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15. 1200-1400 Pastoral and Mongol Women 

Despite men, primarily Genghis Khan, being the focus of the pastoral and Mongol empires between 1200-1400 women still existed and played a vital role. Some behind the scene and other were more forward. In addition, women's everyday lives were affected by the conquests of the Mongols in particular and often there were violent consequences.

​Trigger Warning: for rape and sexual assault. 
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PictureBörte and Ghengis Khan, Wikimedia Commons
It would be a big mistake to assume that because women had more freedoms that they were equal or even protected members of society. Some historians argue that the nomadic stress on bride-wealth degraded women to chattel, and they were effectively purchased by husbands like property. Mongol women both before and after the unification of the tribes were often subject to rape and kidnapping during times of war. 

Pastoral Women:
Pastoral women often held a higher status compared to their settled peers. They had fewer restrictions on their role in public life and were involved in productive as well as reproductive labor. Mongol women were frequently used as political advisors. Misogyny was absolutely present, but pastoral communities’ religious sermons showed some individual focus on women’s spiritual needs, as well as some authentic depictions of the complexity in women’s lives. The presence of such ideas and understanding in a religious context is significant, given the long history of preferential treatment toward men. 
​

The pastoral roles of women can be seen most explicitly in the Mongol Empire (1206-1368), an initially small pastoral empire from the steppes of Mongolia. This empire was founded by Genghis Khan who united the feuding and volatile Mongol clans with his charisma and reliance on friends over kin. Khan was raised by his resourceful mother, Hoelun, when their family was forced into exile. They abandoned pastoralism and ascribed to a hunter-gatherer like life. This was an enormous drop in social standing. Before and during the unification, the Mongols herded horses for their prolific cavalry, sheep, goats, yaks, and more. When a European visitor to Mongolia described Mongol women. He wrote, “Girls and women ride in Gallup as skillfully as men. We even saw them carrying quivers and bows, And the women can ride horses for as long as the man; they have shorter stirrups, handle horses very well, and mind all the property. [Mongol] Women make everything: skin clothes, shoes, leggings, and everything made of leather.They drive carts and repair them, they load camels, and our quick and vigorous and all their tasks.They all wear trousers, and some of them shoot just like men.”

Börte was the first and favored wife of Khan. She was betrothed to Khan at a young age and married at 17. At some point she was captured by a rival clan and he decided to rescue her. This decision may have launched him on his path toward conquering the world. Little is known about her life but she had nine children by Khan, who’s bloodline would help the expanding empire
​
Mongol women owned property, served in religious roles, rode horseback as the men did, at times fought in battle and served as regents. They made camps and transport supplies for the army. Raising children was the responsibility of both parents, and marriages were arranged by both families. However, men could practice polygamy, though only the first wife was his legal wife, and thus her and her children would inherit his property. Most widows would not remarry, but rather became the head of household themselves. This was a far cry from the lives of women in neighboring civilizations.

PictureChinese shoes for bound feet, National Museum of American History
Song China: By comparison, the Chinese under the Song Dynasty were in a “Golden Age” for men but was a horrifying age for women. The Song Dynasty reunified China and ruled from the late 900s into the 1300s. The decreasing influence of steppe nomads whose women had less restricted lives, and the return to fundamentalist Confucianism led to the Song Chinese keeping women separate in almost every domain in life. They emphasized women’s weakness, delicacy, and sexuality.

The best example of increasing restrictions for women was a new practice of foot binding. Foot binding involved breaking and strapping a young girl's feet to a mold so that her feet would remain perpetually small even into adulthood. Foot binding was commonly accepted among elite families and later became widespread in China. It served to distinguish Chinese women from barbarians and peasants. It reinforced female frailty and emphasized their small size. Mothers impose this painful procedure on their daughters in order to improve their marriage prospects and help their daughters compete with concubines for the attention of men. Foot binding became a rite of passage and was usually accompanied by beautiful gifted slippers. 

