A brief history

From the reading “A Brief History of Working Women,” it seems that the Native Americans had the most equal life between men and women than whites or African Americans. In the Native American society women had important parts in the economy and though they still seem to be doing more work, they’re still seen as powerful and an important part of culture. In most Native American cultures, women are very agricultural. They go out and gather plants and herbs in order to produce food as well as create medicines and dyes. However, aside from this ‘housework’ they also work out in the fields, planting seeds, cultivating, harvesting, and in some cultures they even help out with hunting. Although the women play many roles in these societies, they are broader roles that are often times done by men in other cultures. Men are generally the hunters and women typically did agricultural work, but neither was seen as less important than the other. Whichever was more key to “community survival” was more powerful; if it was hunting, men would be seen as a greater asset, if it was agricultural work, women would be of greater importance. In these societies, aside from the fact that women had control of the land and the tools, they also lived by a matrilineal family structure, so the family name and the inheritance came from the women’s side. If more cultures had accepted this way of living, instead of becoming sexist and racist and putting women below everyone else, our society today would be a completely different place.