II.

Traditional Ideas About Women

Archaeological evidence from Europe and the Middle East has suggested that Stone Age civilizations practiced goddess worship and were organized as matriarchies—social orders with women in charge. However, from the time of the earliest written records, these civilizations had been overtaken by patriarchal cultures that worshiped male gods and in which men were political, religious, and military leaders, and women were kept in subordination. In the time of the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans and in the early Christian era, women were excluded from public life and were made subordinate to men. For example, Greek philosopher Aristotle argued in his Politics that women were inferior to men and must be ruled by men. Saint Paul told Christian wives to obey their husbands and not to speak in church.

In most societies throughout most of the second millennium, women were deprived of property, education, and legal status. They were made the responsibility of their husbands if married, or of their fathers or other male relatives if not. However, there were examples of exceptional women who challenged patriarchal structures in their lives and writings. For example, a German abbess, Hildegard of Bingen, defied the authority of male church leaders; and an Italian writer and courtier, Christine de Pisan, defended women and wrote biblical commentaries that challenged the patriarchal ideas inherent in Christianity. By the end of the 17th century, a number of women writers, such as Mary Astell in England, were calling for improvements in women’s education.