The Song Dynasty did however witness some positive trends for women. Women continue to work in textiles spinning silk threads and weaving silk fabrics. In cities women had businesses in restaurants, as maids, and dressmakers. Property rights for women expanded when some officials began urging the education of women so they can teach their sons economics.

PictureKorean women in the domestic sphere, Wikimedia Commons
Korea: Further northeast, the expansion of Chinese influence in Korea led to the expansion of Confucianism there. This included Chinese models of family life and female behavior. Korean women, accustomed to raising their children in their parents' homes were now expected to live with their husband’s families who owned them. Women lost their rights to inheritance, divorce, and men were no longer buried in the wife’s family plot. Elite women, especially wealthy widows, were heavily restricted… because women’s money needed to be controlled. But on the upside, the practice of plural marriages ended. By 1413 men had to determine which wife was primary in which way for secondary, and the first wife had special privileges and status.

So by comparison, pastoral life with the Mongols might seem appealing… but the path to becoming Mongol involved conquest, and few fared well on the losing end of a battle with Mongols.

PictureMongol Army sacks Baghdad, Public Domain
Rape Culture in War: The Mongol Empire grew rapidly out of Mongolia and into China and the rest of Eurasia. They sacked Baghdad, marking the end of the Islamic Empire and destroying thirty-six libraries, scrolls on science and theology. One witness described the event, "The inhabitants of Baghdad were put under the sword... and were subjected to 40 days of continuous killing, pillaging, enslavement; and they tormented the inhabitants... They killed men, women, youth and children... The dead lay as mounds in the streets and the markets. Rain fell on them, horses trampled down upon them, their faces were disfigured, and they became an example to anyone who saw them. Then, peace was proclaimed and those that were left came out from hiding... They were like the dead emerging from their graves the day of resurrection fearful, hungry, and cold.​"

They proved vastly superior in war, especially on horseback compared to their Eurasian peers. They were better led, organized, and disciplined. As the Mongols marched on cities, they were known to be ruthless, and unnecessarily violent. Women were on the front lines of conquests, and helped manage the spoils of war. Conquered soldiers were scattered and redistributed into new units, so the army perpetually grew and created a sort of social revolution as tribe loyalty was replaced by loyalty to one's unit and commander. Commanders rode in the front and dressed in the same attire. Khan declared, “Whoever submits shall be spared, but those who resist, they shall be destroyed with their wives, children and dependents.” Thousands of enemy families who refused to surrender were executed in mass. 

Conquered women were often enslaved. Because this involves war and conquest, this section does take a more serious turn, as women have always been subjected to rape and assault during war. This is a trigger warning for sexual assault, and if needed, skip to the next section.

Genghis Khan's own armies had undoubtedly inflicted such “punishments” on the women in the regions they conquered, but Kahn imposed orders against it. He wrote detailed laws about the treatment of women, including that even married women would not engage in sex until age sixteen, and they would need to be the one to initiate this with their husband. He also imposed laws against rape, kidnapping, and enslavement.

Unironically, Khan himself would often have women lined up in order ranked by their beauty. Only the most beautiful women were entered into his harem, while the apparently “less beautiful” were given to his sons and commanders. He used sexual violence as a deterrent for future enemies and to terrorize conquered women– preferring to sleep with the wives and daughters of the defeated enemy rulers. Today 16% of men can trace their lineage back to Khan– evidence of how many conquered women were subjected to rape at the hands of him and his decedents. 

There are several stories of how he died. The most commonly accepted was that he died of injuries from a fall off a horse in 1227. One of the more questionable accounts, claims he was castrated and murdered while trying to rape a Chinese princess.

After he died, sexual terrorism remained a part of the empire he created. One of his own sons, Ogodei Khan, infamously ordered nearly four thousand girls repeatedly raped in front of their male relatives in lands he was seizing from his sister. He also took many others into his own personal harem, and doled others out to be sex slaves throughout his occupied lands. He used this monstrous act to not only seize his sibling’s lands, but intending to continue it while picking off the lands of his other siblings and his father’s other wives.
 
