According to the text “Gender and Cultural diversity in the early contact period”, in Indigenous culture, gender wasn’t classified. In fact, both men and women were equal, no one was superior or inferior. Both men and women have their own roles in society. In indigenous culture, men hunt and gather, women take care of the children, prepare the meals and controlled the distribution of food in their communities. Both men and women could become shamans. Compared to Indigenous culture, European culture was different. Just like in Indigenous culture, men were also in charge of hunting and gathering and women of children, but the big difference is that women did not have power in society, they were not allowed to take any decision. A man was perceived as the ruler of the family.
Today, in Western Culture, the conception of gender changed. Now, Women are getting more right like example : the right to vote, to work, to divorce, etc. Although, there are still some inequalities between the two sexes like for example in some places, men are still getting paid more than women. Even though gender roles changed, people are still making stereotypes about men should be working and women staying at home. A lot of people think it is not “normal” to see a man cooking or taking care of the kids.
What struck me in the text is the part where the author said that in European cultures, the husband was considered as a firm and his wife had to obey him in all worldly matters. When I first read this part, I was shook and upset because back in the days, women were just seen as object, they did not have any authority and were not allowed to take any decisions. I was upset when I saw this part, because to me all of us are humans and we should all have the same rights. In some countries, men are still seeing superior to women and it is sad because in some places like in the Middle East or Asia, women do not have much freedom.
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