Chapter 7 Chapter 6 Patriarchy and Ancient Society

Chapter 6 Patriarchy and Ancient Society Women were deposed with the advent of private property.For centuries her fortunes have been bound up with private property: much of her history is closely linked with the history of hereditary property.It is easy to appreciate the extreme importance of this institution if one takes note of the fact that the owner transforms, alienates his own existence into his property.He cared more about his possessions than about his life.Property transcends the limited confines of this earthly life, and survives the disappearance of the body—it is the union of the immortal soul with earthly matter.But this existence can only be realized while property remains in the hands of the owner: only when property belongs to the individual on whom he considers himself projected and owned by him, can he transcend death and possess this exist.Cultivating the father's domain, worshiping the father's dead soul—these constitute the exact same obligation of the heir: he guarantees the existence of his ancestors in this world and in the underworld.So, neither to his gods nor to his children, a man agrees to share with a woman.It is impossible for him to realize his rights completely and forever, but in the era of patriarchy, men completely deprived women of the right to property possession and bequest.

For that matter, the approach seems logical.When a woman's child is no longer considered to belong to her, the child loses any connection with the group to which the woman belongs.The woman is now no longer rented from one gens to another by marriage; she is completely severed from her group and annexed by her husband's.The husband bought her as one buys livestock or a slave, imposing on her the gods of his family, and the children she bore belonged to the husband's family.If a woman is the heir, to a large extent she transfers her father's family property to her husband's family.So she was cautiously excluded from the line of succession.But in turn, because a woman has nothing, she also has no dignity as a human being.She herself was part of a man's hereditary estate: first her father's, then her husband's.Under a strict patriarchal system, fathers could put a boy or girl to death from the day they were born.But in the case of boys, society usually places limits on the power of the father: every normal baby boy is likely to survive, while the custom of abandoning baby girls is widespread.Infanticide is common in Arabia: girls are thrown into the gutter as soon as they are born.Accepting a girl is an act of generosity on the part of a father.Women enter society only because they are granted amnesty, not as legally as men.At any rate, when the baby is a girl, the filth of childbirth seems to be worse for the mother: among the Hebrews, if a girl is born, the Book of Reben requires the mother to take longer to cleanse herself than to give birth to a boy. The child is two months old.In societies that practice the custom of "price of blood," the victim, if a woman, requires only a small number: her worth is compared to that of a man, as a slave is worth to a free man.

If she is a maiden, the father has every power over her.If she marries, he transfers power plus (all) to her husband.Since wives were a man's property as well as draft animals or a piece of chattel, a husband could of course have as many wives as he pleased.Polygamy is limited only by economics.A husband can abandon his wife at will, with little protection from society.Women, on the other hand, are governed by very strict notions of chastity.In matriarchal societies, although taboos exist, a great deal of freedom of movement is allowed.Girls are hardly required to remain chaste before marriage, and sex is not considered a serious matter.On the contrary, after a woman becomes a man's property, the man requires her to be a virgin and requires her to be absolutely faithful, otherwise she will be punished by capital punishment.It is a crime of the gravest kind that dares to give an inheritance to an offspring by a stranger.So the male patriarch has the right to execute the guilty spouse.As long as private property exists, marital infidelity on the part of the wife is regarded as the greatest treason.All the codes which up to now have upheld the principle of inequality in the matter of adultery have all based their arguments on the very serious fault of the wife who brings an illegitimate child into the house.If it is said that the right of husbands to judge their wives by themselves has been abolished since the time of Augustus, then the Napoleonic Code allows juries to grant pardons to husbands who judge themselves.

When the wife belongs to both the patrilineal gens and the matrimonial family, she manages to maintain a non-negligible freedom between the two sets of relations.These two sets of relationships are messy, even antagonistic, each enough to support her against the other.For example, she can often make her own choice in choosing a husband, since marriage is merely a worldly matter that does not affect the fundamental structure of society.However, under the patriarchal system, she was the property of her father, who married her off according to his wishes.Later when attached to her husband's family, she was only a chattel of her husband's, a chattel of the new clan to which she had joined.