The Mongol Empire spread quickly and then fractured, stretching from China to Eastern Europe. Geography proved limiting for them. They tried to invade Japan but failed– sea faring was not their forte. They went for India, but the Himalayas were tall. While conquest was brutal, the empire itself was tolerant of various religions and established a sophisticated structure of governance for such a large empire.

PictureBorte, Wikimedia Commons
Khan married Börte’s daughter Alakhai Bekhi off in a political marriage to secure the region south of Mongolia called the Gobi Desert. At some point the people revolted against their Mongol rulers. Her husband was killed, but she escaped back to the Mongol army. She married her step-son and regained stable control of the region and Khan gave her the title, "Princess Who Runs the State”. 

​
Powerful Women: Women shone most in the aftermath of Ghengis Khan’s death.  The Great Mongol Empire was split into four khanates, often opposed to one another. Khan’s eldest sons were at odds so he appointed his third son successor– in this climate, the daughters of conquered kingdoms who had been married off to Khan’s descendants were poised to undo the empire. Known as “widow queens,” many conquered women were left in charge when the governors of different parts of the empire died. Four queens in particular ripped apart Khan’s empire. Töregene, Oghul-Qaimish, Sorqoqtani, and Chabi, were all conquered wives who had witnessed their fathers and brothers murdered by the Mongols and the deteriorated status of their people. Their trauma was not documented, but certainly their loyalty was not to their new husbands. They used their status within the new government to subvert the empire.

PictureSorkhogtani and Tolui, Public Domain
Töregene: Töregene was a Shiite Muslim gifted as a wife to Khan’s third son and ruled at his death as regent for her son. She replaced all of her husband's advisors and brought in her own, including a Persian woman named Fatima. Despite her help, when her favorite son, Guruk, took power, he battled with his mother claiming Fatima was a witch. Fatima was drowned and Töregene died in unknown circumstances– a threat to his reign.

Sorkhogtani:
Across the empire, Sorkhogtani was the wife of Genghis’s youngest son, Tolui. Sorkogtani was an Eastern Christian from north of the Baltic Sea. Tolui was a reckless drunk, and she was basically ruling in his name until he died of poisoning– wonder who was behind that? As Mongol society dictated, she became the head of household and inherited his property. Guruk tried to marry her to expand his power, but refused claiming “loyalty” to her deceased husband. 

After Guruk murdered his mother and began to move on other territories ruled by wives, Sorkhogtani likely had him killed. 

She became regent for her sons in the region of Iran. Though she herself could not read, she insisted that her sons be well educated to properly run the empire. She also ensured that each learned the languages of the people they would rule, and encouraged religious tolerance. She even donated to both Christian and Muslim churches. During her time as regent, she helped with opening trade, encouraged the exchange of ideas throughout the empire, and advised Ogodai and other leaders about the dangers of exploiting their conquered people, which often meant greater tolerance and security for the people under the Khans. 
 
Sorghaghtani fell ill and died in February or March 1252. As one of the most powerful people in the Mongol Empire she helped to ensure its longevity and transition into the future. She was one of those rare figures that was well regarded in a number of different historical sources, and her importance may be rivaled only by Genghis Khan himself.
 
As the Mongols became more settled and less nomadic, women fell into the patterns and shortcomings of other societies. Their rights and freedoms disappeared, and violence toward women increased, even under the reign of Sorkhokhtani’s sons. Her eldest son would still appoint some women as queens, but made sure they had no power independent of him. Despite Genghis’s system of balancing the powers of men and women, his successors would simply not share this vision of the future.

PicturePortrait of Chabi, Wikimedia Commons
Chabi: Chabi was the wife of Kublai Khan, Ghengis Khan’s grandson and ruler of China. Chabi mixed freely with men at social gatherings, rejected foot binding, and forced Khan into treating the Chinese better. Khan relied heavily on female advisors. 

