Asclepias
Diamond Member
Really? That goes against much anthropological and cultural evidence of women as the keepers and tenders of the fire/hearth.
And given that the "portrayers" have been men who have had the advantages of receiving better educations and writing histories in past centuries, their portrayals should be adjusted for their bias.
Do you have a good link for that? In the societies I have studied men were the keepers. However, like you said it may be because of bias.
Did you ever take any history or anthropology classes regarding the development of early and primitive human societies?
It is a common practice among hunting-gathering societies to assign different tasks to men and women. These separate assignments go far beyond what is required by the differences in size or strength between men and women or the need of women to carry and nurse infants. In fact, some jobs are thought of as "masculine" in one society and "feminine" in another. There are certain generalizations, however, that are almost universal among hunters and gatherers.
Everywhere men hunt large land and water fauna, trap small animals and birds, hunt birds, build boats, and work with wood, stone, bone, horn and shell. Everywhere women gather fuel and food, fetch water, prepare drinks and vegetable foods, and cook. Most of women's activities are performed close to the home and involve monotonous tasks that require no concentration and can easily be interrupted and resumed. Male activities may require long absences from home and travel over great distances, not possible for women burdened with children. Male tasks may be dangerous, because men do not bear or rear children, and may be more highly valued in order to motivate the expendable male to perform them. Men do women's jobs more than women do men's jobs.1
Men and Women Hunters and Gatherers
This division of labor has been observed in modern day hunter-gatherer societies by anthropologists as well. It makes sense. Women in general took care of children, tended the fire, and did tasks that kept them close to it. Men, roaming for larger game, were absent from the fire for too long at a stretch to be in a position to take care of it.
Honestly I always saw fire as a power men would claim for their own and only delegate certain aspects of fire (gathering fuel etc) to women. However, now that I think about it the ancient Black civilizations did honor women much more than other cultures. Thanks for the link.