As long as the family and private hereditary property remain indisputably the foundation of society, women will be at the bottom of society.This is the case in the Arab world.Its structure was feudal, and no Arab state was strong enough to unify and rule other tribes: no power could check the power of the patriarch.Islam, which was born when the Arabs fought frequently and won victories, showed extreme contempt for women.The Qur'an states: "Men are superior to women because Allah endows them with outstanding qualities and they give bride price to women".Arab women had neither real power nor mystical prestige.The Bedouin woman worked hard, plowing the fields and transporting goods, so she and her spouse formed a codependent relationship.She can walk freely on the road without a veil.And veiled, secluded Muslim women remained slaves in most social classes.

This reminds me of when I was in a primitive village in Tunisia and saw four women squatting in an underground cave: the oldest wife was a one-eyed woman with all lost teeth and a very ugly face. Cooking on a brazier.The other two wives, who were younger but almost as ugly, were holding babies in their arms - one of them was nursing.The youngest wife, evidently very much favored, adorned herself with silk, gold, and silver, was beating the woolen thread at the loom.Just as I was walking up the aisle toward the light, ready to leave this dark cave—the kingdom of immanence, the womb, the tomb—I met a man.He was dressed in white and neatly groomed; he was friendly and cheerful.He had just come back from the market where he had discussed world affairs with other men: hours of such amusement would be spent in the center of this vast universe to which he belonged and which was inseparable from him.For the old women who have grown old, for the young wives whose beauty is also destined to disappear soon, there is no universe other than this smoky cave, and they can only wear veils quietly at night. Get out of here.

In biblical times, the customs of the Jews were exactly the same as those of the Arabs.The patriarchs practiced polygamy, and they could abandon their wives almost at will.A young wife must be delivered to her husband as a virgin or she is severely punished; a wife who commits adultery is stoned to death; she is always bound by domestic obligations, as attested by the biblical description of a virtuous woman : "She walks toward wool and linen... rises even at night... her candles burn all night... she never idles." Although she is chaste and industrious, she is still ceremonially unclean , surrounded by taboos.The court found her testimony inadmissible.The book of Ecclesiastes speaks of her in this way: "I found it more painful than death that a woman's heart is a snare and a snare, and her hands are like fetters... I found that the excellence of men is one in a thousand , but of all women there is not one eminent." Custom, though not law, required a widow to marry the brother of the deceased upon the death of her husband.

This custom called harate can be found in many oriental peoples.One of the problems that must be faced in any system which places women in guardianship is what to do with widows.The most extreme solution is to place them in the grave of their husbands as sacrificial objects.But even in India, the law does not always require such massacres.The Code of Manu allowed wives to outlive their husbands.A heroic suicide is nothing but aristocratic fashion.More often, the widow was handed over to the husband's heirs.Marriage sometimes took the form of polygamy.In order to prevent the widow's status from changing, all the brothers in the family give a woman to be their husband. This custom is also enough to protect the tribe from the harm caused by the husband's possible infertility.According to a passage by Caesar, in Brittany it seems that all the men of the family had a certain number of women in this form.

Patriarchy is not everywhere established in this extreme form.In Babylon, Hammurabi (Wedi) law recognized a place for women.She can get part of her father's property, and if she gets married, her father will provide her with a dowry.In Persia, polygamy was the norm.A wife must be absolutely subject to her husband, whom her father has chosen for her when she is of marriageable age.But she is more respected than women of most oriental races.Incest was permitted in Babylon, and marriages were often between brother and sister.Wives are obliged to educate their children—boys until they are seven years old, and girls until they marry.If the son showed that he was an unworthy son, she could get part of her husband's property.If she is a "privileged spouse," she is entrusted with custody of minor children and, in the event of her husband's death, with no minor sons, the management of business affairs.The Babylonian law of marriage clearly shows the importance to the head of the family of the existence of offspring.There seem to be five forms of marriage: (l) A woman, when married with her parents' consent, is called a "privileged spouse"; her children belong to her husband. (2) When a woman is an only child, her first child is given to her parents as her substitute; after that, the wife becomes a "special spouse". (3) If a man dies unmarried, his family will give a dowry to a married woman and adopt her in the form of marriage. This woman is called an adopted wife and her children. Half belong to the deceased and half belong to the deceased. Belonging to her living husband. (4) When a childless widow remarries a servant wife, she must give half of the children born after the remarriage to the deceased husband. (5) A woman married without parental consent shall not inherit property from her parents until her eldest son has grown up and given her as a "privileged spouse" to his own father; if the husband dies before then, she Persons considered minors are subject to guardianship.The system of adopted wives and servant wives enables every man to have offspring to continue his life, and he does not have to be related to them by blood.This further corroborates what I said above, for consanguinity is in a way invented by man out of his desire to obtain immortality in this world and the underworld after death.

