Ask Lemmy

There are examples of women’s contributions to science, philosophy, government, and arts throughout history (Hypatia, Boudicca, Cleopatra, Hildegard von Bingen, Iaia, Queen of Sheba Makeda, Wu Zeitan, Queen Victoria, etc.). Most of those women were either religiously celibate or widowed young, which allowed them to “respectably” act as individuals. Had they been married to men who lived longer, I think we probably wouldn’t know their stories. My suspicion is that (the mostly male) historians simply overlooked women at best, and actively suppressed their roles in history or attributed their work to their husbands at worst.

The major world religions have played a huge role in our understanding of the world, given that most scholars whose work we still have access to were in some way affiliated with Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Platonism or Zoroastrianism. Every single one of those religions was, at least at one point, dominated by a patriarchal cultural mindset (though interestingly, most of them started out relatively egalitarian).

Note to self, don't marry.

I mean, you’re not wrong, but that carries a different risk. (sorry about the source, but it’s relatively comprehensive)