History of Gender Roles

It is often claimed that women were oppressed by men in the past. While history shouldn't inform our modern policies anyway, I feel this isn't quite right.

In the past, most of the population were oppressed to some degree, men and women. There wasn't a whole lot of choice, opportunity or social mobility, regardless of sex. Gender roles were certainly stricter, but was a woman's gender role more oppressive than a man's gender role.

Rights and expectations

Women were expected to care for their family and home, including raise children. To allow them to do that they had the right to expect their partner to provide for them and protect them.

Men were expected to provide for and protect women and children by working outside the home. To allow them to do that they often had the right to education or training and to make decisions for the whole family.

But those are broad strokes. What were the implications of this?

Violence and health

35,000 people were killed in witch hunts throughout Europe over a 300 year period, and around 75-80% were women 28,000. This is a terrible number, and it staggers my mind to think of the loss. But unfortunately, such atrocities weren't rare, only the fact that the target was mostly female was rare. A single war during that period could claim the lives of millions of people, and there were many many wars. And in each one, a 90% male casualty rate would be conservative.

Even if a man was fortunate enough to avoid being called up to war, his job was almost certainly more dangerous and unhealthy than working at home. Without modern technology, even constructing a building involved massive risks and health hazards.

The deaths and suffering of all those men are not negligible. If gender roles are to be considered oppressive, then I think we must accept that the expectation to place yourself in danger is among the worst.

Access to education

Certainly, though we do have exceptions throughout history, women were typically far less trained than men and this should be explained. Now, this could be because women wanted to train, but they were rejected. Or it could be because they weren't expected and required to train, and had no need to, so they just didn't apply. Though I'm sure both scenarios occurred, I believe the latter to be predominant.

And certainly I don't believe this was as likely as the mirrored scenario: how many men were forced into training so they could perform arduous and dangerous jobs for the benefit of others when all they wanted was to stay at home with their family? And if you believe men were never forced then there is a single word for you: conscription.

While neither gender had many options about education, I cannot help but sympathise more with people who were forced to work hard than those who were perhaps forced to be a bit bored, but relatively safe and provided for, at home.

Domestic abuse and rape

There is no evidence to suggest wife beating has ever been tolerated in the western world, at least for the last couple of centuries, despite the popular myth that it has (such as the so-called 'rule of thumb'). And there is plenty of evidence to suggest that sexual assault was widely considered among the most severe offences. 

Exceptions certainly exist, but they were exceptions to a wider rule and were most likely condemned by their neighbours as unjust in their own time too. Heck, sexual assault has caused wars.

Conclusions

In the history of the western world, there have been sections of society which were actually oppressed, but women particularly? Let's compare. Can you imagine a white slave owner saying "blacks and children to the lifeboats first!"? Or can you imagine white slave owners being conscripted and volunteering to fight in a war for the sake of their black slaves? Or white slave owners working long hours, in dangerous conditions, just to keep their black slaves happy and in good clothes?

If you can't, then I don't believe men truly oppressed women.

Traditional gender roles are definitely oppressive and no one should be forced into them, but the belief that men were enforcing these roles for their own benefit is ludicrous, and insulting to the millions upon millions of men who gave their lives for the women they loved and provided for. They weren't oppressors, they gave everything they had, and far more than ever should have been expected of them.