Final answer:
Women's roles differed due to the varying degrees of their contribution to labor and societal needs, especially during wartime. For instance, in the US during WW2, women were integral to the industrial workforce, whereas in the UK, they served in military roles and intelligence. Cultural subsistence patterns also played a role, as women had greater equality in societies where they contributed significantly to the food supply.
Step-by-step explanation:
Women's roles have differed significantly across cultures and historical periods due to varying social, economic, and political contexts. For example, during World War II, women in many countries took on roles traditionally held by men, contributing labor in fields such as manufacturing and agriculture. In the United States, women known as "Rosie the Riveters" played a crucial role in the industrial workforce. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, women's contributions included serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service or as codebreakers at Bletchley Park.
This expanded participation led to changes in societal perceptions and helped set the stage for women's rights movements, although the degree of change varied from country to country. After the war, while some societies saw a reversion to pre-war gender norms, others maintained or expanded upon the newfound gender roles. The context of these changes was heavily influenced by the degree to which women's labor was essential to the national economy and wartime effort.
The differences in the roles of women can also be traced back to subsistence patterns and social organization in different cultures. Among gatherer-hunter societies where women contributed significantly to the food supply, they enjoyed a more equal status with men. Contrastingly, in many agricultural and industrial societies where labor was divided into public and private spheres, women were often confined to the private sphere, which contributed to greater gender inequality.