Inequalities

"Until quite recently, women's subordination in all civilizations has been so widespread and pervasive that historians have been slow to recognize that gender systems had a history, changing over time."
 OOH! That makes my blood boil a little bit.
Inequalities are a fact of civilized life so far, and now that we have recognized them I think many people are working very hard to make things more egalitarian. As a woman when I read the above statement I had to admire Strayers very tactful usage of the English language. I think a more accurate representation would to say  " until quite recently women's subordination has been so widespread and pervasive that historians have been slow to recognize that women have a history at all."

 Strayer does add that "women were often active agents in the histories of their societies, even while largely accepting their overall subordination." There are examples of women who have made changes in history, some good changes some bad, but our overall subordination is very saddening. Even those women are listed as the exception and not the rule.
We as modern day citizens still look back on the great thinkers of the past, Confucius, Socrates Aristotle and Plato. All these men that are so respected for their wisdom and yet they believed in the subjugation of the female gender.  They thought of us as animals, weak and unable of rational thought. Smh. I guess they were not so smart after all, simply pawns of the society and culture they lived in.