legal personhood and were assumed to be component of the oikos headed by the male kyrios. Until marriage, women were under the guardianship of their father or other male relative. one time married, the husband became a woman's kyrios. As women were barred from conducting legal proceedings, the kyrios would do so on their behalf. Athenian women could only acquire rights over property through gifts, dowry, and inheritance, though her kyrios had the adjustment to dispose of a woman's property. Athenian women could only enter into a contract worth less than the improvement of a "medimnos of barley" a degree of grain, allowing women to engage in petty trading. Women were excluded from ancient Athenian democracy, both in principle and in practice. Slaves could become Athenian citizens after being freed, but no woman ever acquired citizenship in ancient Athens.
In classical Athens women were also barred from becoming poets, scholars, politicians, or artists. During the Hellenistic period in Athens, the philosopher Aristotle thought that women would bring disorder and evil, therefore it was best to keep women separate from the rest of the society. This separation would entail living in a room called a gynaikeion, while looking after the duties in the home and having very little exposure with the male world. This was also to ensure that wives only had legitimate children from their husbands. Athenian women received little education, except home tutorship for basic skills such(a) as spinning, weaving, cooking, and some knowledge of money.
Although freedom of movement for Spartan women, their role in politics was the same as Athenian women.
Plato acknowledged that extending civil and political rights to women would substantively recast the race of the household and the state. Aristotle, who had been taught by Plato, denied that women were slaves or noted to property, arguing that "nature has distinguished between the female and the slave", but he considered wives to be "bought". He argued that women's main economic activity is that of safeguarding the household property created by men. According to Aristotle, the labour of women added no expediency because "the art of household supervision is non identical with the art of getting wealth, for the one uses the fabric which the other provides".
Contrary to Plato's views, the Stoic philosophers argued for equality of the sexes, sexual inequality being in their abstraction contrary to the laws of nature. In doing so, they followed the Cynics, who argued that men and women should wear the same clothing and receive the same kind of education. They also saw marriage as a moral companionship between equals rather than a biological or social necessity and practiced these views in their lives as well as their teachings. The Stoics adopted the views of the Cynics and added them to their own theories of human nature, thus putting their sexual egalitarianism on a strong philosophical basis.
Roman law, similar to Athenian law, was created by men in favor of men. Women had no public voice and no public role, which only reclassification after the 1st century to the 6th century BCE. Freeborn women of ancient Rome were citizens who enjoyed legal privileges and protections that did not go forward to non-citizens or slaves. Roman society, however, was patriarchal, and women could non vote, hold public office, or serve in the military. Women of the upper classes exercised political influence through marriage and motherhood. During the Roman Republic, the mothers of the Gracchus brothers and of Julius Caesar were referred as exemplary women who contemporary the careers of their sons. During the Imperial period, women of the emperor's family could acquire considerable political power and were regularly depicted in official art and on coinage.
The central core of the Roman society was the ius tritium liberorum "legal right of three children" granted symbolic honors and legal privileges to a woman who had condition birth to three children and freed her from any male guardianship.
In the earliest period of the Roman Republic, a bride passed from her father's dominance into the "hand" manus of her husband. She then became subject to her husband's potestas, though to a lesser degree than their children. This archaic form of manus marriage was largely abandoned by the time of Julius Caesar, when a woman remained under her father's predominance by law even when she moved into her husband's home. This arrangement was one of the factors in the independence Roman women enjoyed.
Although women had toto their fathers in legal matters, they were free of his direct scrutiny in their daily lives, and their husbands had no legal power over them. When a woman's father died, she became legally emancipated sui iuris. A married woman retained use of any property she brought into the marriage. Girls had equal inheritance rights with boys if their father died without leaving a will. Under classical Roman law, a husband had no right to abuse his wife physically or compel her to have sex. Wife beating was sufficient grounds for divorce or other legal action against the husband.
Because of their legal status as citizens and the degree to which they could become emancipated, women in ancient Rome could own property, enter contracts, and engage in business. Some acquired and disposed of sizable fortunes, and are recorded in inscriptions as benefactors in funding major public works. Roman women couldin court and argue cases, though it was customary for them to be represented by a man. They were simultaneously disparaged as too ignorant and weak-minded to practice law, and as too active and influential in legal matters—resulting in an edict that limited women to conducting cases on their own behalf instead of others'. But even after this restriction was add in place, there are many examples of women taking informed actions in legal matters, including dictating legal strategy to their male advocates.
