The Roles of Women in Ancient Mesopotamia, China and Egypt

In this paper, you'll read about three societies regarding the roles and positions women played in ancient times. Those societies are, Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt. Knowledge about the vital roles women played during ancient civilizations has been limited, but research has shown a variety of ways in which women contributed to ancient cultures and they were able to make their influences known in these societies. Although these women from these societies were similar in many ways, they were also different in some ways. In some societies, women did not have the same rights as their men and were very limited to public life. For some, the only way they would have had equal rights to those of men is if they were women with high status, such as priestesses or royal family's members. Where as in other society, women openly participated in the public life and weren't as heavily restricted. There were laws that protected as well as laws that restricted women in these societies.
Ancient Mesopotamian.

Mesopotamian women lived in a Patriarchal society, which means the adult men of their society were vested authority over public and private affairs without the input of the women. The Mesopotamian women roles were defined and were placed under the authority of their fathers and husbands. To satisfy their debts, some husbands and fathers sold their daughters and wives as slaves. Despite their inferior legal statuses, some women made their influence felt in the Mesopotamian society. Some were in the position to give advices to kings and their governments. They rarely acted as individuals in the public life and the ones that did were usually from royal families or wives of men who held status and power. Their marriages were arranged and they had to be virgins at the time of marriage. Their social and sexual behaviors were controlled by the Mesopotamian men. Married women were forbidden to casually socialize with other men outside of their homes and were made to wear veils...