In China, intermarriages were forbidden. The Mongols lived in “ger cities,” a type of yurt, outside major Chinese cities and maintained their lifestyle not imposing it on their Chinese subjects.

Japan: The Mongols under Khan and Chabi tried to invade Japan by sea, but failed. This allowed for continuity, stability, and the growth of the arts in Japanese culture. Learn more about Japan’s culture in 13. Women in Feudal Europe and Japan.

Delhi Sultanate: Safe from Mongol conquest on the other side of the Himalayan mountains, in the 1200s Century, northern India saw the rise of the Delhi Sultanate. There Razia Sultana became the first female Muslim leader of the region. She began her political career under her father, Iltutmish, tending to the administrative needs of their people while he was away at war. He put his trust in her because he believed his sons were all too selfish and focused on having fun to properly manage the state affairs while he was gone, and even after his death. Thus, when he returned, he named her as his heir, telling his nobles that she was the most capable of his children.
 
The nobles didn’t quite buy it, however, and appointed her half-brother after their father’s death. In response, she successfully led a rebellion to claim power. It was not only an anomaly to have a woman as a leader, but further, her rebellion was one based on public support. She galvanized the people and they would be the ones to drive her to the throne. Despite her meteoric rise, when she claimed the throne in 1236, many of her political allies and enemies alike still expected her to serve in a ceremonial role while they pulled the strings behind the scenes, but she refused to relinquish her power. She even began to create a new class of nobles from her supporters to temper their power.
 
Thus, she ran afoul of the aristocracy, who ultimately launched their own rebellion to depose her. She led an army out of Delhi to meet them, and after a few key victories, some of the rebels began to defect to her and the other leaders were caught and executed. From there, the nobles were forced to accept her authority, though she continued to face conflict throughout her reign including civil conflicts between Sunnis and Shias, as well as incursions by the Mongols. Still, despite these other threats, the nobles continued to be her greatest hurdle.
 
She increasingly broke from tradition to assert her authority and better connect with the people. She dressed as a man in public, and rode through the streets atop an elephant as the sultans of the past had. She regularly made connections and appearances among the people, rather than catering to the nobility. She even elevated formerly enslaved people to elite positions within her administration. Shy of four years after her reign had begun, enough of her nobles had joined forces to overthrow her and began unraveling the vision she had for Delhi. She would try once again to launch a rebellion, but failed, and was killed in the process.

Conclusion: 
Eventually the Mongols were expelled from China in a rebellion and declined elsewhere partly because women undermined their leadership. Everywhere women survive rape and sexual terrorism, there is a resilient force working for revenge. One of the greatest achievements of the Mongols would also be their undoing. Their vast networks and efficient communications and governance structure secured trade on the Silk Roads leading to flourishing trade during this time. But trade also led to the mixing of peoples– and this helped spread the plague from China westward. By some estimates 50-90% of various populations died. 

The Mongolian Empire would not survive. The Mongols left no major mark on the lands they left. Religions and cultures that existed before them reemerged in their wake. In its place, in China, the Middle East, and Europe, parts of Africa, would see a rebirth. But would women?

By the end of this era, so much remained in question. How would the Eurasian world rebuild after the Mongols? What role would women play in that effort?

Draw your own conclusions

Learn how to teach with inquiry.
Picture
Sack of Baghdad, Wikimedia Commons
Picture
Borte, Wikimedia Commons
How did elite wives to Mongol conquerors resist?
Married to the men who slaughtered their people, women across the Mongol empire survived. How did they preserve their cultures and resist Mongol rule?

​Coming soon!
What is Genghis Khan's legacy with women?
Respectful to his first wife, brutal to his conquered victims. How do remember this complex legacy?

​Coming soon!
Lesson Plans from Other Organizations
  • This website, Women in World History has primary source based lesson plans on women's history in a whole range of topics. Some are free while others have a cost.
  • The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media has produced recommendations for teaching women's history with primary sources and provided a collection of sources for world history. Check them out! 
  • The Stanford History Education Group has a number of lesson plans about women in World History.

