The Changing Position of Women’s Labour from Feudalism to Capitalism

Introduction

In examining the present-day economic and social position of women, the historical process must be taken into account, because gender roles and patriarchy are not concepts that have existed since the dawn of humankind. In primitive nomadic societies there was no inequality in gender relations in the present-day sense. In these periods, in which matriarchal communities are also found, women were regarded as the source of fertility and life. Since survival was the most important goal in primitive times, men, being physically stronger, engaged in hunting, while women attended to tasks such as making household tools, caring for children and gathering food. When men were unable to hunt, therefore, they survived on the food provided by women. In this context, women’s contribution to economic life was very considerable. Although the first gender-based division of labour appears in this period, this division of labour was entirely natural in character. At later stages, gender and patriarchy emerged with the rise and development of property relations.