Our ancestors, in their wisdom, considered that all women, because of their innate weakness, should be under the control of guardians.
– Cicero
What could your favorite ancient empire, Rome, the home of St. Augustine and Virgil, Dante’s guide through Hell, and modern Afghanistan have in common? While Rome is often considered to be the crucible of western culture, and Afghanistan to be indicative of modern Middle Eastern culture, these two cultures have an unfortunate similarity: they both devalue women. Before the first century AD, ancient Roman women lived under the rule of their fathers until they were married off, at which point they would submit to the rule of their husbands. As the above Cicero passage indicates, women had no means of defending themselves, physically or legally, without a male “guardian.”
Unfortunately, the situation in modern Afghanistan is not much better. Seeing Afghani women as marginalized, the U.S. military began an initiative in 2013 in which it began encouraging women to become police officers through specialized programs. This process, however, while succeeding in introducing women into the police force, has done little to rectify gender inequality in Afghanistan. This program has instead put women in danger. Is this program the best manner of introducing gender equality to the Middle East? To find out, let’s journey once more to Rome.
As previously stated, women in ancient Rome were not equal to men. For instance, after Emperor Augustus rose to power following the Roman civil wars, he instituted the Lex Julia et Papia-Poppaea, which are now simply known as the Augustinian Marriage Laws. These laws required that women from the ages of twenty-five to sixty had to be married, thus assuring that they would have the proper “guardians” and that the Roman population would increase.
While some historians argue that Romans valued the institution of marriage more than many of their Greek counterparts, women were by no means equal in Roman society. Of course, wealthy Roman women enjoyed more liberties than their poorer counterparts, which makes it very interesting that women from every echelon of Roman society participated in gladiatorial conflicts in the coliseum.
I’m sure many of us have seen Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, featuring Russell Crowe shouting “Are you not entertained?” after vanquishing his gladiatorial opponents. The gladiatorial games were common throughout the Roman Empire, constituting a very popular form of ancient entertainment. Surprisingly, both wealthy and poor women participated in gladiatorial conflict. In most cases, slave women would be forced into the coliseum and placed against various enemies such as beasts, other women or, according to Dio Cassius, “dwarfs.”
Despite displaying their strength and prowess through these battles, such women were still stamped with the infamia, a legal disability that was bestowed on prostitutes. On the other hand, wealthy women from aristocratic families also fought in the coliseum. Why would someone with money and more power than most subject herself to this struggle? In some cases, these women wanted to prove themselves, fighting to the death in defense of their family name or their own honor. More often than not, these women were forced to fight by their families in order that they attract the attention of other wealthy families. But even wealthy women were not truly respected for their feats in the ring. By 11 A.D., Emperor Augustus had banned freeborn Roman women from appearing in gladiatorial combat, seeing the practice as an embarrassment.
What does this have to do with modern Afghani policewomen? Unfortunately, modern Afghani women found themselves in a very similar situation. While Afghani women have become active members in various police forces throughout Afghanistan, many of these women are victims of sexual assault. Although they are official officers of the law, they are not even respected by male officers and are more likely to be assaulted by their colleagues than by criminals.
In fact, a study conducted in 2013 found that of the 130 policewomen who were interviewed, 70% had been sexually assaulted. Moreover, even though these women are helping to secure peace in Afghanistan, much like Roman gladiatrices they are viewed among the likes of prostitutes, dishonoring their families. Many Afghani policewomen are afraid to wear their uniforms in public, fearing that they will be assaulted on the spot.
After Afghani policewoman Parveena Sardar was shot to death by the Taliban, none of the six mullahs in her local town would bury her or lead her funeral service. The stigma runs deep.
BIC freshman have recently read works written by early feminists who took a stand against the objectification and sexualization of women that has ravaged humanity for centuries. The common misconception is that feminists hate men—and this is simply not true. Feminists also do not think women should have more than men. Feminists are people who believe that men and women are not equal but should be equal. Even in the United States, women still are not fully equal to their male counterparts in many workplaces and industries.
In places like Afghanistan, however, the situation is extremely dire in that women are being threatened with death for expressing themselves. In Afghanistan, women are compared with prostitutes for reaching positions of authority, such as law enforcement. Gender inequality has been an issue throughout history, but in Afghanistan women are only slightly better off than those in ancient Rome, and that is unacceptable.
What can be done to fight gender inequality in Afghanistan and in the world as a whole? Is this policewoman program the best way to fix the problem? Should it be stopped? Leave a comment below.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? All are welcome! Email me at Lee_Shaw@baylor.edu
Further reading on the Gladiatrices:
http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/gladiators/female-gladiators.htm
http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/augustanreformation.htm
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/women.html
Further reading on Afghani Policewomen:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/world/asia/afghan-policewomen-struggle-against-culture.html?ref=world&_r=0
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/10702626/The-Afghan-policewomen-taking-on-the-Taliban.html