Why Might Differences in Gender Roles and Expectations Have Contributed to Hostile Relations Between Native Nations and European Settlers
European settlers comprise of some diversified tribes and community that settled from their various origins as a result of, e.g., war or a calamity from their country. The cultures and traditions of the settlers compared in one way or another based on what was similar and what differed. One of the cultures between Europeans settlers and the native nations are on gender roles between men and women. The diverse societies were having different perceptions on what activities women should do about what men were doing. Some of the activities were similar from one tribe to another. Therefore the paper seeks to find reasons to why differences in gender roles contributed to the hostility relations amongst the settlers and the native nations.
Different origins have differences in gender roles and expectations especially the roles of women. As a result, relations between the societies become unfriendly since the individuals find it hard to adapt to one another. For instance, Europeans during their migration to North America had the different idea on what women should or should not do. Reason being Europeans saw how different their culture was in comparison to Native Americans. Considering the roles, women were influential when it comes to survival. Women worked as the gatherer and were processing food to maintain a living for the family’s daily bread as well as future seasons. Apart from gathering and processing, they were also in charge of taking care of their young ones, something that the men could also help in doing. Most Indian communities divided the activities between men and women in a sharp way. Women were not only gathering plants but were also responsible for farming and cultivating lands as well as conducting household chores. When women were handling so many activities, men were solely responsible for hunting and holding wars in case of attacks.
Gender discrimination was a big problem as women were assigned duties on their own and most times they offered themselves company as men separated their activities from women. In some communities for example, in Iroquois males were in charge of clearing field while females prepare and cultivate the land cleared by the men. In some circumstances, both sexes are carrying on the duties but still were assigned based on one’s gender. The discrimination was unfair to women since they felt the separation from the men which was supposed to be there but working together as one family. At times men were going away for an extended period leaving women behind to conduct various activities such as farming while at the same time having the enjoyable time with each other’s company. Similarly, the discrimination of women was also carried out at a marketplace where most women were evidently trading just with their fellow females. Men saw women as betrayers in the trading center and therefore, excluded girls from trading near them.
Gender biasness was not only in the duty related activities but also when it comes to cultural religion and myths that the communities believed. As an illustration, North American Indians felt that women have some supernatural powers that enable them to communicate with spirits. Similarly, other cities excluded women who were on their menses from the daily roles. Instead, the menstruating women are ordered to isolate themselves from others by staying in a given room that specifically was in use for such cases. While some women would see the exclusion as unfair to them since menstruation was not a taboo, some took it positively with acceptance. The positivity among the women who accepted the prohibition was to enable them to have a break from the many roles assigned and also time to interact with fellow women. Also, some tribes allowed women to have a say on who they were getting married to when they felt in a position to get a marital partner. However, other communities had a culture which allowed only the elder to conduct marriage on behalf of women a process which robbed women their rights.
At a conclusion, gender inequality equality is evidently a practice in the area of settlement by the Europeans and the Native Americans. The biasness and discriminations made women suffer most by having the majority of tasks and responsibilities assigned to them. The biasness is a first accusation by the diversified cultures of the settles in the areas. The inequality based on gender, as a result, created a relationship that is hostile among men and women who settled in North American countries. Gender wars are, therefore, a problem that is still even experienced In today’s society as women are less privileged in most areas with people basing their arguments on cultural beliefs of the past.
