Pastoral Societies

When I was going through my textbook "Ways of the World", an assigned book for my history class, I stumbled upon some interesting facts. I was reading about pastoral societies, and found it intriguing that the women of that culture had a different role in society than those of women in other agricultural civilizations. Women in these societies had better opportunities in public life and had statuses equal to men. They were involved in productive labor as well as their own duties, could initiate divorce, were political advisers and acted in military affairs. Other civilizations scorned upon the equality of women in the pastoral societies. I find it interesting that this ancient civilization was able to adopt the concept of gender equality in things such as tasks, both powerful and mundane. This civilization was very ahead of its time, considering America only recently allowed women to assume masculine roles in society.

If the idea of gender equality was accepted in all ancient societies and given the chance to progress through out history, the struggles of the feminist movements today might not even have occurred. Women in America had to fight for the right to an opinion in the government, or the right to vote, and didn't receive this unalienable right until 1920; even though women in pastoral communities had this power hundreds of years ago. I feel as though communities of today have taken on a more primitive line of action when it comes to gender equality and should learn from the advanced theories of the pastoral societies view on women.

To further explore the methods of the pastoral communities and the active role of women in their society:
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