Role of Women in Rural Areas - Essay Example

Men were responsible for hunting game or wild animals, on the other hand, women gathered the plants and fruits. This is hunting was seen as a dangerous mission and required tact and skills which women did not possess. Men also made tools for hunting and protection while women concentrated on house chores such as cooking and making wearing apparel (Stiles).

It is believed that the hunting and gathering societies moved from hunting and gathering to horticulture. The move was not abrupt and was influenced by the changing climatic conditions that reduced the wild game. Horticulture is different from agriculture as it involves small pieces of land that were cultivated using digging sticks and abandoned after some time. The roles of men and women were different such that the men were different as men cleared the land and women planted seeds and tended and harvested the crops. Men at this stage continued to hunt but they were less productive (Stiles).

Agriculture involves the growing of plants and the rearing of animals. Men and women play different roles in agriculture such that men are involved in the heavy physical labor of preparing the land, herding livestock, application of pesticides, and negotiating the sale of crops. Women on the other hand are involved in weeding and taking care of the kitchen and the garden at home. The similarity here is in taking care of animals where the men take care of the large herds while the women take care of the smaller livestock at home (Prakash).

Men's and women's roles are complex today with most of the tasks shared and others neutral. It is difficult to pinpoint particular roles of the different genders today. Women primarily are still the caretakers in today’s society with men the providers. The roles are mostly neutral with any of the genders undertaking any role. This has been attributed to the fact that there is no weaker gender or a man’s job and the advocacies of gender equity (Siegel, 3-35).