In Egypt, the situation of women was very favorable.The goddess-like mother retains the prestige of a wife.The husband and wife are a religious and social unit, and the woman seems to be in alliance with the man and complements him.Her magic is so hardly hostile that the fear of incest is overcome, and sister and wife are taken for the same thing without hesitation.A woman has the same rights as a man, and has the same authority in the courts; she has the right to inherit and property of her own.This very fortunate situation should in no way be attributed to chance: it arose from the fact that the lands of ancient Egypt belonged to the king, high priests and soldiers.Ordinary people have only the right to use the land and the possession of the products of the land—the usufruct (the land itself cannot be transferred. The property that people inherit has little value, so its distribution will not cause any difficulties. Since there is no private hereditary Property, the woman retains her human dignity. She is not forced to marry, and if she becomes a widow, she can remarry at will. Men practice polygamy, but although all children are legal, there is only one real wife. Only she can participate Religious activities and legally subject to him, the other wives are nothing but slaves and have no rights. The status of the main wife (thetnamwife) has not changed when she gets married, she is still the master of her own property and can still do business freely. To Bojoris Pharaoh (MBochoS) When private ownership was established, the position of the Egyptian woman was so strong that it was impossible to drive her down. Bochoris created an era of contract, and marriage itself became a contract.

There were three types of marriage contract: one type involved slave marriage; although the woman became the property of the man, there were sometimes provisions against him taking more concubines.At the same time, legal wives are considered equal to men, and all property belongs to two people.In a divorce, the husband often agrees to pay her a sum of money.This custom later led to a contract particularly favorable to the wife: the husband gave her an artificial confidence.The punishment for adultery was severe, but both parties were almost free to divorce.It is very easy to weaken polygamy by enforcing these contracts.Women monopolized the great wealth and passed it on to their children, thus the plutocracy emerged.Later Ptolemy Filopat decreed that women could no longer dispose of their property without the authorization of their husbands, making them permanent minors.But even with their privileged status (unique in the ancient world), women were not equals to men in society.They participate in religious and government affairs and can act as regents, but pharaohs are men, and so are priests and soldiers.Women are expected to play a secondary role in public life, and are expected to have one-sided allegiance in private life. Greek customs are very similar to oriental peoples, but polygamy is not included.What is the reason for this is not clear.Indeed, the maintenance of wives and concubines always costs a lot of money; only Solomon (fofolnO), the sultans, kings, chiefs and rich men in their heyday, could indulge in a cloud of concubines.Ordinary men are satisfied with three or four wives, but farmers rarely have more than two wives.Furthermore—except in Egypt, where no specific private property existed—the emphasis on the integrity of hereditary property also led to the transmission of the father's hierarchical privileges to the eldest son.This creates a hierarchy among the wives, with the mother of the chief heir having far greater dignity than the mothers of the other heirs.If the wife has property of her own, if she has a dowry, she is a person to her husband: the bond that binds him to her is both religious and unique. Undoubtedly, it is precisely based on this situation that the custom of only recognizing one wife has formed.But in fact, polygamy was also practiced by Greek citizens, because men could use city prostitutes and boudoir maids to satisfy their desires.Demosthenes said: "We have high-class prostitutes who provide spiritual pleasures, mountain climbers [concubines] who provide physical pleasures, and wives who bear us sons." If the wife is sick.Unwell, pregnant, or recovering from childbirth, the concubine would take her place and lie on the master's bed.So there is not much difference between the boudoir of ancient Greece and the boudoir of Islam.In ancient Greece, the wife was kept in the place where she lived, the law placed her under strict