Throughout the upsurge and destruction of numerous social systems in the history of early civilization, the men of Ancient Mesopotamia had successfully established a deep rooted patriarchal influence and authority on society—a system that is controversial yet still robust in modern America today. Patriarchy, according to The Oxford English Dictionary, is “a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it”. During the extensive progression of the United States, men have—much like the Mesopotamians—habitually assumed authority over political, economic, and cultural life, thus leading the United States into an obscure and entrenched patriarchal system of male dominance and the initial deterioration
…show more content…
had, much like every hunter-gather society, structured a gynocratic civilization centered entirely on females. Paleolithic women were often worshipped for their miraculous life-giving capabilities, and were honored as reincarnations or priestesses of the preeminent Mother Goddess, who, as the Paleolithic people believed, “embodied the bounty of the earth.” Women unfailingly made substantial decisions for their communities, and confidently led their husbands and children into the light of new technologies and art that they themselves had created. Two million years ago, in a time where the physical and cultural evolution of Homo sapiens had barely begun, the standard Paleolithic female was cherished—and more importantly, she was empowered. As German feminist and advocate for Modern Matriarchal Studies Heide Göttner-Abendroth explains, “Equality does not mean a mere levelling of differences. The natural differences between the genders and generations are respected and honored in matriarchies…the different genders and generations each have their own value and dignity; and through complementary areas of activity they depend on each other.” Nevertheless, as agriculture reached Ancient Mesopotamia thousands of years later in 7,000 B.C., the values and tenets of humanity’s Paleolithic ancestors were quickly forgotten as characteristic patriarchal conditions soon began to
had, much like every hunter-gather society, structured a gynocratic civilization centered entirely on females. Paleolithic women were often worshipped for their miraculous life-giving capabilities, and were honored as reincarnations or priestesses of the preeminent Mother Goddess, who, as the Paleolithic people believed, “embodied the bounty of the earth.” Women unfailingly made substantial decisions for their communities, and confidently led their husbands and children into the light of new technologies and art that they themselves had created. Two million years ago, in a time where the physical and cultural evolution of Homo sapiens had barely begun, the standard Paleolithic female was cherished—and more importantly, she was empowered. As German feminist and advocate for Modern Matriarchal Studies Heide Göttner-Abendroth explains, “Equality does not mean a mere levelling of differences. The natural differences between the genders and generations are respected and honored in matriarchies…the different genders and generations each have their own value and dignity; and through complementary areas of activity they depend on each other.” Nevertheless, as agriculture reached Ancient Mesopotamia thousands of years later in 7,000 B.C., the values and tenets of humanity’s Paleolithic ancestors were quickly forgotten as characteristic patriarchal conditions soon began to