From a Google Image Search - Noba Project
Please pardon this rather loosey-goosey approach that is meant to take us quickly through 5000 years of women's history. If you want exact historical accounts, you will find many books that cover these different eras in history. The topic of women's rights is topmost in many women's minds in these strange days when rights that took 5000 years to win took only 50 years to disappear. Since Evangelicals and other Christians are having a moment reestablishing ancient rules for women, this is turning out to be a sad moment for the freedom of women, who have been abused, and even killed by spouses who objected to an unplanned pregnancy. Without medical care, women often lose their lives due to complications from pregnancy or from unsanitary and dangerous attempts to end a pregnancy.
3000 BC (approximately)
This cave is our home. There are four campfires in this cave. We call our cave by a word we made meaning "safe space." But safety is always relative. One hunter rules the four families in this cave. We fear him so we must do whatever he says. I am Zori, wife of 2nd hunter. My hunter has a happy face, and he is very affectionate. We are a team. He hunts and butchers and dries our meat on the drying rack over the outdoor fire. I clear the hair off the skins of the animals, rub in ash from our fire, and make clothing. I decorate with shells and teeth, feathers, and beads we get from traders. Our days are filled with danger because hunters can be wounded or die unless they are very skilled. The #1 hunter always has a scowl on his face. He can signal to any woman he wants to mate with because everyone else in the cave is afraid of him. He scares me but I must do whatever he says. I see that my hunter is humiliated but unless he wants to challenge this violent man who leads us, he must turn a blind eye. Women from our cave don't hunt, although I have heard from the traders about a woman who does. She is respected but has no power over the men in her cave.
1200 BCE to 323 BCE - Greek Empire
In Greek mythology, female goddesses are as promiscuous and complicated as the male gods on Mount Olympus. There is the story of Orpheus and Eurydice which AI tells us is one of the most beautiful and saddest in Greek myth. Orpheus, the greatest poet and musician in history tries to reclaim his wife Eurydice, who has passed away. To save his loved one, Orpheus will travel to the underworld and back, but the tale doesn't end well. (some of this is from thecollector.com)
Roman gods and goddesses intermingle with each other and with humans. Often punishments will have to be endured. "There is a myth concerning Venus' and Mars' love affair and how Vulcan trapped them in bed with a bronze net. Vulcan exposed the couple to the other gods and humiliated them, then sent them far apart. So says the internet.
Women in ancient Greece were not considered citizens. Women were excluded from the public sphere, had no legal or political standing, and were denied citizenship. (There are stories of hen-pecked husbands, however.) (AI summarizes internet sources)
Women in ancient Rome had limited rights and freedoms. Women were subordinate to men and could not participate in politics or military affairs. They could not vote, hold public office, or have military status. Women were also not allowed to own property or control their finances. (Although some women were the power behind their husbands.) (Again, AI summarizes the internet.)
Wikipedia tells us that “as early as the 5th century BC, Roman women could own land, write their own wills, and appear in court.”
Women in Christianity
1 Timothy2:11-12 - "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man; she must be silent."
1 Corinthians 14: 34 - "Women should be silent during church meetings and should be submissive just as the law says.
Paul said that women are equally included in God's plan and that the Christian church will always include women. (From a Google search)
“The New Testament says that women are equals to men, and both genders serve a role in the family to help God. Ephesians says that men should love their wives and treat them as they treat God.” (AI)
(We are talking here about Western Civilization because our target is American women.)
From a Google Image Search - Printers Devil - Post ad
Twentieth Century
American women did not win the right to vote until August 8, 1920, although the American Revolutionary Museum says women could vote in Revolutionary America.
Women were granted the right to open a bank account on their own in 1974, although the right to open a bank account was won in the 1960s. Banks still required a signature from the husband. (Forbes.com) Wyoming was the first to grant this right in 1869. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed in 1974. (Forbes) Even in the 60s when women divorced it was difficult to get a credit card if a woman had no credit history.
Learningforjustice.org tells us that it was argued that "women were childlike and incapable of independent thought."
Mississippi was the last state to ratify the 19th Amendment in 1984.
60s and 70s
The 60s and 70s were exciting times for women with a new sense of freedom and self-determination provided by contraception (the pill) and the 1973 Roe v Wade decision giving women the right to decide when they would reproduce.
Twenty-first Century
Women's victories are being snatched away. Men can't adjust to independent women. They are getting depressed and angry. To save America women must be submissive once again and lose control over reproduction, say some men in America. These are sorrowful times, but women will win back their rights in the end. How long will it take? What strategies will women use? How many women will face domestic abuse with men granted dominance once again?