control, and she was watched by special magistrates.She is a permanent minor for life, at the disposal of her guardians.This guardian can be her father, her husband, her husband's heirs, or, if none of these are present, a government official representing the country.These people were her masters, whom she disposed of like commodities.The guardian's dominion not only involves her person, but also extends to her property.Guardians can transfer their powers at will: fathers can marry off or put their daughters up for adoption; husbands can abandon their wives and give her to a new husband.However, Greek law still guarantees that the wife has a dowry, and if the marriage is dissolved, the dowry must be returned in full to maintain her livelihood.In some rare cases, the law also gives wives the right to file for divorce.But these are the only guarantees society offers.The whole property was of course passed to the boy, and the dowry represented not property acquired through this relationship, but a gift required of the guardian.Thanks to the custom of dowry, however, the widow no longer passed to her husband's heirs as hereditary property did: she was again under the guardianship of her parents. One question that arises in societies based on male lineage is what happens to property if there are no male offspring?Greece developed a patrilineal intermarriage custom: the female heir must marry the oldest relative of the father's family (clan), so that the property left to her by the father will be passed on to children belonging to the same group, and the territory will remain the same. The property of a family (clan).Jia He Zhi (the wife who practices patrilineal intermarriage) is not an heir—she is merely a tool for producing a male heir.This custom made her completely at the mercy of men, since she was automatically transferred to the first born male in her family, who was often actually an old man. Since the motivation for oppressing women is to perpetuate the family and preserve hereditary property intact, women must flee the family if they want to completely get rid of their dependent status.If a society that does not allow private ownership can also resist the family, people will find that the fate of women in this society will be greatly improved.Sparta practiced public ownership, and it was the only Greek city-state that gave women almost equal treatment with men.In Sparta, girls were educated in a manner similar to boys, and the wife was not shut up in her husband's house: indeed, the husband could only meet her secretly at night; the wife was hardly his property, so that on eugenic grounds, Another man can ask to be married to her.When hereditary property disappeared, so did the idea of ​​adultery.All children belonged entirely to the city, and women were no longer discreetly enslaved by one master.Or, conversely, the citizen has no private property and no particular ancestry, so he no longer has the right to possess women.Just as men are enslaved by war, so women are enslaved by motherhood.But there is no restriction on their liberty other than the fulfillment of this civic duty. In Greece, along with the free women just mentioned and the slaves living in the gens, there were prostitutes.Among primitive peoples there is often practiced a courteous whore--the taking of a woman's wife as a stranger, no doubt with mysterious justification--and also a sacred whore, whose purpose is to unleash, for the public good, the Magical fertility.These customs existed in ancient times.Herodotus mentioned that in the 5th century BC, every Babylonian woman was obliged to go to the Temple of Mirita to marry a stranger once in her life in exchange for money dedicated to the temple; Life.The religious system of prostitution has continued down to the present day among the dancers of the Egyptian and Hindu monasteries, who constitute the respected class of musicians and dancers.In Egypt, India, and Western Asia, however, the sacred system of prostitution often became legally profitable, and the priestly class found the trade profitable.Even among the Hebrews there was a system of profitable prostitution. In Greece, especially on the coasts, on the islands, and in the tourist cities, there are often temples where "maidens entertaining strangers," as Pindar called them, were found.Their money can only be used for religious institutions - that is, for the priests, and indirectly for their livelihood.In fact, in Corinth (COrinth) and other city-states, there is still a hypocritical exploitation of the sexual demands of sailors and tourists, and this is already a system of