Bibliography

Broadbridge, A. (2018). Bibliography. In Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization, pp. 299-322). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108347990.012 

"Chinggis Khan and his wife Börte in The Secret History of the Mongols," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/chinggis-khan-and-his-wife-borte-secret-history-mongols. 

History Editors. “10 Things You May Not Know About Genghis Khan.” History. https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-genghis-khan#:~:text=The%20traditional%20narrative%20says%20he,himself%20on%20a%20Chinese%20princess.

Mayell, Hillary. “Genghis Khan a Prolific Lover, DNA Data Implies.” National Geographic. February 14, 2003. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/mongolia-genghis-khan-dna.

Miles, Rosalind. The Women’s History of the World. London, UK: Harper Collins Publishers, 1988.

​Scharping, Nathaniel. “The Life of Genghis Khan, the Ruthless Warlord Who Created the World’s Largest Empire: 800 years ago, a young man rose to power in Mongolia. The world would never be the same.” Discover. October 17, 2020. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-life-of-genghis-khan-the-ruthless-warlord-who-created-the-worlds-largest. 

​​Strayer, R. and Nelson, E., Ways Of The World. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.

AUTHOR:

​Kelsie Brook Eckert and Jacqui Nelson

Consulting Team

Editors

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Kelsie Brook Eckert, Project Director
Coordinator of Social Studies Education at Plymouth State University

Dr. Nancy Locklin-Sofer, Consultant
Professor of History at Maryville College. 

Chloe Gardner, Consultant
PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University

Dr. Whitney Howarth, Consultant
Former Professor of History at Plymouth State University

Jacqui Nelson, Consultant
Teaching Lecturer of Military History at Plymouth State University

​Maria Concepcion Marquez Sandoval
PhD Candidate in History at Arizona University
Amy Flanders
Humanities Teacher at Moultonborough Academy

