Throughout history gender roles have differed all around the world. Originally people formed themselves in a hunter gatherer system where men hunted while the women collected other food like nuts and berries. These groups of people generally traveled around and didn’t settle lands but after some time they learned to farm their own crops. When they learned to farm they were then able to form civilizations and societies. From these beginning societies developed city states and eventually countries.

In the Egalitarian foraging societies men and women had distinct roles. Men were hunters and women foraged for other food like nuts and berries. They were able to maintain a bilateral society in which people were able to choose they lived with in order to maximize their use of food and resources. In the Ju/hoansi society of Botswana and Namibia men and women were treated equally in society. People gained value in society based on how good they were at their given job and how well they were liked by other people. Men that were skilled hunters and were able to work with men of other families were given the same respect and authority as women who were good gatherers that got along with the other women. But when looking at their societies as a whole the men that were responsible for decision making still outweighed the number of women.

In the US  through the mid 20^thcentury women found it difficult to attend to their responsibilities at home as well as full time work outside the home so they left the labor force. Even though women worked just as hard and just as much as the men their social worth came secondary to the men. Until the early 1900’s less than 20% of women participated in the labor force, the views of society believed that women didn’t belong in the labor force and any man whose wife worked was less of a man because he couldn’t provide for his family. These views are very different than those of the Ju/hoansi who expected women to participate in an equal way to the men and were respected for it.

The Mosua of China are a society unlike any other. They follow a matrilineal culture which means they trace their families through the bloodlines of the women. In this society they follow a system where the women are the main providers for the household working hard labor jobs that most other societies consider to be mans work. This means that the men are left home to take care of the house and elderly. Compared to the usual patriarchal societies in the world this is completely backwards and they don’t have any intensions of changing their ways.