The Origins Of Patriarchy During The Paleolithic Era

Patriarchy, “the social structure in which men are considered to have a monopoly on power and women are to submit”(The Origins of Patriarchy), is a belief of many during ancient times where there is a difference of power between males and females. The start of patriarchy is seem to have begun between the Mesolithic Era and Neolithic Era and has developed further on causing great inequality and suffering to women. Many factors has led to this great division in sex, but the two main causes was the separation of role and labor in society and images of male as more aggressive and powerful through religion which were both caused by the Neolithic revolution. As a result, sexual inequality further developed and influenced the beliefs of others and …show more content…
This is a very important cause of patriarchy because the way men act causes them to look more as a leader and a ruler. Religion, the belief and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods, played a huge part in patriarchal systems. Religion, during the Paleolithic Era, were “rituals to lessen the fear of death and…cave paintings to express a sense of nature’s beauty and power.” (“Human Prehistory to the Early Civilization”, Pg 6) In the Paleolithic Era, religion was about experiencing and understanding nature, but when the Neolithic Revolution occurred, the understanding and development of religion and male and female role changed tremendously. The introduction of agriculture to human society had led to the changing of many fields and one of them was religion. The first signs of religion was written on Sumerian tablets, but by that time the start of patriarchy had already started because of the unfair division of roles due to agriculture meanwhile religion on further developed that caused and greatly impacted male and female images. According to page 20 of “Human …show more content…
Goddesses became more peripheral. The Jewish religion, emphasizing a single God, elevated the principle of a masculine divinity stills further.” This shows that with the creation of agriculture, religion changed and male were given power and rule while women were given lower roles. Religion in many civilizations supported the same beliefs. For example based on the article "The History of Patriarchy", it states, "As culture evolved, the patriarchal society grew increasingly misogynistic. Ancient Greece played a large role in the increase of patriarchal practices. A primary democracy can be seen in ancient Greece called the polis. This gave men somewhat equal rights; compared to the aristocracy they had known before. As men gained equal rights, women lost many of theirs. The family had before been a biological unit, but now took the form of a political and economic unit. Wives and mothers became obligatory, and women who did not follow the traditional functions faced legal consequences." This shows that male rule and power was accepted and whoever goes against would receive severe punishment. Also ever since the Paleolithic Era males have seen women as reproductive resources and as civilization and government was set up, men gained tremendous power due to beliefs and law and began to control their wives. An example of this kind of civilization is the Babylonians. The Babylonians followed a set of rules called the Hammurabi 's code, which "...established