Gender Roles in Hereditary Aristocracies

Each culture throughout the history of the world has had its own customs and traditions in reference to the roles one would play in society. Every culture has been different in this sense, but almost all have shared the idea of gender roles: certain roles in the family and in society were to be played by women, and certain roles were to be played by men.

There has been great discussion among scholars of various backgrounds concerning why these gender roles were started in different cultures, why they evolved how they did, and why they persist even now. The general consensus is that there are many variables which complicate this question including things like religious beliefs and regional geography which influenced the way that early small communities functioned. It seems apparent however that gender roles first became of huge significance around the time of the agricultural revolution. Because wealth was most often measured in land at this time, most aspects of daily life started to revolve around working the land. Aside from in times of emergency or desperate need for hands, agricultural work was most often done by men. Land was passed down to the sons of a family, so it was the responsibility of the men to physically work and tend to the land. Women became responsible for domestic tasks and caring for the family because the men of the household would be out in the fields…