Question

Question 2 refers to the passage below.

Women and men have entered the historical process under different conditions and have passed through it at different rates of speed. If recording, defining, and interpreting the past marks man's entry into history, this occurred for males in the third millennium B. C. It occurred for women (and only some of them) with a few notable exceptions in the nineteenth century. Until then, all History was for women pre-History.

Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Patriarchy, 1986

A. Provide TWO pieces of evidence from ancient civilizations that support this argument, and explain how each piece of evidence supports the argument.

B. Provide ONE piece of evidence from ancient civilizations that undermines this argument, and explain how it undermines the argument.

a) Evidence 1 supports
b) Evidence 2 supports
c) Evidence undermines
d) None of the above

Answer 1

Gerda Lerner's argument is that men and women have historically been recorded differently, with women largely absent from the narrative until much later. Evidence supporting this includes the lack of historical records mentioning women and the male-centric view of history. Evidence against this argument is the presence of female leaders like Hatshepsut in ancient Egypt and the Trung Sisters in Vietnam, who did receive historical recognition.

Step-by-step explanation:

The argument presented by Gerda Lerner in The Creation of Patriarchy suggests that men and women have had different engagements with history due to gender-based power differences, particularly in historic records and perceptions. To support this argument, two pieces of evidence from ancient civilizations could be discussed:

1. The scarcity of historical records mentioning women leaders or prominent female figures from ancient times supports Lerner's claim. For example, women's roles in ancient Egypt were not typically highlighted in historical texts, with exceptions such as the Pharaoh Hatshepsut, whose achievements were often attributed to male predecessors or successors.
2. The male-dominated narrative in historical texts, like those from ancient Greece, often neglected to provide a balanced view of women's contributions to society, reinforcing the notion that recorded history largely ignored women's experiences and roles.

However, evidence that undermines this argument includes:

• The existence of powerful female figures, such as the aforementioned Hatshepsut or the Trung Sisters in ancient Vietnam, which contradicts the generalization that all history for women was pre-History and shows some recognition of female leadership in the historical narrative.