1. History of the family Hunter-gatherer societies
Small families living in small clans, intermariage, mobility
Horticultural societies
Some stability of the population and some marriage rules, gender equality
Advanced horticultural societies
Larger, complex, extended families; emerging importance of fertility; stronger rules for marriage by social class

2. Agrarian States Use of animal power to support agricultural production
Plow technology enabling a permanent settlement on the land
Significant agricultural surplus
Control of land was directly related to wealth
Complex military, political, and religious systems could be supported
Emerging commerce and manual production of goods (cottage industries)

3. Agrarian states - Family
Household was a place for production
Household & family no longer corresponded one-to-one
Non-family members of the household contributed to the household economy
Household was mainly an economic unit
Household and family members were valued because they contributed to the production (better if they did not contribute to the consumption, thus servants and slaves)
Control of within household production and consumption became important – within household stratification

4. Agrarian states – Family - continued
Hostilities between households were common (over control of means of production and commerce)
Acquisition of land resulted in wealth – rise of aristocracy
Between aristocratic families marriage politics and inheritance became very important
Defending the household became important
Maximal male domination – patriarchy
Sons were valued over daughters (military and economic advantage)
Within family conflict was common – power struggles, inheritance issues

5. History of the patriarchal family and subordination of women
Before the rise of the large urban societies in the middle east, women were held in high esteem
Goddesses
Artifacts, burial sites, etc. (e.g., Catal Hoyuk)
With advancement of agriculture and food surplus:
Importance of increasing population
Warfare
Production
Importance of defense
Possibility of sustaining religious-ideological structures

6. History of the patriarchal family and subordination of women
Emergence of reproduction as something to be protected and maximized
High level of infant mortality
High level of adult mortality due to infectious diseases and warfare

7. Patriarchal social order
Patriarchal family is designed to guarantee the paternity of the heirs
Women’s sexuality becomes a property of men (father and husband)
Valuable
Can be traded as an object
Virginity becomes a negotiable property
Women’s status declined
No more goddesses

8. Examples of women as property
Code Hammurabi (1750 BC)
Women and children could be pawned for up to 3 years
A husband could beat and mutilate his wife in certain specified ways
A woman who was found to neglect her duties as a wife was punished by drowning
If a man raped a woman, his punishment was to have his wife raped
Rules about veiling
Veil indicated a wife or a daughter (off-limits property of a man)
Slaves and prostitutes could not veil (penalties were severe)
Veil indicated a woman’s place in the society which was determined by the man who was her patriarch

9. Examples of women as property
Harems
Size of the harem as an indicator of wealth
Darius  365 wives (300 BC)
Sasanian  thousands ( AD)
Segregation of male and female spaces in households

10. Examples of women as property
Zoroastrianism (middle-eastern religion 1000BC-500AD)
Wife required to have total obedience to husband and will repeat that 9 times every morning
Wives must produce a male heir
If not, the daughter must produce one and give it to the father  a lower order marriage
If widowed, offspring of subsequent marriage belongs to the first husband
A man can loan his wife to a friend for a specific duration spelled out in a contract
“A woman is a field. All which grows there belongs to the owner even if he did not plant it.”

11. Examples of women as property
Classical Greek culture: Aristotle (350BC) – His teachings were presented as scientific truths in Arab and European civilizations
Purpose of marriage is to provide heirs
Female heir must produce a male heir to her father’s household
It is a social necessity that women are subordinated
Men rule over women as soul over body and rational over passionate
“A woman’s body is like an impotent male, for it is through a certain incapacity that the female is a female.”
Male contributes the soul to the offspring, the female only the flesh

12. Some cases when women could have power
Upper class women could own and manage property and enter into contracts
Women could be their husband’s deputy in managing property, household production and slaves
HOWEVER,
Rights and privileges entirely derived from the male to whom they were attached.

13. Christian ideology
Christian societies from very early on, clashed with other extant religions on gender issues:
Earlier religions  Women are defined by their sexuality and capacity to reproduce
Christianity  Chastity and virginity (marriage to God) as a way of serving God
Early Christians had major battle of ideologies over the sexuality of women
Zoroastrians pressured Christian nuns to denounce their virginity
Nuns resisted by martyrdom  a symbolic resistance (threat) to the present social order

14. Agrarian states – Gender stratification
Patriarchal system resulted in domination of women by men in marriage therefore in sexual activity (especially premarital)
Higher level of control over women was associated with more property (higher stakes in controlling sexual activity) – sign of status
Ideological importance of domination of women – women as agents of temptation, to be controlled for their own good
Symbols of domination became symbols of status – veils, binding of feet, female genital mutilation
In lower classes with limited property females were relatively free and relatively less dominated