Evaluating the Status of Women in Western Civilization

Since ancient times, the status of women's rights in the East and the West has shown great differences - the rights and status of Western women are clearly superior to those of Eastern women. In the past, people only understood the *** same discrimination and inequality between men and women under the laws of the ancient East and West, but did not pay attention to the relative differences under this *** nature. After all, women in the ancient West were never placed in a situation of subjugation to men, whether in law or in actual social life, their rights were fairly protected, unlike women in the East who were in an extremely miserable situation.　When we study the legal system and civilization of the East and the West in ancient times, if we pay a little attention, we will notice the significant difference in the status of women's rights between the East and the West. From the Code of Hammurabi, the Code of Manu to the laws of the Chinese dynasties, it can be seen that in ancient Greco-Roman and medieval Europe, women's rights were better protected, and their status in society was relatively higher than that of women in the East. In the East, women were regarded as the slaves and property of men, without any independent rights and personalities, and there was a great inequality between men and women. Oriental morals and laws were unusually strict on women, who were often blamed for everything, and the laws rarely protected women, while the punishments for women were surprisingly cruel and unfair. The Code of Hammurabi expressly provides that a freedman may sell his wife or children into slavery for debt. When a freedman is captured, his wife is not allowed to remarry and should not enter another person's home as long as the family has the means of subsistence. Otherwise, they should be prosecuted and thrown into the water. The mere suspicion of improper relations between men and women is enough to put innocent women to death. For example, the Code states that "if the wife of a freeman is accused of sleeping with another man, and she is not found to have done so, she shall be thrown into the river on account of her husband."