Gender Roles in Classical Greece, Rome, India and China
The Classical Era was home to several civilizations; Greece, Rome, China and India, each with its own unique religion, philosophy, social order and gender roles. These Classical societies laid the foundation for future civilizations and in some cases their influence is still felt today. Women in this era were not equal to their male counterparts; however each Classical civilization had its own ideas about gender roles and the ways in which families should be developed.
Women in Classical Greece played into society in their gender roles and the stability of society. Wives of the artisan class were to care for all things within their homes including managing the family budget, cooking and cleaning. Greece holds a sharp contrast to Roman, Chinese and Indian women in that the upper class elite women had the ability to become educated. Often families with wealth sent their daughters to get a proper formal education, while women in agricultural areas wove wool and took care of all matters of the home.
As stated in “Aristotle: On a Good Wife” (Aristotle, The Politics & Economics of Aristotle), Aristotle describes the ways in which men and women of the Greek Classical Era should behave. Men in the family unit were to rule over their wives like a “divine” law. They also had to take great care in the way in which they shaped their wives, always in a discreet and mannerly way. Child rearing was the responsibility of both parents, as Aristotle believed children needed positive role models as a foundation for children to live by. This creates social stability as parents are trying to live the good and virtuous live and be positive role models for their children. It is the parent’s right to chose the partner of their children as stated in “Ancient History Sourcebook: Xenon: on Men and Women from Oikonomikos” (Aristotle, The Politics & Economics of Aristotle).
Men and women in Classical Greece shared many of the same goals such as procreation, to ensure the survival of their people but also to ensure they had someone to care for them in old age. Family was of the utmost importance to Greek society and played a large role in the stability of social affairs.
Romans, on the other hand, had some complementary and differing views about social structure than Greece. The typical Roman family was the heart of the Roman society. Roman families were usually composed of their slaves, free attendants and other close relatives. The male head of household was usually claimed by the eldest male in the family unit, called a paterfamilias. The male heads of household held supreme control over everything within his family. Men held the authority to arrange marriages and punish his children as the need arose. Also, men in Rome never had to worry about the threat of divorce as there was no divorce in Roman society.
Women in Rome held few more rights than those in their neighboring Greek society but more than was allowed the Chinese and Indian women of the Classical Era. Roman women were still responsible for the upkeep of their home and raising of the children. However they were also afforded more responsibly as their husbands were often away on empire expansion or military duties. By middle age women were often able to help select partners for their children and help to guide the family finances or even family owned businesses.
In stark contrast to the other Classical societies women in Rome were given the right to inheritance. Although there were laws in play that restrained the amount of land that was inheritable by women, some were able to find legal loopholes. These loopholes allowed women to gain large estates and with these estates large amounts of money. Although no women in Classical society had equal rights to their male counterparts, Rome was as close as you could get.
These very defined family roles help to organize and create stability within the Roman Empire as you wouldn’t want to shame your family and you always had someone to answer to. Chinese families were patriarchal and usually consisted of five people inhabiting the home. Sometimes in the larger upper class families entire extended families would live together in large compounds. In the Chinese culture women had really no rights whatsoever. The stability and social order in China during the Classical Era was built on the back of Confucian and Legalist beliefs. Children of Chinese families were taught to respect and honor their parents and all other official authority.
In China (Peter Sterns, Documents in World History: Women in Classical China: Ban Zhao pages 59-63) women were to be absolutely subordinate to men. Ban Zhao goes on to explain that young women should have 4 qualities: womanly virtue, womanly words, womanly bearing and womanly work. The need for women to be obedient, subservient and give complete devotion to her husband was the resounding statement in this work. Women were not allowed a formal education, Ban Zhao was an exception to the rule as both of her parents were educated and passed this legacy on to her. Chinese women were to manage household affairs cleaning, cooking and raising children. Women were to behave in such a way as to not cast shame or embarrassment on her family or clan. This creates a whole new piece to social stability, as people behaved in mannerly fashion at all times. Also, in the legalist ways families of criminals were often punished along with the criminal. This creates another avenue in which stability and social order was obtained in Classical China. Classical India had by far the most pronounced differences in gender roles. They too had strict patriarchal societies like that of Greece, Rome and China. As in Classical China, next of kin often lived together in one large compound. This was a major way in which social stability was kept in Classical India, not only did they have strong patriarchal families they also had their jati. People within the same jati often became interwoven much like a family simply because they intermarried their children, were in guilds together and could only really associate with one another. This created a very strong sense of community/cohesion and social order. Girls in India were married at very young ages to men chosen by their parents. Girls as young as 8 were being married to men in their twenties, one reason for this was to instill in the young women that they should be completely devoted to their husbands and family unit. Women were raised in such a way that they were dependant on their husbands so they never questioned them. During the course of a woman’s marriage she would come to deal with all things connected to the domestic home front. Cooking, cleaning, child rearing were some of the many responsibilities they had. To further demonstrate their devotion and love for their husbands they would become chaste after the death of her husband. Widows were not to be remarried as this would cause her to lose her place in heaven with her husband and shame herself (Peter Sterns, Documents in World History: Indian Gender Culture: The Laws of Manu, page 131). The laws of Manu had very rigid rules that were the only acceptable practice in the greater society, especially in regards to widows and the ideas of how a woman should be subject to. Some women in India were able to escape the life set forth in Indian society by becoming nuns. Buddhist nuns had one such song in which they were celebrating their liberation from the constraints of the Classical India. The song titled “ Sumangalamata [A woman well set free! How free I am]” describes how the nuns were set free from kitchen duties including cooking and cleaning and no longer had to weave or get direction from a husband (Peter Sterns, Documents in World History: Indian Gender Culture: Sumangalamata, page 130). In conclusion each Classical society; Greece, Rome, China and India had strong patriarchal type family order. This family order lent itself to social order and stability in that it created a way for people to be held accountable for their actions and that those actions could embarrass their family units. Faith also played in to a sense of cultural stability, as in India where people were trying to become one with the Brahmin and live lives that would facilitate that goal. Family was the backbone in all of these Classical Era societies, family gave each person someone to hold them accountable and someone to give them encouragement. This was the glue that helped to keep many of these societies thriving for as long as they did.