Final answer:
The advent of agriculture led to men becoming more dominant in society due to the physical demands of farming and gendered division of labor, which relegated women to the domestic sphere and allowed men to assume leadership roles. Gender roles varied by culture and context, with some societies allowing women to retain different forms of power and autonomy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The advent of agriculture brought significant changes to the relationship between men and women, particularly in the distribution of labor and social power. With the shift from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural societies, gender roles evolved such that men typically took on the task of working in the fields, requiring strength to control the plow, while women were often relegated to the domestic sphere, focusing on tasks like preparing food, making pottery, and weaving cloth. This division of labor resulted in men having more opportunities for leadership and societal influence, contributing to a society where men became more dominant.
In contrast to the equitable division of labor in hunter-gatherer societies where women's food gathering contributed significantly to subsistence, agriculture facilitated a more hierarchical structure and a notion of private property that could be inherited. This further cemented social divisions and gender inequality, as surpluses and wealth accumulation allowed some men to rise to positions of power, leaving a patriarchal imprint on the culture. Changes that came with the Industrial Revolution demonstrated that economic systems have a deep influence on gender roles, and roles can react against shifts in economic structures and wealth distribution.
However, contextually, gender roles and the understanding of what tasks were appropriate for men and women could vary widely. For example, in some societies, farming was not considered solely women's work, and men from these communities did not view agricultural tasks as emasculating. In other cases, women retained some autonomy and could hold leadership within their own groups, indicating that gendered arrangements of work and power were highly variable depending on specific cultural contexts