The Wall Street Journal recently published a disturbing story about gender pay gap. The results of their research show that the disparities in pay begin as early as three years after men and women enter the work force. An increasing number of men and women get advanced degrees to become doctors, lawyers, accountants, entrepreneurs with MBAs and more. The tuition is the same for both sexes as is access to the same classes. What happens?
When we researched how women become subordinate to men, the gap in financial compensation for women compared to men is one of the most egregious forms of discrimination.
During our lifetime, there have been women who spoke up for equivalence particularly, Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. How is it still possible that men receive more pay than women for equal work? And this is not based on a woman’s body of work over a long career but within three years of leaving school.
We looked back in history to see if there was a cultural, genetic or societal predisposition that pronounces women as less valued than men. The answer is a resounding NO as we discovered in researching women and culture throughout history.
There are thousands of stories about women throughout history as leaders and soldiers and tribal authorities. For example, the history of women in twelfth-century culture is especially notable: From Atlas Obscura we found a fascinating article, “The Women Who Ran Genghis Khan’s Empire”:
“IN 1178, A 17-YEAR-OLD MONGOL woman married a man she hardly knew. And while her husband traveled and fought and conquered, she ruled those who remained in Mongolia, managing every aspect of daily life in a massive nomadic camp. Commanders and shepherds alike reported to her, and she coordinated complex seasonal migrations of thousands of people and their livestock. At 28, she became the Grand Empress of the Mongol Empire; her name was Börte.”
Genghis Khan is credited in history for founding the largest contiguous land empire in the world. Meanwhile his wife, Börte took charge of everything including fighting in wars. While Genghis Khan fought in years-long military campaigns, Börte and other Mongol women kept the empire functioning.
Please take the time to read this article about the women who ran the Mongol empire. It is a captivating and worthwhile read.
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mongol-women
It makes us wonder how it is that this is going on today:
According to a story in last week’s New York Times, “The Taliban’s Dangerous Collision Course With the West”, the women and young girls in Afghanistan are in limbo as they now face the reemergence of Taliban leadership that forbids them the opportunity to be educated in school. The article states “Opposition to girls’ education among the Taliban was rooted in a particularly strict interpretation of traditional gender roles practiced in rural Afghanistan. It was this vision of a virtuous village lifestyle, where a woman’s place was at home, that the Taliban tried to impose nationwide in the 1990s. “
READ that again: “a virtuous village lifestyle, where a woman’s place was at home”.
This is not about the choice of working versus staying at home. Rather it is about preventing women from having the right to be educated. It is about the right to have a level playing field.
www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/magazine/taliban-afghanistan.html?
To understand the dominance of men over women in today’s Middle East, we researched the position of women in ancient Persia. Cyrus the Great (r. c. 550-530 BCE) established Persian freedom of expression in his empire and was responsible for maintaining the dignity and autonomy of women of every class.
According to World History Encyclopedia:
“Women in ancient Persia had more rights and freedom than any other ancient civilization including ancient Egypt. Women were not only highly respected but, in many cases, considered the equals of males. Women could own land, conduct business, received equal pay, could travel freely on their own, and in the case of royal women, hold their own council meetings on policy.”
In 651CE, Arab Muslims suppressed the ruling Sassanian Empire including the equality and autonomy of women. “Women now became second-class citizens requiring a male’s permission to travel, engage in business, marry, or pursue an education.”
Even after the adoption of Islam, Persian women never again achieved the equality enjoyed during the Sassanian Empire.
I recall watching “Wonder Woman” with my granddaughter. These women ruled their island and my granddaughter asked me if this were possible that women could be rulers in the world today. Interesting question from a then seven-year old.
Think history and Jane Austen who describes in multiple best-selling novels about how men control the destiny of country estates and wealth. Primogeniture and Entailed Estates were the standard bearers for hundreds of years. Inheritance passed through men not women. And yet who were the strong characters in her novels? Women…..of course.
We’ve come a long way…. Or have we? Apparently not in some of the most significant ways as of August 2022.
Ciao
Lucy and Claudia