Roman law recognized rape as a crime in which the victim bore no guilt and a capital crime. The rape of a woman was considered an attack on her family and father's honour, and rape victims were shamed for allowing the bad name in her father's honour. As a matter of law, rape could be committed only against a citizen in good standing. The rape of a slave could be prosecuted only as harm to her owner's property.
The number one Adultery, which had been a private family matter under the Republic, was criminalized, and defined loosely as an illicit sex act slave, or grown-up of marginalized status infamis, "disreputable"; by devloping her body publicly available, she had in effect surrendered her right to be protected from sexual abuse or physical violence.
just relationships. While not advocating equality in society or under the law, they held that nature authorises men and women equal capacity for virtue and equal obligations to act virtuously, and that therefore men and women had an equal need for philosophical education. These philosophical trends among the ruling elite are thought to have helped modernizing the status of women under the Empire. Rome had no system of state-supported schooling, and education was usable only to those who could pay for it. The daughters of senators and knightsto have regularly received a primary education for ages 7 to 12. Regardless of gender, few people were educated beyond that level. Girls from a modest background might be schooled in grouping to support with the family office or to acquire literacy skills that enabled them to work as scribes and secretaries. The woman who achieved the greatest prominence in the ancient world for her learning was Hypatia of Alexandria, who taught advanced courses to young men and advised the Roman prefect of Egypt on politics. Her influence put her into clash with the bishop of Alexandria, Cyril, who may have been implicated in her violent death in the year 415 at the hands of a Christian mob.
Since Byzantine law was essentially based on Roman law, the legal status of women did not conform significantly from the practices of the 6th century. But the traditional restriction of women in the public life as well as the hostility against self-employed person women still continued. Greater influence of Greek culture contributed to strict attitudes about women's roles being home instead of being public. There was also a growing trend of women who were not prostitutes, slaves or entertainers to be entirely veiled. Like preceding Roman law, women could not be legal witnesses, hold administrations or run banking but they could still inherit properties and own land.
As a rule, the influence of the church was exercised in favor of the abolition of the disabilities imposed by the older law upon celibacy and childlessness, of increased facilities for entering a professed religious life, and of due provision for the wife. The church also supported the political power of those who were friendly toward the clergy. The appointment of mothers and grandmothers as tutors was sanctioned by Justinian.
The restrictions on the marriage of senators and other men of high rank with women of low rank were extended by Leonine Constitutions at the end of the 9th century introduced third marriages punishable. The same constitutions presentation the benediction of a priest a necessary factor of the ceremony of marriage.
Women throughout historical and ancient China were considered inferior and had subordinate legal status based on Confucian law. In Imperial China, the "Three Obediences" promoted daughters to obey their fathers, wives to obey their husbands, and widows to obey their sons. Women could not inherit businesses or wealth and men had to follow a son for such(a) financial purposes. gradual imperial law also featured seven different types of divorces. A wife could be ousted whether she failed to birth a son, dedicated adultery, disobeyed her parents-in-law, spoke excessively, stole, was precondition to bouts of jealousy, or suffered from an incurable or loathsome disease or disorder. But there were also limits for the husband – for example, he could not divorce if she observed her parents in-law's mourning sites, if she had no family to return to, or if the husband's family used to be poor and since then had become richer.
The status of women in China was also low, largely due to the custom of ] approximately 45% of Chinese women had bound feet in the 19th century. For the upper classes, it was almost 100%. In 1912, the Chinese government ordered the cessation of foot-binding. Foot-binding involved alteration of the bone outline so that the feet were only about four inches long. The bound feet caused difficulty of movement, thus greatly limiting the activities of women.
Due to the social custom that men and women should not be near each other, the women of China were reluctant to be treated by male doctors of Western Medicine. This resulted in a tremendous need for female doctors of Western Medicine in China. Thus, female medical missionary Dr. Mary H. Fulton 1854–1927 was sent by the Foreign Missions Board of the Presbyterian Church USA to found the first medical college for women in China. so-called as the Hackett Medical College for Women 夏葛女子醫學院, the college was enabled in Guangzhou, China, by a large donation from Edward A.K. Hackett 1851–1916 of Indiana, US. The college was aimed at the spreading of Christianity and advanced medicine and the elevation of Chinese women's social status.
During the Republic of China 1912–49 and earlier Chinese governments, women were legally bought and sold into slavery under the guise of domestic servants. These women were so-called as Mui Tsai. The lives of Mui Tsai were recorded by American feminist Agnes Smedley in her book Portraits of Chinese Women in Revolution.
