Random Historical Moments

"When gender is used as a major principle of organization, there is usually a very [great] opposition between the ideals and behaviour of the sexes, as in Hindu, Islamic or Mediterranean cultures. In the extreme cases the worlds of men and women overlap very little indeed and there is a very large emphasis on the threat and hostility between the genders and on the inferiority and subservience of women. This is related again to the 'honour and shame' complex; men have honour, women bring shame. Against such a background, what is striking at first glance from our parish records is the absence of a marked opposition. There is a striking similarity between men and women, a relaxed and friendly attitude, a mutual and affectionate sparring of almost equals, an absence of most of what is now known as male machismo, of female 'shame' of a stress on threats to female virginity. Women are not hidden away by dress or by buildings; they are not the vulnerable possessions of men. Though within the family, in relations of power, the man has the casting vote, it is meant to be a rule at the family level where both are 'under the law'. There are only hints of a gender opposition."