Femininity within and outside Greek System - Term Paper Example

The way of living and even the surroundings did not provide much scope for people to improve. Women in Greece were not given much freedom. They were allowed to talk only with female. Their main work was to take care of their home and children. Women did not have much influence and were not considered in any decision making process. Women did not have a major role to play, as men dominated them. (Paulos 2008). They had to depend on their husband. In ancient times there were statues of goddess which were sculptured keeping Greek women in mind.

Since it was a male-dominated system, women were considered powerless. Later in the 19th century, consciousness about feminism came into existence. Greek women were good at singing and dancing and they composed many songs. They were not allowed to pursue their education. The school system did not allow girls to get admission. They were considered fit only for domestic affairs. Women were used in demotic songs in rural areas as they were not strong economically. During marriage their opinion was not important.

The girl's father will decide a man and they will get married. Dowry played a vital part in those marriages. (Martin 1996). For a woman to divorce her husband, she had to go through a lot of legal procedures which were not as easy as compared to that of a man divorcing his wife. In ancient Greece, most divorces were by the husband. In such cases, the man would directly reject his wife in front of everyone and just drive her out of his home. Status of WomenOnce divorced, the woman can get back her dowry that was given to her husband .

But the worst part was the practice of retaining the children with the father itself. Thus no rights can be claimed by a lovable mother on her children. Such simple was the procedure for a man to divorce a woman. Whereas if a woman likes to get divorced, she has to go in search of a legal support to enlist the grounds on which she would want to get divorced. This can easily be stopped by the male community by making the woman to sit at home confined to four walls. There was an option in ancient Greek system which permitted the marriage to be called off if the woman had no children.

In that situation, the marriage can be broken up which would give way for the female community to get married to some other person. Ancient practicesIn ancient times religion was the driving force which kept the Greeks to move forward in the march towards development. They practiced idol worship and hence they strongly believed that humans were none other than the incarnation of God in various other forms. Thus they possessed the right to be bestowed with everlasting charm and supernatural powers.

As time progressed, there was a change in the nature and character of the god whom the ancient Greeks worshipped. They replicated the gods by themselves or by using the traditional methods which enabled them to communicate people. The ancient practices were such that when a woman gets married to a person, all of her property and assets would be under the control of her husband. Women were not allowed to step out of their house unless and until they had a valid reason. They were under the belief that a woman who had a respect in the society would never appear