Famous Female Leaders in the Ancient World Free Essay Example

In this presentation we discuss about the most famous female leaders in the ancient world. Throughout the history, women have been regarded as unequal and subordinate to men. The role of women in different civilizations, even though on different spectrums of the world, had many similarities and only a few differences. Women in these three ancient civilizations: Egypt, Maya and China faced many of the same hardships, struggles, and prejudices. These male-dominated cultures allowed women more freedom than others. When it came to allowing women equal rights, this strengthened the country in many diverse ways.

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We have learnt about two of the most powerful women who ruled Ancient China for about a half of a century. The first powerful woman that we have introduced during the in-class presentation is Wu Zetian, who is the only female Emperor in the history of China. The second powerful woman is the Empress Dowager Cixi, who is famous for her extraordinary talent to squandering money on luxurious banquets.

Throughout the exploration of Chinese female leaders, we found a common trait among them; this was ruthlessness and strong intention to gain political power. They killed or locked up anybody that stood on their way to success. As a result of the limited time, we have missed an opportunity to talk about the position of women and attitude towards them in Ancient China. We could add a fact that the life of ancient Chinese women was almost unbearable as they were treated with no respect and were treated as slaves until death for about two thousand years.

Marriages in ancient China were arranged. Once a woman gave birth to a son, she received more respect. Men from wealthy families quite often had several wives, in the hope of having several sons. When their husbands brought home a concubine, a mistress or prostitute, there was no scene of jealousy and unacceptance. Probably, the long term exposure of humiliation upon them made them merciless and brutal. Looking through Chinese history, it is proven and shown that males have always been the center of society, thus we can conclude that androcentrism prevailed in their society.

Gender inequality is still displayed in many countries around the globe. Although it seems like our culture is a progressive one, we still share many qualities with the ancient civilizations. Analyzing the history, women made a lot of efforts to achieve equal rights. Women are better off today, but still far from being equal with men.