Chapter 1 Blog

I was surprised to learn that Paleolithic societies were “high egalitarian” as Strayer describes them. I’m personally interested in understanding where gender inequality took root, and for some reason have had a longstanding misconception that it has existed from day one. Strayer goes so far as to suggest that Paleolithic men and women were the most free group of people to ever exist in human history. He discusses how women were the primary gatherers of food, gathering enough plants to provide for 70% of the Paleolithic diet. Paleolithic people had no concept of female virginity and they did not abuse their women. We even have evidence that Paleolithic peoples maintained healthy sex lives. 

The one thing that did somewhat reinforce my earlier idea that gender inequality has always somewhat existed was that Strayer mentions that “the male role as hunter, especially of big game, perhaps gave rise to one of the first criteria of masculine identity: success in killing large animals” (21). 

I appreciate that Strayer places a deliberate emphasis on informing us, the readers, of the status of women in the Paleolithic era. Having attended an all-girls high school, I am used to hearing about the role of women in almost all of my classes. It’s nice to now be at a co-ed university and still have that perspective on the status of women!