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Do women have history? History of their own gender, history of their own development through the centuries?

Usually we speak about the history of the mankind (read: humankind), because that’s what mostly history has been written and made for.

3500 years!

If we take into account a range of 3500 years of human history there is not too much to be seen and heard of women, in their specific context. 3500 years…it is a big deal in human history, don’t you think?  What were women refrained from, as there were no women figures to be distinguished, no voices to be heard, and no view of thinking to be remembered? As of today, we are well informed that the brain and intelligence of a human, does not differ too much because of the sex, comparing a man versus a woman. A man can be very smart, but also a woman can be very smart, as well.

Have you ever think of that? Any of us? Mostly not. Hardly women have noticed this fact, but there are also a lot of men not interested or seeing it from this point of view. We take things for granted, it has been so and it will continue to be this way, as rules are so deeply instilled from one generation to the other and passing by continuously. It seems as something which comes by default.

From the other side, here they are, women, more than half of the population, those who are giving birth to the male generation, those who love and suffer and sacrifice just exactly as their significant other, the men. Why that exclusion? Why nobody cared for such a long time?

There is a particular contribution of a great woman, a distinguished historian for more than 30 years, a pioneer in women’s studies, Ms. Gerda Lerner. She dedicated several years to a book “The Creation of Patriarchy”. She defines the “patriarchy”, as a system, an historical one.

Here it is a little bit of history coming from Ms. Lerner. According to her, the patriarchy was formed in very ancient times, the concept was created at a certain time of human history. How it came that kind of subordination, and why. There is a logic in the biologically differences between men and women. As women were child bearers, there was a sexual division of labour by which women themselves choose those jobs which were more close to child-raising and to their motherish style. As this was going for such a long time it became institutionalized over the centuries. From her research that time was during the Golden Age, long before Bible or Greek era were developed. The latest took the women subordination already by granted, as was in full existence by that time.

So to summarize Ms. Lerner’ opinion, patriarchal dominance is not something “by default”, it did not come naturally and it is not a biological thing. It is just historical…. and if it has a beginning as a history, it should have an end, due to development and nowadays life development circumstances.