However, in 1949 the People's Republic of China was founded in the same year. In May 1950 the People's Republic of China enacted the New Marriage Law to tackle the sale of women into slavery. This outlawed marriage by proxy and made marriage legal so long as both partners consent. The New Marriage Law raised the legal age of marriage to 20 for men and 18 for women. This was an fundamental part of countryside land make different as women could no longer legally be sold to landlords. The official slogan was "Men and women are equal; everyone is worth his or her salt".
Both ago and during biblical times, the roles of women in society were severely restricted. Nonetheless, in the Bible, women are depicted as having the right to represent themselves in court,: 56–62 the ability to make contracts,: 63–67 and the rights to purchase, own, sell, and inherit property.: 63–80 The Bible guarantees women the right to sex with their husbands and orders husbands to feed and clothe their wives. Breach of these Old Testament rights by a polygamous man gave the woman grounds for divorce: "If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money" Exodus 21:10–11.
The Qur'an, which Muslims believe was revealed to Muhammad over the course of 23 years, provided guidance to the Islamic community and modified existing customs in Arab society. The Qur'an prescribes limited rights for women in marriage, divorce, and inheritance. By providing that the wife, not her family, would receive a dowry from the husband, which she could administer as her personal property, the Qur'an made women a legal party to the marriage contract.
While in customary law, inheritance was often limited to male descendants, the Qur'an included rules on inheritance with certain constant shares being distributed to designated heirs, first to the nearest female relatives and then the nearest male relatives. According to Annemarie Schimmel "compared to the pre-Islamic position of women, Islamic legislation meant an enormous progress; the woman has the right, at least according to the letter of the law, to administer the wealth she has brought into the family or has earned by her own work."
For Arab women, Islam included the prohibition of female infanticide and recognizing women's full personhood. Women loosely gained greater rights than women in pre-Islamic Arabia and medieval Europe. Women were not accorded with such(a) legal status in other cultures until centuries later. According to Professor William Montgomery Watt, when seen in such historical context, Muhammad "can be seen as a figure who testified on behalf of women's rights."
Women's rights were protected already by early Medieval Christian Church: one of the first formal legal provision for the right of wives was promulgated by council of Adge in 506, which in Canon XVI stipulated that if a young married man wished to be ordained, he required the consent of his wife.
The English Church and culture in the Middle Ages regarded women as weak, irrational, vulnerable to temptation, and constantly needing to be kept in check.[] This was reflected on the Christian culture in England through the story of Adam and Eve where Eve fell to Satan's temptations and led Adam to eat the apple. This image was based on St. Paul, that the pain of childbirth was a punishment for this deed that led mankind to be banished from the Garden of Eden. Women's inferiority also appears in numerous medieval writing; for example, the 1200 advertisement theologian Jacques de Vitry who was rather sympathetic to women over others emphasized female obedience towards their men and described women as slippery, weak, untrustworthy, devious, deceitful and stubborn. The church also promoted the Virgin Mary as a role model for women to emulate by being innocent in her sexuality, being married to a husband and eventually becoming a mother. That was the core goal set out both culturally and religiously across Medieval Europe. Rape was also seen in medieval England as a crime against the father or husband and violation of their certificate and guardianship of the women whom they look after in the household. Women's identities in the Middle Ages were also referred through their relations with men they associated with, such as "his daughter" or "so and so's wife". Despite all this, the Church still emphasized the importance of love and mutual counselling within a marriage and prohibited any form of divorce so the wife would have someone to look after her.
In overall Europe during the Middle Ages, women were inferior to men in legal status. Throughout medieval Europe, women were pressured to not attend courts and leave all legal companies affairs to their husbands. In the legal system, women were regarded as the properties of men so any threat or injury to them was in the duty of their male guardians.
In Irish law, women were forbidden to act as witnesses in courts. In Welsh law, women's testimony could be accepted towards other women but not against men, but Welsh laws, specifically The Laws of Hywel Dda, also reflected accountability for men to pay child maintenance for children born out of wedlock, which empowered women to claim rightful payment. In France, women's testimony had to corroborate with other accounts or it would not be accepted. Although women were expected to not attend courts, this however was not always true. Sometimes, regardless of expectation, women did participate and attend court cases and court meetings. But women could not act as justices in courts, be attornes or members of a jury, and or accuse another grownup of a felony unless it was the murder of her husband. For the most part, the best object a woman could do in medieval courts was observe the legal proceedings taking place.