Women through the ages

By group 6

In the course of the human history, the role of the women in society has undergone several changes. Even though, at first, women were only allowed to develop domestic chores, over the years, it has fought for equality and inclusion of them in society, and specially to break into the workplace. Whole centuries have been told without including women, always giving more importance to historical events starring by men. It is why the references to women in ancient times within the field of knowledge are hard to find; women were not given the recognition that they deserved for their achievements, or sometimes these achievements did not exist, because they are not even allowed to freely develop their intellectuality.

Only in recent generations, women have started to be important in public life and to highlight in our history in such important areas, as medicine or politics, and even take the responsibility for governing a country, as in Chile and Brazil.

A glance at women’s chronology

If we go back to prehistoric times, we can see that woman only was in charge of the collection of plant and care for children, while men went hunting. Thanks to the activity of collecting and handling plants, our first ancestors are credited with the discovery of the medicinal properties of plants and the work of enamels, which later gave way to the science of cosmetics, which after centuries of evolution, originated knowledge exist today on drugs.

In Ancient Greece, when a woman was in age of marriage, the father was in charge of getting a husband to his daughter. It was the man who was able to pay a certain amount of money for married her. Feelings were not considered at the time of marriage. After she got married, the woman became property of her husband, and when she became widowed, her son was in charge of her. The oppression against women came to the point that once a woman was married, she was prevented from leaving the house, and she could only do the housework.

For the Romans, women had a little more freedom. They were allowed to go outside without being accompanied by a male; regularly they could go to her friends' houses, to the theater or even could go to banquet. There are records which show that on several occasions streets were taken by Roman women to fight against laws that restricted their rights. It is something very interesting because at that time, women didn't have political participation yet.

In ancient times, the activities assigned to women were only the domestic chores, as family care, household cleaning or even the care of her husband. The men were always above women, and they dealt with political issues. The woman had not right to vote or to be elected to important posts; she should be only focused on maintaining order and the home care.

During the Middle Ages, the image of women is further underestimated. Female behavior was scheduled for every moment and situation in life. The woman was regarded only as a wife and mother, and it was unthinkable the idea that this fragile and delicate figure could intervene in issues which were considered purely for men.

After The French Revolution, the role of women began to change gradually and it's where women became aware, for the first time and collectively, of their social situation. During this time, the first formal request for political rights and citizenship for women is produced on the basis of new changes.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the International Women's Day

In 1911, the manufacturing jobs in the US textile industry were made mostly by young women, most of them immigrants. It was an age of major social demands by women, who had begun to claim her rights, like emancipation or suffrage, and evidently better working conditions, which at that time were simply terrible.

On 25th of March of that year, more than 140 women workers died in the worst factory fire in New York, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The tragedy was caused since the factory owners kept closed the entrances while workers performed their work to prevent thefts, disturbs, and prevent workers leave to rest. Consequently, workers was almost impossible to escape the fire.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Disaster caused major legislative changes in the rules on safety at work and was the trigger for the creation of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which strives to improve the labor conditions of textile workers.

Since then, the burning of the shirt factory is remembered in the celebration of International Women's Day, as a reminder of how much has been achieved since then, and how far we need to achieve full equality workplace.

We have to consider that women throughout history have played an important role in different areas and situations, and often changed the course of this. Furthermore, when we researched and developed this work, we noticed the strength and resilience that women have developed and which they has remained throughout history. In spite being seen as the "weaker sex", the struggle of women for their respect and their beliefs, as in the case of fatal fire at textile factory, demonstrates their power.

In this way, women from another era as Cleopatra, which was the only one empress of one of the great ancient civilizations, Egypt; or Joan of Arc, who commanded the French army in the fifteenth century. And also women in our country, as Elena Caffarena, who is responsible for women's suffrage in Chile, and Gabriela Mistral, the first and only one Iberoamerican woman who was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, demonstrate the power, perseverance and the ability of women to thrive in a world that is still ruled by men.

Despite efforts to achieve equality between both genders, after a long time we can see a change in the treatment of women. Gradually, the world opens to the inclusion of women into the workplace, politics, scientific area and society. While it is true, in the workplace we can still see differences, but everyday women struggle to perform as equals with men, and have their own opinion and speak their minds without fear of reprisal.

Do you think someday we can achieve equality of genres? We'll be glad to read your opinion!