Relationship between men and women in ancient societies in China and Egypt

Introduction

            Women rights are the rights that promote the status of a legal and social equality between men and women.  Though there are no equal or legal rights in most parts of the world, before democracy a fair approach developed in the ancient societies but was rare.  Matrimony was vital in both cultures and males were to make the most significant choices.  Conversely, Egyptian women had equivalent privileges than the Chinese women while the women in China looked upon their husbands.  They learned to be self-effacing and did not experience many life changes. Egyptian women ruled themselves and had common civil liberties as men. 

Differences between men and women in ancient China and Egypt societies

Women rights in China

            Ancient China was patrilineal and patriarchal society. They had very limited women rights and all women were under the dictation of men.  Women had no rights or civil liberties and occupied the most degraded and lowest life status.  For instance, women had to gain three obedient features and have four virtues.  The aspects were to abide by their father prior to wedding, their husbands throughout matrimony and their sons in if they had no husbands. The qualities included honesty, enjoyable look, taking precedence and a skilled woman.  During birth, female children were as extras of slaves in the family while the male children were as gifts, treated in a better way as they were worth, and could do more for the family (Hinsch, 77).

            Moreover, women had no rights to talk their opinions but forced to agree with the men’s opinions and ideas. These were some rules and regulations in Ancient China but inequality and rejection is already clear. Women rights in Ancient China were unfair and an instant of inequality as compared to those of men.  Men ruled the Chinese society and women were slaves where their whole life committed to serving men (Hinsch, 87).  

Who had better rights?

            Women in Ancient Egypt had better rights than women in Ancient China. They had much liberty and advanced rights same to those they presently have.  In Ancient China, woman’s life rotated around men around her.  Women could not make their own decisions or sound if they did not agree with what said to them.  The women of Ancient Egypt experienced equality in their societies unlike the women in China (Trigger, 43).

Women rights in Egypt

            In Ancient Egypt, women rights advanced compared to other societies as women had big freedom.  For instance, women in Egypt had the right to reject or accept marriage proposals, leave the man’s house for any reason without the permission of company of the man and could leave on her own and summon the legal rights.  These were some rights women had, and all applied to each woman despite their social class.  Women rights in Ancient Egypt were equal and fair compared to the men’s rights.  They had total freedom and according to research, their rights were almost similar to those of men (Robins, 134).     

Similarities between females and males in early China and Egypt societies

            Egyptian women could achieve property in several approaches. She could obtain them as contributions or legacy from the parents or the husband. She could also either obtain it from the good sales she earned through jobs or borrow.  She had the rights to claim up to a third of the society possessions in her matrimony.  For instance, the possessions that accrues to her husband and her when they wedded.  When a woman had her individual personal properties in matrimony, it continued being hers though the man had the free exploit of it.  In an instance of a separation, she took the property back.  On the husband’s demise, the women heredities two-thirds of the society possession and the other property shared among their children, the sisters, and the brothers of the dead. A female liberated to donate possessions from her man to her children and to her personal relatives.  She could also liberally disown kids of her personal possessions that she conveyed to her marriage or her distribution of the communal possessions (Robins, 145).  

            Marriage was an important factor in ancient Egypt.  Some people claim it as a marriage duty.  Compared to the current world, Egyptian marriage was different; marrying more than one wife and people of his close family based on a man’s power. There was no time boundary as to when inhabitants could marry but a young woman could not marry in anticipation of having begun to receive menstruation at the age of 14.  Marriage needed no religious or legal celebrations.  After she leaves her father’s house and goes into her new residence, she accredited to be a wife. The new husband became the new guardian to the girl.  Although the man restricted the possessions gained during the matrimony, the share of these possessions belonged to the woman and if the marriage ended, she could collect her share (Coltrane, 151).

