What Roles did Women Play in History?: 3D Gallery

Ancient Times

In ancient times, women didn’t play a major role in society. They were often considered to be inferior to men and couldn’t enjoy many of the same privileges. One example of this is the Council of 500, while Pericles changed it to be more open, it was only available to male citizens. Women were not included in this major part of ancient Greek government.

In Ancient Rome, women were considered free citizens but weren’t granted many freedoms or personal discretion at all. They were almost always controlled or told what to do by their husband, father or another man who was told to instruct her. Marriages were often arranged and women started to gain some rights, but they still barely had anything to themselves and couldn’t possess much.

Although women weren’t allowed to do much, an important role in society which was really an expectation, was to have and take care of a man’s children.

The Middle Ages

During the middle ages, women maintained the same primary roles of being mothers, caretakers, and wives, but they are now starting to rise a little bit in society. Women who were lucky enough to be born or married into royalty can now serve as queens and other lower positions. While this isn’t exactly common, it is a step in a positive direction for women taking a role which involves leadership and power.

As far as peasant women, they still mainly took care of children, looked after animals, cooked and did basic house work. But it wasn’t uncommon for them to help a male family member with their job. Some other things women now had access to were simple jobs of their own, such as; weaving, sewing, or spinning, these tasks allowed them to stay close to the house and their families, but work while carrying out their expected duties in society.

Renaissance and Reformation

This period was thought to be a time of art, philosophy, and freedom of expression. Overall the human race was advancing greatly in theories, ideologies, and independence. Women were starting to gain some freedoms to write and express themselves through other works of art, but were still looked down upon, and seemed to be confined to those predetermined standards set by society in the past.

There are a few great examples of this, one being the Tudor family. When King Henry VIII of England married Catherine of Aragon she was expected to bear him a son. After failing to do so, Henry changed the rules of the church in order to remarry several other women in hopes of receiving a “proper” heir to the throne. The fact that a king would takeover the church, have new laws passed, and remarry 6 times just to have a son really highlights the expectation of a women in this time period and how they were still considered to be inferior.

Another way that women were treated as inferior was in the realm of art and literature. They often didn’t sign their names on their work or simply weren’t recognized for it. Women were not commonly considered artists despite what they had produced, many of them did not acknowledge their own work for fear of fame and attention, but rather for fear of the negative effects it may have on their lives and families.

The Age of Absolutism

Over this two and a half century period women started to make some progress in terms of what they were able to do. Though their main role was to give birth to and raise children, and care for their husband, a few more jobs became available. Noble women were now able to work at the court, and others became nurses. There weren’t many jobs widely available to them but the opportunities now given were definitely progress and an addition in the role they played regarding government and society.

After the 16th century, women leading countries became slightly less uncommon. While still rather rare, this is just another sign that their roles were starting to change and become more valued.

The Enlightenment

Also known as the age of reason, the enlightenment brought new ideas of equality and the idea that everyone has the right to life, liberty and property. Some now considered men and women equal but as always others still disagreed. Getting closer to the modern age, women were fighting for their basic rights and freedoms, but unfortunately they haven’t broken out of their roles yet. At the same time, many were pushing for equal education. One strong advocate for this was Mary Wollstonecraft, who made great strides towards this goal. This time period was the first of a movement to offer women new jobs, better education and equality.

The Age of Revolutions

During the French revolution, women’s roles were a little unsteady. From Marie Antoinette driving her country to severe economic issues to the women who marched on Versailles, the age of revolutions brought some new roles and power to them. One example of a role women played at this time was revolutionaries. While they weren’t exactly fighting off soldiers, the women played a big part in taking down Marie Antoinette and her overly-extravagant lifestyle which was killing France.

In this time, women were still overpowered by men in terms of government and overall occupations. But they were finally starting to have an impact on society.

World War I

Women in WWI varied greatly in each country. While some encouraged their involvement and support, other countries did not have the same feeling. For example; Germany imprisoned women who did not support the war, while some other countries wouldn’t do anything about it. Women also sometimes fought for Russia and Britain, one example of this was Flora Sandes. She fought against the Serbians on Britain’s side.

The women of WWI also played an important role, they worked as nurses for wounded soldiers, had administrative positions, and worked in factories to produce supplies. Although this work was a significant increase from their previous roles in history, most of the women lost their jobs after the war.

The Interwar Period

A major step forward in this time period, was women gaining suffrage. This finally allowed them to have a much bigger role in the government and development in the country. In this time women also made great advancements in education. Now going to university, this allowed many of them to become clerks, teachers, and licensed nurses.

World War II

Over 350,000 women joined the military during WWII, some of them fought on the front lines but many worked as mechanics, nurses, seamstresses, and factory workers. Again, most women lost their jobs right after the war came to an end. But about a year after that, they started to get them back and the positions were maintained.

This was the first time that the woman didn’t always take care of the children, but while at work they were responsible for finding someone to watch after them during the day. Women were also now starting to play a role in the aircraft industry. Many of them worked on the planes or helped the crew, and the first female pilots were learning to fly. Along with balancing a work and family life came childcare centers which provided more jobs for women. While they were continuing to join the workforce, Rosie the Riveter was created. She was a perfect example to show men that women could work in their fields, but still be normal.

Post World War II

After WWII came to an end, many women found themselves back home taking care of the baby boomers of the 50s and 60s. Along with the boom came a large increase in stay-at-home moms. With men now having increased wages making a comfortable middle class living, the role of women at this point in time was met with a divide. While many women stayed home with the children and no worries of money, some found work anyway as an extra source of income for their family to live a more enjoyable life.

Part of the reason women still chose to stay home was that they didn’t want to do some of the jobs available to them, such as; salespeople, factory workers, secretaries, etc... As time went on, especially in and after the 60s, more women were being encouraged to join the workforce rather than steer away from it. Women were also eventually granted the ability to serve in juries in all 50 United States, but for a period had the option not to because of their sex.

Username:
Password:
Submit Cancel
Not a member? JOIN NOW!

What Roles did Women Play in History?