Gender expectations have changed over the course of time inhuman history. One intriguingstudy is the examination of gender inequality from a historical point of view.
For this discussion we will focus on different periods ofhuman history characterized by the technology and their social structures.
The earliest sign of a division of labor in human history isin the formation of hunter and gatherer societies. Humans had graduated to a form of social structure in whichparticular activities necessary for the survival of the group were dividedalong sex lines.
Men were the hunters and women (and children) were thegatherers.
It is reasonable to assume that women spent a great deal oftime pregnant and would not be able to participate in the hunting process atthat time so it is no surprise to see that the tasks assigned to them werecentered around the camp.
An interesting thought is that a vast majority of the foodfor the group was gathered rather than hunted, however, hunting was stillviewed as an activity of higher value. This is mainly because the hunt resulted in the taking down of a largeanimal. In those days not only didthe animal provide some food, but every part of the animal was used to createtools and other essential technology.
So here we have the first civilizations and the division oflabor in the household has begun.
Abandoning the nomadic ways of the hunting and gatheringgroups, horticultural clans found out that they could plant seeds of the plantsthey want and grow the food they need right where they were.
Cultivating gardens was compatible with child-care but couldalso be done by men. Thesecultures were fairly equal between the men and the women as no sex controlledthe food production
Pastoral societies, however, were dominated by herdinganimals. Herding was doneprimarily by men, and women played a relatively small role, and thus had arelatively low status in society.
Labor becomes a needed commodity in many families so therole of women becomes focused on producing children. Polygamy is common as the more wives a person has the morechildren they can produce. Thenumber of wives a person has becomes a sign of his wealth.
Agrarian societies develop the ownership of property andlater, the development of land-owners, or Lords. (thus the term "Landlord")
Men become more involved in food production and in theownership of land. Practices ofpassing property from generation to generation through the male side of thefamily are solidified. Women, whocontinue to be viewed of as property, are secluded and subordinated in businessand in society.
The goal of a woman at this time is to marry into a wealthyfamily. The bride is "givenaway" in the ceremonial passing on of responsibility from one man toanother, but not without some property to accompany her (dowry) to increase hervalue to the man.
As factory work becomes more prevalent as the primary meansof production women's role in society tends to decline further.
Even in this country, during WWII, when many women replacedabsent men in industry; they experienced a push in their status but were soonreplaced by the men as they returned home.
In those societies which support service and informationbased economies women are much more involved in the workplace, but many of themhave double responsibility.
Women are more involved in the workplace, but they have togo home and continue to perform the gendered activities of child-rearing andhousehold management.
As we can see by this short history, women's status insociety has been based on cultural expectations that date back very far in ourpast. These have become engrainedin our collective experience of our culture and are passed from generation togeneration reliably.