Women had to continually live under the authority of men and...

Women had to continually live under the authority of men and had to absolutely devote themselves to the whims of men—to such an extent that in widespread famines the flesh of women was known to be eaten. In short, in primitive human societies, women were considered only human in form, but were treated like domestic animals. Woman, liberated in chains! Stage two: In a stage of the social life of women, civil laws appeared within civilized nations.

Such as the system of Hammurabi of Babylonia and the laws of ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, China, and Persia which were similar to modern civil laws. Even though these systems and laws were very different from each other, a similarity may be found among them: women had rights as a human in society, but they were viewed as a weak type of human that could not run their lives by themselves. In these societies, women had to be under the authority and guardianship of men.

They lived out their lives as followers and had no independence. They were not given the freedom to choose their path in life nor possess property. They were not given independence of action so that they could ascribe deeds to themselves and enjoy the proprietary rights or profits of the actions. They did not have the right to sue or bear witness in court, and they had no authority whatsoever. In such societies, as long as a woman lives in her father’s house, she must obey her father.

A father could do anything he wanted regarding his daughter; he could marry her off to any person or give her away or take up any policy he desired. In these societies, women generally did not possess an official familial relationship—with men or other women—entailing inheritance and other rights. They only possessed natural kinship which sometimes prevented marriage with their father, brothers, and sons. In ancient Persia, marriage with immediate family was acceptable.

In China and the Himalayas, natural relationship came from the woman and lineage was focused on women. As a result, one woman could have several husbands. This custom still prevails among some people. Instead of tracing ancestry from fathers, the line of mothers is delineated. Among these clans and nations, woman could possess no property except in rare cases where they worked with the permission of their guardians or were given a marriage gift and their guardians did not take it away.

A woman’s life was managed by her guardian.