The Change of Women’s Lives
HIS 103 World Civilizations I (AFF1238A)
Instructor: Steven Brownson
October 15, 2012

Women's lives, roles, and statuses changed over various early world history eras and culture areas in many ways. Ancient Persia, Paleolithic, Athens, Mesopotamian and Roman eras were all different in very unique ways. The Paleolithic era treated women fairly and were treated equally. During the Neolithic era women were not treated fairly. She was the daughter of her father or the wife of her husband. Women rarely acted as individuals outside the context of their families. Those who did so were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status.” (oi.uchicago.edu, 2010) Athenian women were not treated fairly …show more content…

Marriages were arranged by the families of the future bride and groom. Ceremonies have been described where the future husband poured perfume on the head of the bride. He also gave her family money and other presents. Once a woman was engaged, she was considered part of her fiancé's family. If her husband-to-be died before the wedding, she was then married to one of his brothers or another male relative.”(oi.uchicago.edu, 2010) The lives of Athenian women were a lot like the Mesopotamian women. They were left with little to no rights and were expected to be the daughter of her father and the wife of her husband. “Although Solon's reforms made it possible for all citizens to participate in government decisions, the system still disenfranchised significant elements of society. For example, laws forbade women and children from participation in political, judicial, and military affairs. Slaves had no rights whatsoever, and metics (foreign residents)—Greeks who migrated to Athens without proof of citizenship—had no participatory rights. Out of a population of roughly 300,000, only about 45,000 (15 percent) were considered Athenian citizens.”(Mahdavi, 2012)
“Women were not treated like regular citizens because of their status of being a woman. Fathers would marry off their