The Rise of Patriarchy in Ancient Civilizations essays

The Rise of Patriarchy in Ancient Civilizations essays Patriarchy is defined as a social system in which the father is the head of the family and men have authority over women and children. How did the transition from non-patriarchal to patriarchal culture take place? Darwin's theory of evolution suggested that patriarchy served the best interests of species survival. I agree with Darwin and feel that patriarchy was essential for the human race to last as long as it has but I also think that it is a trend that its rein will soon be over. There are a few reasons for the development of Patriarchy and most of them revolve around the development of agriculture. The civilizations began to develop and become more prosperous because of the agricultural jobs the men had. The jobs that the men accomplished revolved around strength and power and the women of that society couldnt perform those tasks. The roles of the women in this society consisted of gathering food and having children. They could not hunt because they needed to take care of their young ones. The mens roles in this society consisted of the hunting of the food and protecting the community. In this era those things were valued more then the jobs that the women possessed because those jobs could save the lives of all of the people in the community. Another reason that society became more patriarchal was because women are the carriers and bearers of children. In the beginning, women were honored for this but it became a disadvantage later on. The religion that they practiced emphasized the importance of a womens virginity on marriage and stressed modesty. Also a very big portion of the Mesopotamian laws, such as the Hammurabic code, had many laws emphasizing limits and inferiority of the women. Because of this many women were looked down upon and treated as property and a way to keep the civilization going and pass on the family name. Oddly enough women were very accepting of the laws and restrictions that we...