prostitution in exchange for money or profit.It was Solon again who created this institution of exchange.He locked up his purchased Asian slaves in "dicterions," located near the Temple of Venus in Athens, not far from the port.A brothel is run by a brothel owner who is responsible for the financial management of the establishment.Every girl has a fixed income, and the net profit is paid to the state.Later, some private brothels called you pa opened, and they used bright red male genitalia as their business logo.Soon, in addition to slaves, the lower class women in Greece were also drawn into prostitution. "State brothels" were considered so important that they were recognized as sacred sanctuaries.But prostitutes are still notorious people.They have no social rights and their children are unwilling to support them.They can only wear special clothes with colorful and floral decorations, and dye their hair saffron. In addition to the "state" prostitutes, there are free prostitutes, who can be divided into three types: dicteriads, which are very similar to today's licensed prostitutes; auletrids, which are dancers and flute players. and the he.airas, prostitutes, mostly from Corinth, who maintained open liaisons with the most famous men in Greece, playing the social role of the modern "girl of the world."The first type of prostitute was recruited from free slave girls and girls of the lower class in Greece, and was exploited by prostitute introducers, leading a miserable life.The second kind of courtesan can often become rich because of her musical talent.The most famous was Laminus, the mistress of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, and later Ptolemy's conqueror, Demetrius Poriosit, king of Macedon.As for courtesans, some were known to share in the splendor and wealth of their lovers.They have free command over themselves and their wealth; they are intelligent, educated, artistically gifted, and treated as human beings by the men who are infatuated with them.Because they fled their families and lived on the margins of society, they escaped the domination of men.Thus men can consider them to be of the same kind, almost equal to themselves.In Aspasine, Phylline, and Lais, the superiority of the free woman over the respected mother of the family can be clearly seen. Putting these glorious exceptions aside, the Greek woman was half-slaved, not even free to complain.In the great classical age, women were kept firmly in the boudoir.Pericles (Pericles) said: "The wisest woman is the least talked about." Plato suggested a liberal education for girls and let a woman of prestige run the republic, he was ridiculed by Aristophanes .But according to Xenophon, wives and husbands are strangers, and the wife is generally required to be a vigilant housewife, shrewd, frugal, industrious like a bee, and a model maid.Although the woman is very dignified, the Greeks are still very disgusted with her.From the epigram writers of antiquity to the classics, women are under constant attack from them.Not because of her debauchery—in which she was extremely strictly regulated—nor because she represented the flesh.It is mainly the burden and inconvenience of marriage that men find unbearable.We have to assume that women, despite their inferior status, have an important place in the home.She can be disobedient at times, overpowering her husband with tantrums and crying.Therefore, marriage, which was originally intended to enslave women, has now become a bullet shot at a man and a shackle on him.The image produced by Xanhppe sums up all the resentment of Greek citizens against shrew wives and unhappy married lives. In Rome it was the conflict between family and state that determined woman's history.The society of the Etruscans was matriarchal, and the intermarriage system under the matrilineal system may still be practiced in the era of Roman autocracy: the Latin kings did not pass power from generation to generation in a hereditary manner.There is no doubt that patriarchy was established after Tarquin's death: agricultural property, private property—and thus the family—became the monistic basis of society.Women are likely to be bound by hereditary property and thus by the family group.The law even stripped her of the protected rights that had been extended to Greek women.She lived a life of slavery without legal capacity.She was of course excluded from public affairs, and all "masculine" offices were strictly forbidden to her; she was a permanent minor in civil life.She was not directly deprived of a share of hereditary property given to her by her father, but