The Role of Women in Ancient Civilizations - Movie Review Example

The Role of Women in Ancient Civilizations Civilization indicates human advancement in society. It explains how civilization is significant in making drastic changes the culture integration in the society characterizes development. The film "The Ascent of Woman: 10,000 Year story" by Dr. Amanda Foreman discusses how civilization has contributed to the extraordinary advancement of humanity. Amanda opts to depict the advancement through the eyes of women. She covers the ancient civilization and its impact on the status and roles of women. She established that gender inequality had no “blueprint” in the ancient human settlement. Civilization and patriarchy was one item as women role were overshadowed by male dominance. Despite the challenges, some extraordinary women had followed a different part to scent into power. The analyses and vision of Amanda Foreman display the essence of forging for the rights of women. In the episode of ‘revolution,' Foreman tours the United States and Europe displayed the women participation. The modern history and game-changing upbringing incidences, for example, Bolshevik radical Alexandra Kollonti and martyr Olympe De Gougea French revolutionists. Additionally, women rights activist like Maraget Sanger and Fawcett Millicent together with the African leaders Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucuka and Lindiwe Mazibuko. The uprising of women indicates the revolution as women rise and challenge the status quo through education, dialogue, and awareness. Individual women rise to power was achieved directly or indirectly, for example, through their palace, home, herem or convent. Fiona Shaw, a celebrated actress in London, infuses a speech written by Elizabeth I. Additionally, exploration of empress stories Nur Jahan of Mughal, Empress Theodore of Byzantium and Hildegard of Bingen. Mesopotamia had a twisted law compared to Ctalhoyuk were they believed women and men had equal sexes. Men and women lived together and worshiped their fertile goddess. However, Mesopotamia in 2400 BC shows that “If a woman speaks out of turn, then her teeth will be smashed by a brick." In Greece, the role of women in civilization was paramount when it comes to prostitution or slavery. Amanda Foreman traces women roles over 10,000 years ago. She notes, “I want to retell the story of civilization with men and women side by side for the first time. “The seemingly two counter-arguments explain the historical linkages between different societies and laws. The countless inequities, for example, right to own portray, divorce and the right to vote are displayed in similar forms, continents, and centuries apart. The experiences gathered around the world tell about different societies' ways of handling women. The travels to various countries, for example, Athens and Egypt, helped Amanda discover that there was no specific blueprint directed at helping women gain equality as enjoyed by men. Ancient history gave no account of the experiences of women. Issues concerning gender inequality, patriarchy, and civilization were interlinked. Egypt was permissive regarding women, but they were extracted from the public view in Assyria and Athens. The fascinating episodes covered illuminate the examination of the extraordinary women by Amanda in trying to obtain power (Foreman n.p). The inspiration Amanda obtained was based on her observation of the lack of coverage about women in history. Every topic in history tends to sideline women as though they never existed yet they were directly involved or indirectly involved in shaping history. The purist to highlight the ancient struggles to the classical world is to define the extent women helped during the ancient civilization. It is imperative to note Amanda’s tracking techniques on the traditional history that was ignored and the need to illuminate the women who were silenced and seek to define the role of women during the ancient civilization (Fullman 30). The research conducted By Dr. Amanda Foreman was extensive. Amanda revealed much when she read about the civil war. She found diaries and accounts by those who were present. There were exceptionally a lot of rape cases. The notion that there was none was misguided by the lack of agencies that received such complaints. It would be absurd to record that soldiers conducted themselves exemplary yet they performed the heinous act of raping women during war anyhow (Bush n.p). The revelations point’s woman as subjects of sexual abuse as their place in society was out of the picture in a male-dominated society. The male historians probably did not bother to highlight the women predicaments or were silenced not to cover the experiences of the women. The southern women were highly disadvantaged as they did not have any authority to report the atrocities experienced. Women role were not appreciated as men took the credit during the ancient civilization (Foreman n.p). The trajectory followed illuminates the verge to achieve equality and justice for women. However, the ancient civilization was never at any point considering the injustice but rather continued with the oppression and offering relative