Gender Roles throughout the Byzantine and Islamic Empire

Annalee Hash

Gender Roles throughout the Byzantine and Islamic Empire

Women throughout history have consistently been treated in a different manner than men. Before the Byzantine and Islamic Empire, women’s rights were nowhere near the extent of men’s. Women were no more than housewives and caregivers in the Roman Empire (Barrett.) For the first time in history, rights were beginning to equalize. Muslim and Byzantine women both lead a completely divergent style of life, while the men continued to live similar lives as they formerly had throughout history.

Muslim women led a more reserved life than Byzantine women, while also setting a major advancement throughout the empire. The “Mothers of the Believers” were the ideal muslim women (O’Conner.) They were Muhammad’s wives and are looked upon as the optimal Muslim women. They were submissive to the teachings of Muhammad. However, not all Muslim women followed the Qu’ran perfectly, these would be considered less traditional. Nonetheless, all Muslim women are required to follow and perform the Five Pillars of Islam. Women’s everyday lives in the society were taking care of children and educating them. They would also study and memorize the Qu’ran privately at home, so they would have a small amount of education, like reading. Although, few women had a full education some became scholars (Azad 24.) Some even received a license equivalent to a phD of today. A small amount of women worked in the marketplace is such areas as hairdressing, buying and selling, and paying taxes (29.) Muslim women were given much freedom, however the Byzantine women were given the most impartial laws for the first time in history.

Byzantine women had an impact on the lives of women and marked a huge turning point in history. These women not only fought for equality, but are also known for their beauty (El-Cheikh 239.) In fact, one of Muhammad’s generals did not want to fight with Byzantium because he was afraid he would succumb to the women's beauty (240.) The Islamic Empire often stereotyped Byzantine women because of the freedom they were given. The women had reputations of being prostitutes and having sexual immorality (241.) Many Islamic men thought they were given too much control (240.) However, women were often as secluded as Islamic women and were just as respectable. Both of these women were child carers or worked (Barrett.) However, marriage was quite different in the two Empires. In Byzantium, women had just as much say in divorce, while in the Islamic Empire divorce was not permitted. Women in Byzantium could also own land, be given an inheritance, and be a legal guardian (Harris.)  Two women leaders that have gone down in history are Empress Theodora and Irene (El-Cheikh 243.) These two women spoke up for women’s rights and proved men and women equal. The Byzantine Empire advanced women’s rights, but men continued to hold the majority of government and law in their favor.

Men in the Islamic and Byzantine Empire both had a larger influence throughout these civilizations than women. Although, women’s roles and authority did develop, men ruled the household and politics (Barrett.)  Women were given more equality in law, but men were the people who made these laws. Many Islamic men even believed women to be a threat (El-Cheikh 240.) They were thought of as a temptation or distraction from religion. The Byzantine men thought of themselves superior to women because Eve tempted Adam into disobeying God in the book Genesis of the Bible (Harris.) Men had never given women a chance for fairness and balance in law, but finally women were given a small amount of power to prove themselves equal.

Women at last were given a small amount of equality throughout the Islamic and Byzantine Empire, while men continued to settle in the same manner as they had for years. The Islamic and Byzantine Empire marked a turning point for women’s rights, giving them the authority to make their lives public if they chose. However, it was still expected of them to live confined lives and this is what most men defined as respectable. The women both lead very separate lives from each other, the Byzantine having more freedom. Although, in both civilizations men dominated law, household, and government authority. Today, women and men’s rights have been revised and perfected compared to the finite portion of leadership both genders displayed in the past.

Works Cited:

Azad, Arezou. "Islam's Forgotten Scholars." History Today. Randolph School

Libguide, randolphschool.beta.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=26946503.

Accessed 11 Dec. 2016. Originally published in History Today, Oct. 2016,

pp. 24-31.

Barrett, Matthew. "Womens Rights in the Byzantine Empire." Champlain College, 16

Apr. 2015, globalconnections.champlain.edu/2015/04/16/

womens-rights-in-the-byzantine-empire/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2016.

El-Cheikh, Nadia M. “Describing the Other to Get at the Self: Byzantine Women in Arabic

Sources (8th-11th Centuries).” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 40, no. 2, 1997, pp. 239–250. www.jstor.org/stable/3632683.

Harris, Jonathan. "Byzantium and the Rights of Women." Yale Books Unbound, 27

Oct. 2015, blog.yupnet.org/2015/10/27/byzantium-and-the-rights-of-women/.

Accessed 9 Dec. 2016.

O'Connor, Kathleen M. “Women and Islam.” Encyclopedia of Islam, Facts On File, 2009,

Ancient and Medieval History: Pre-1500, online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/218419?q=women and islam.