indirectly prevented from exercising dominion over it—she was placed under the authority of a guardian.Gains said, "The guardianship system is established in the interests of the guardians themselves, so they are the presumptive heirs of the woman, and she cannot disinherit them, transfer hereditary property to others at will, and cannot pass on consumption and debts. Reduce hereditary property." The first guardian of a Roman woman was her father.In his absence, this duty is performed by her male relatives.After a woman gets married, she is at the mercy of her husband.There are three types of marriage: (union marriage), in which the newlyweds offer a piece of scone in front of the [priest] to the Temple of Jupiter; Babaqie [trade marriage], which is a presumed sale in which a commoner father sells his daughter transfer to her husband "as property rights"; and (statute of limitations marriage), which is the result of a year of cohabitation.All these forms of marriage are associated with "mana" (patriarchal marriage), which means that the husband takes the place of the father or other guardian.A wife is like a husband's daughter, who has complete control over her person and her property.But from the time of the formation of the Twelve Tables there was a conflict because the Roman woman belonged to both the patriarchal and the marital gens.These conflicts are the root cause of her legal freedom from her father's domination.In fact, marriages associated with (patriarchal marriages) deprive patrilineal guardians of their rights. To protect these patrilineal relatives, a form of marriage (non-patriarchal marriages) emerged.In this form, the woman's property is still at the disposal of the patriarchal guardian, and the husband has only the right to dispose of her person.Even this power is shared with her patriarch, who retains absolute authority over her daughter.The Family Tribunal (mountain m fat hCtribunal) is empowered to resolve disputes that may cause conflict between fathers and husbands.Such courts allow a wife to sue her husband against her father, or against her father against her husband, and she is not the chattel of either.And, while the family is powerful (as evidenced by this inquisition independent of the social inquisition), the father and head of the household is first and foremost a citizen.His authority is unlimited, and he is absolute ruler over his wife and children, but these are not his property.Rather, he directs their existence for the common good: the wife—who bears children, whose domestic work includes agricultural labor—is useful to the state and is therefore deeply respected. We note here a very important fact that has been encountered throughout history: that abstract rights do not adequately define woman's actual concrete situation; that situation is largely determined by her economic role; Freedom and specific power tend to vary inversely.From a legal point of view, the Roman woman was more enslaved than the Greek woman, but in reality she was much more integrated into society.She was at home in the hall—the center of the residence—rather than tucked away in the boudoir.She directed slave labor and directed the education of her children, who were often under her influence well into old age.She labors, takes care of her husband, and is considered a co-owner of his property.The housewife is called the heart, and she is the mistress of the house, the man's religious companion—she is not a slave, but his companion.The bond linking her to him was so sacred that not a single divorce occurred in five centuries.Roman women were not confined to their residences, they were allowed to attend banquets, ceremonies, and theaters.Men had to give way to them on the road, and even the consuls and waiters had to stand aside to let them pass.From legends about the Sabine women, Lucretia (Incretia) and Virginia (Viopnia), it can be seen that Roman women played an important role in history.Criolan yielded to the entreaties of his mother and wife; the law of Lucinius (theho Ofhainius) affirmed the triumph of Roman democracy, while his inspiration was his wife; Cornelia ( COmalla forged the soul of the Glacchi.Cato said, "Everywhere men rule over women, and we who rule over all men are ruled by our wives." The legal status of the Roman woman gradually came into line with her actual status.During the aristocratic oligarchy, each patriarch was an independent monarch in the republic.But when state power was firmly established, it began to oppose the concentration of property and the overreach of powerful families.The family tribunal disappeared before