freedom to women. The film illumination of the ancient women civilization indicates the way the societies had blinded its horizon in giving women a chance to be seen in the community. The film coverage based on Amanda encountered displays the hidden side of the history of women and oppression. The fear of the men seeing women civilized was perhaps led by the need to have defined leadership roles and specific gender duties. Subjecting women to underclass was done by men who viewed women as less superior and were confined into homes while men moved out of their homes to work and conquer territories (Fullman n.p). For example, during the civil war, it is evident that women suffered the most because they were expected to remain in homes taking care of children. Little or no information was conveyed to them on the crucial issues happening that directly affect their lives. Amanda uses the example of failing and primitive agriculture that is often associated with women, however, if the agriculture blossoms, men from nowhere appear and claim the privilege. The fascinating literature depicts the absurdity of the women civilization. The increase in money blinded the men. In this case, Amanda refers to the contents based on the Babylonian tests on rape being an economic vice leveled against men. Citing David Graeber agreements on human relation, Foreman describes the view of seeing women bodies as communities’ turns out to be a devastating notion (Foreman n.p). Under the separated encounter, Foreman explores the increased instances of cases of “separate sphere” witness among the Buddhist and Confucians. The society followed the Yang and Yin cosmic orders hence sought to know the stand of women considering their inferior statuses. It is worrying to see how women during the ancient times were comfortable with the place set for them by men. The crafted move by the ancient ideologists to make women assume inferior positions in the society was ill-informed. However, instances like the Truing sisters rebelling in Vietnam presents a unique example of a female ruler. Lady Murasaki, the first novelists covering the Japanese culture (Fullman 34). Foreman explores written laws that were set to limit and govern women. Additionally, the rules and codes spelled out how women were expected to behave. Arguably, Amanda's findings are a sure indication of atrocities that women were subjected (Foreman n.p). However, given there were extraordinary women. The women were smart enough to find their ways to cling power in a society that was dominated by men. The women were mainly residing in the near east and across Europe. They included Ukok, Enheduanna, and Hatshepsut. The diffusion of women resilience and penetration into power was a sign that there was hope in gaining civilization for women in a male-dominated world. At some point, the increased exploration of the “strong” women helped facilitate the airing of women rights and the need for inclusivity. Perhaps one could think it commenced when patriarchy came into existence. For example, the discovery for the first civilization is claimed to occur in Cappadocia in 80000 B.C. However, this was based on equal terms concerning class and gender (Fullman n.p). Both class and gender were displayed on an equal tear and wear on skeletons hence indicating the significance of the burial rites and the use of a regular diet. Lack of a "big house" denoted status differences in the communicating. Further, Foreman’s arguments put the ideas for the betterment of women rights and justices to be dominant. She notes that "There's a huge difference between demanding something that has never happened before and demanding something back that was taken from us by civilization," This is significantly a liberating turning point (Foreman n.p). The status as depicted under Confucianism depicts women as a reckoning force that requires to be treated equally. Owing to this, Foreman opts to travel to Istanbul to explore how women created their path to ascending to power (Bush 120). The power creation was based on the women effort in subverting the limitation subjected to them to act to their advantage. Therefore, she highlights the success of extraordinary women. This illuminates the damages when narratives are told without covering women. This would bring fort untruths and wrong answers about women (Foreman 15). Conclusively, the film "The Ascent of Woman: A 10,000-year story" is critical in converting narratives about women. The essence of following this path by Foreman helps cover the untold stories about women. Women impact and overshadowing are significant in history and the way they ascended to power. The legacy of women subjected to gender inequality is still seen in the current society. The illumination by Foreman concentrates on revealing only the truths and the power of women despite the discrimination labeled against them. Works Cited Bush Trevino, Marcella. "History of Motherhood: Ancient Civilizations." Encyclopedia of Motherhood, Foreman, Amanda. "Civilization—The Ascent of Woman: A 10,000 Year Story." 2015, fod-infobasecom.db07.linccweb.org/p_ViewVideo.aspx?parentSeriesID=115721&tScript=0&xtid=114440. Fullman, Joe. Ancient Civilizations. 2013. Read More