Women In Second Wave Civilizations

Second wave civilizations such as Rome, China, India, and Greece all experienced massive inequality formed by caste and class systems, patriarchies, and slavery. In all of these societies, women were seen as a minority. For example, in China, women were associated with weakness and darkness and that their one contribution to life was the ability to carry a child, preferably a boy. This idea of women as lesser was generally accepted by high class women who had leverage in their marriage because of their dowry and some even gained political power accomplished by leader Empress Wu. Another group with massive inequalities were the merchants of China. These people were constantly degraded as “unproductive, making a shameful profit from selling the work of

These people were not even associated with a part of Purusha (Indian god) because they were held at such low standards. What made this group of people so discriminated against was their job description. These jobs consisted of cremating corpses, dealing with the skin of dead animals, and having occupations as executioners. These jobs were considered unclean, polluting, and even vulgar. Slavery was recognized as an inequality of the second wave civilizations. These people were usually war prisoners or criminals who were seen as the “outsiders” in a class hierarchy. Even though some of these slaves were brutally treated and forced to work until death, some however, enjoyed a more filling and successful life. For example, some slaves worked for the state or in the households of their masters while others worked dreadfully in the mines. Also, some masters retired their slaves when they got too elderly to work efficiently. Also, others were granted their freedom after they had paid off a debt or could purchase their freedom. This goes to show that even though slaves were greatly ill-treated, some lived decent