the social tribunal, and women gained more and more important rights.Four authorities initially limited her freedom: father and husband's right to dispose of her person, guardianship and (husband's) right to dispose of her property.To limit the rights of fathers and husbands, the state exploited their opposition: cases of adultery, divorce, etc. had to be tried by the state courts. --(husband rights) and the guardianship system were also destroyed.Marm (husband's right) was also separated from marriage for the benefit of guardians. Later, marm (husband's right) became a convenient means used by Roman women to get rid of guardians, whether in the form of false marriage contracts or protection and flattery. Guardianship, the form of protection against the father and the state. Under the direction of the imperial legislation, the guardianship system must be completely abolished. The Roman woman was also given an explicit guarantee of independence: her father had to provide her with a dowry.The dowry shall not be returned to her male relatives, nor shall it belong to her husband after the dissolution of the marriage contract.The wife could claim the dowry back at any time through immediate divorce, which put the husband at her mercy.According to Plautus, "by accepting the dowry, the man sells his power". After the fall of the Republic, the mother is entitled to the same respect as the father with the daughter. If there is a guardianship system or the character of the husband Misbehavior, she was entrusted with the care of her offspring. In the reign of Hadrian (an) there was a decree of the Senate that granted her—if she had three children, any one of them to die without heir—from each of the remaining The right to inheritance from the deceased in the testament. The evolution of the Roman family was completed during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (M. A great victory. The family was thereafter established on the basis of COmp cut saopind blood], the mother was given the same status as the father, and the girl had the same inheritance rights as her brothers. In the history of Roman law, however, we can see a tendency that contradicts what I have just said.The power of the state makes woman independent of the family, yet places her under its own tutelage.It does everything possible to disqualify her from legal standing. Indeed, if she could be both property and independent, it would assume a disturbingly important position.Therefore, it is necessary to give her rights on the one hand and take them back on the other.The Oppian law prohibited Roman women from luxury.This law was passed when Hannibal (hainibal) threatened Rome. As soon as the danger passed, the women demanded that the law be repealed. In a rally speech, Catu demanded that the law be preserved, but the matrons gathered in the square prevailed. He. The laws proposed later, which became more and more severe with the debauchery of social customs, were not very successful, but only a single shot. Only the Vellrian at Ofthesenate achieved Victory. It forbids a woman to "intercede" for others—that is, to enter into contracts with others—almost depriving her of legal qualifications. Thus, precisely at the very moment when women are fully Sexuality is upheld, providing an astonishing example of men justifying their own existence: while women's rights as daughters, wives, or sisters are no longer limited, they have absolutely no equal rights as a sex; men are arrogant declaring, "This sex is stupid and weak". 主妇未能很好地利用她们的新自由固然是个事实，但不允许她们积极运用这种自由也是确有其事。这两种相反的倾向——女人摆脱家庭束缚的个人主义倾向以及侵犯她个人自主权的国家主义倾向——所导致的结果是，她的处境失去了平衡。她可以继承；对于孩子来说，她有和父亲平等的权利；她可以出庭作证。幸亏有了嫁妆制度，她才摆脱了婚姻压迫，可以随意离婚和再婚。但是她只是以消极方式获得了行动的自主权，因为她没有得到具体运用这种权力的手段。经济自由是抽象的，因为它未产生政治权力。于是，由于缺乏平等的行为能力，罗马女人只能去示感：她们成群结队，情绪激昂地穿过城市；她们包围法庭；她们搞阴谋；她们提出抗议，挑起公民冲突；他们列队找到神母雕像，抬着它沿着第伯尔河行进，于是把东方诸神引入了罗马；114年爆发了灶神守护祭司的丑闻，她们的组织受到了镇压。 当家庭的瓦解使古代私生活的美德变得无用和过时时，女人也不再有任何既定的道德原则，因为公众生活及其美德是她所不能涉及的。女人可以在这两种解决办法之间进行选择：要么仍顽固地尊重祖母的价值，要么不再承认任何价值。在1世纪末2世纪初，我们看到许多妇女，仍如在共和国时期是她们丈夫的伴侣和朋友：普洛蒂娜分享了特拉伊安的光荣与责任；萨比娜由于善行而十分出名，甚至在活着时就被雕成塑像奉若神明。在台伯里乌斯叫统治时期，赛克夏拒绝在伊密里乌斯·斯卡鲁斯死后继续活着，帕西妞不愿意比庞波尼玛斯·拉比乌斯活得时间更长；的丽娜和赛尼卡一起自杀；小普丽尼成为有名的阿里级式的“肌不知道伤痛的诗人户，玛提亚（Mob）赞扬克罗第亚·路菲娜、弗吉尼亚和苏勒比西亚是无可指责的妻子。具有献身精神的母亲。但也有许多女人拒绝接受母性，这促成了离婚率的上升。法律仍禁止通奸，所以有些主妇为了为放荡行为提供便利，竟把自己登记为妓女。 直到那时，拉丁文学还对女人始终采取尊重的态度，但讽刺作家对她们的态度则是放肆的。这些作家并不是一般地去攻击女人，而是专门攻击那个特定时代的女人。朱维纳里指责她们放荡、贪食；他吹毛求疵地说，她们想得到男人的职业——她们干预政治，埋头于法律文书，同语法学家、修辞学家争论不休；她们热衷于打猎和战车比赛，热衷于击剑和角斗。她们是男人的竞争者，尤其在爱好娱乐和堕落方面；她们缺乏足够的教育，想不出较高的目标；况且，也没有什么目标是为她们树立的；行动对于她们仍是禁区。老共和国时代的罗马文人毕竟有某种地位，但由于不具备抽象权利和经济独立，她被束缚在这个地位上。衰落时期的罗马女人则是虚假解放的典型产物，她在男人实际上是唯一主人的世界上，只有空洞的自由：她诚然是自由的——却没有结果。