            Divorce in ancient Egypt was a personal issue and the government was not involved unless the divorcees requested.  Any person who had a matrimony agreement would have to respect the marriage conditions and those who were unable invested for a legal document. Most marriages ended by the women going back to the family setting both of them to remarry.  The close elements of the matrimonial life were vital to them.  They took existence as a rotation and were not diffident about sex like the present society (Robins, 157)

            Pregnancy was important issue in the Egyptian women as the pregnant females was a victorious one.  By being expectant, females had all the admiration of the public, support from their men and the admirations from the younger ones. A mother named her child instantly after birth that ensured that the kid would have a person's name in the later life in any incidence of unlucky issue.  This society was in fear of the instant death more than the initial one.  The instant death was a form of destruction of the worldly reminiscence that was why names were important in the Egyptian community.  The Egyptian life was suitable in that it seemed a nice place for women to live.  Women balanced the universe harmony and had a power that endorsed God’s principles. Men and women in Egypt had the same legal and economic rights as shown in the Egyptian chronological writings (Robins, 187).    

            In Ancient China, females were subsidiary to males in most of their existence.  A female’s role was to take care of the husband, sons and other men around her.  Her utmost duty was to bore a boy and that did not mean she lacked respect from people.  Her position as a nurse or a mother in love was vital and her children respected her.  In their old age, their families respected women especially if she maintained her marriage.  Marriage was a planned connection made in a way that both families would benefit from the union.  The family of the bride gave him dowry and due to this, the bride’s father had the right to choose the person to marry his daughter.  Their male relatives for specific reasons sold women but this happened in families from poor backgrounds. If there was an awful yield, the father could sell his descendant to survive the family unit during the wintry weather.  There was the likelihood for the father to purchase his offspring after getting hitched the other girls.  The women sold in this approach ended up in brothels (Victor, 45). 

            Because of women being subservience, education was not a main concern in the society. Daughters of the women could be uneducated but this was because of the imperial China that was more an omission than a rule. Their work centered on homes and fireplace that is cooking and looking after children.  Their husbands would sell products as an income to the households and the farmer’s wives could help their husbands on the fields. There were less acceptable professions such as prostitution.  Wealthy and powerful persons had pleasant power and sometimes the person would buy the girl at no cost and take her as his own or a companion.  Powerful men had more wives (Coltrane, 65). 

            The mode of dressing in China was Hanfu for men and women but had different composition for each gender.  Each family would make their own Hanfu style where women’s styles included the quju description of shenyi that was a dressing code before the second millennium B.C. The quju has larger sleeves than the male Zhi Ju that was longer and had a curved turn-up. Powerful women wore less described versions of Hanfu or if they were doing common work, they wore loose trousers and simple open jackets with collar.  These women did not have worn makeup as the makeup trends were common in fashion among daughters and wives of the dignity who concentrated on eyebrows.  There was a legend in the Chinese society that an Emperor or a distinguished man could fall in love with a woman because of her stylish eyebrows (Victor, 89).

            Apart from painting their eyebrows, Chinese women applied foundation for a smooth look and applied red lipsticks on their cheeks and lips.  Dimples were improved and a flower portrait put on the forehead between the eyebrows.  Family life in China improved in the Chinese community. Men and women in China respected and loved their families. Their children did not just stay with the parents but also with their grandparents and other relatives.  People took great care of their children in carrying them all the time and gave them enough food. If a family in the China community was not rich, all the strong adults in the family had to toil in the fields during the day and the children stayed with the grandparents or with other elder women.  Boys in the Chinese community stayed with their parents even after becoming adults where they spend their whole time living in the same house.  Girls got married after growing up and went to live in their husbands houses (Hinsch, 109).         

Conclusion

            Many earlier civilizations contributed to the present world.  Two of the cultures and family life in these societies were both steady and created enduring cultures.  There was a series of leaders from the identical relatives or stripe in these societies.  Both societies looked upon family rule for guidance.  One thing that is much considered in China and Egypt is their characteristics. The Chinese society did not interact with other societies and protected from conducting trade outside the nation, but Egyptians were free to conduct trade with other nations.  In both societies, they received basic education and subjected to the men’s authority. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work cited

Coltrane, Scott. Gender and Families. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Pine Forge Press, 1997. Print.

Hinsch, Bret. Women in Early Imperial China. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. Print.

Robins, Gay. Women in Ancient Egypt. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1993. Print.

Trigger, Bruce G. Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print. 167

Victor, Christina R. Old Age in Modern Society: A Textbook of Social Gerontology. London: Chapman & Hall, 1994. Internet resource.