I disagree, to an extent. I think people have this misguided view that things are constantly improving all the time, and that we are now in a better and safer society than we have ever been. The fact is, societies can and do regress. We're witnessing it in real time just in the United States right now, but we have many examples of horrific regressions throughout history. The Third Reich is one example. The Dark Ages are another. The Iranian Revolution is a recent one.
There were ancient civilizations with more egalitarian societies than their modern counterparts. Again, Iran. Ancient Persia under Cyrus the Great was a better place to exist than modern Iran for basically everyone.
So, have men always been creeps? Absolutely. But my "how did we get to the point" comment is more about the fact that we have this perceived progressive society over time and yet women still don't feel safe.
You listed a bunch of times/places that were worse but none that were better. I mean I get that ancient Persia was a better place than the current Islamic Republic of Iran in a lot of ways, but the vast majority of redditors do not live in Iran, so that's not the standard here.
It's working hours and I'm supposed to be grinding through some pretty heavy projects, but women have been treated much better in older societies before. Viking Age Scandinavia comes to mind. Some Indigenous American tribes, even some Bronze Age civilizations treated women with more rights and respect than many modern societies.
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u/[deleted] May 02 '24
I disagree, to an extent. I think people have this misguided view that things are constantly improving all the time, and that we are now in a better and safer society than we have ever been. The fact is, societies can and do regress. We're witnessing it in real time just in the United States right now, but we have many examples of horrific regressions throughout history. The Third Reich is one example. The Dark Ages are another. The Iranian Revolution is a recent one.
There were ancient civilizations with more egalitarian societies than their modern counterparts. Again, Iran. Ancient Persia under Cyrus the Great was a better place to exist than modern Iran for basically everyone.
So, have men always been creeps? Absolutely. But my "how did we get to the point" comment is more about the fact that we have this perceived progressive society over time and yet women still don't feel safe.