Reviewers

Ancient:
Dr. Kristin Heineman
Professor of History at Colorado State University
Dr. Bonnie Rock-McCutcheon
Professor of History at Wilson College
Sarah Stone
PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University
Medieval:
Dr. Katherine Koh
Professor of History at La Sierra University
Dr. Jonathan Couser
Professor of History at Plymouth State University
Dr. Shahla Haeri
Professor of History at Boston University 
Lauren Cole
PhD Candidate in History at Northwestern University
Remedial Herstory Editors. "15. 1200-1400 PASTORAL AND MONGOL WOMEN​." The Remedial Herstory Project. November 1, 2022. www.remedialherstory.com.​
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    • All Episodes
    • Season 1 >
      • Episodes 1-10 >
        • S1E1 Our Story
        • S1E2 His Story Her Story
        • S1E3 Heroes and Sheroes
        • S1E4 Herstory's Complicated Suffrage
        • S1E5 His Sphere Her Sphere
        • S1E6 Fast Girls and 1936 Olympics
        • S1E7 Standards and Her Voice
        • S1E8 Rape and Civil Rights
        • S1E9 Textbooks and Crossdressing Spies
        • S1E10 It's not about feminism
      • Episodes 11-20 >
        • S1E11 Equal Pay and Ida Tarbell
        • S1E12 Equal Rights Amendment
        • S1E13 Culture Wars and the Frontier PART 1
        • S1E14 Culture Wars and the Frontier PART 2
        • S1E15 Women's Historians and Primary Sources
        • S1E16 Education and Nuns
        • S1E17 Blanks and Goddess Worship
        • S1E18 Thanksgiving and Other
        • S1E19 Feminist Pedagogy and the Triangle Fire
        • S1E20 Mrs. So and so, Peggy Eaton, and the Trail of Tears
      • Episodes 21-30 >
        • S1E21 First Ladies and Holiday Parties
        • S1E22 Sarah, Mary, and Virginity
        • S1E23 Hiding and Jackie O
        • S1E24 Well Behaved Women and Early Christianity
        • S1E25 Muslim Women and their History
        • S1E26 Written Out Alice Paul
        • S1E27 Blocked and Kamala Harris
        • S1E28 Clandestine Work and Virginia Hall
        • S1E29 Didn't Get There, Maggie Hassan and the Fabulous Five
        • S1E30 White Supremacy and the Black Panthers
      • Episodes 31-40 >
        • S1E31 Thematic Instruction and Indigenous Women
        • S1E32 Racism and Women in the Mexican American War
        • S1E33 Covid Crisis and Republican Motherhood
        • S1E34 Burned Records and Black Women's Clubs
        • S1E35 JSTOR and Reconstruction
        • S1E36 Somebody's Wife and Hawaiian Missionary Wives
        • S1E37 Taboo = Menstruation
        • S1E38 What's her name? Health, Religion and Mary Baker Eddy PART 1
        • S1E39 What's her name? Health, Religion and Mary Baker Eddy PART 1
        • S1E40 Controversial and Reproductive Justice PART 1
      • Episodes 41-50 >
        • S1E41 Controversial and Reproductive Justice PART 2
        • S1E42 Sexual Assault and the Founding of Rome
        • S1E43 Sexist Historians and Gudrid the Viking
        • S1E44 Byzantine Intersectionality
        • S1E45 Murder and Queens
        • S1E46 Hindu Goddesses and the Third Gender
        • S1E47 Women's Founding Documents
        • S1E48 Women and Bletchley Park
        • S1E49 Unknown Jewish Resistance Fighters
        • S1E50 End of Year ONE!
    • Season 2 >
      • Empresses, Monarchs, and Politicians >
        • S2E1 Let's Make HERSTORY!
        • S2E2 Empresses, Monarchs, and Politicians: How did women rise to power in the Ancient world? >
          • Women Explorers and Pioneers >
            • S2E29: Women Explorers and Pioneers: Who was the real Lady Lindy?
            • S2E30: What is the heroine's journey of women in the west? ​With Meredith Eliassen
            • S2E31: What is the lost history of the Statue of Freedom? with Katya Miller
            • S2E32: Why did women explore the White Mountains? With Dr. Marcia Schmidt Blaine
            • S2E33: How are native women telling their own stories? with Dr. Ferina King
        • S2E3 How did female sexuality lead to the rise and fall of Chinese empresses? with Dr. Cony Marquez
        • S2E4 How did medieval women rise and why were they erased? ​With Shelley Puhak
        • S2E5 Did English Queens Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn have agency? with Chloe Gardner
        • S2E6 Is Elizabeth a turning point in World History? with Deb Hunter
        • S2E7 How did Maria Theresa transform modern Europe? With Dr. Barbara Stollber-Rilinger
        • S2E8 Were Paul and Burns the turning point in women's suffrage? With Dr. Sidney Bland
        • S2E9 Were the First Ladies just wives? ​With the First Ladies Man
        • S2E10: How did ER use her position and influence to sway public opinion and influence politics? ​With Dr. Christy Regenhardt
        • S2E11: Why was women’s fight for low level offices needed? ​With Dr. Elizabeth Katz
        • S2E12 Should We Believe Anita Hill? With the Hashtag History Podcast
      • Women Social Reformers >
        • S2E13: Women in Social Reform: Should temperance have been intersectional?
        • S2E14: Why are material culture artifacts reshaping our understanding of women's history? With Dr. Amy Forss
        • S2E15: Did 19th institutionalizing and deinstitutionalizing healthcare make it safer? with Dr. Martha Libster
        • S2E16: Why are the interconnections between women and their social reform movements important? With Dr. DeAnna Beachley
        • S2E17: Did WWII really bring women into the workforce? ​With Dr. Dorothy Cobble
        • S2E18: How have unwell women been treated in healthcare? ​With Dr. Elinor Cleghorn
        • S2E19: How did MADD impact the culture of drunk driving?
      • Women and War >
        • S2E20: Women and War: How are Army Rangers still changing the game?
        • S2E21: Should we remember Augustus for his war on women? ​With Dr. Barry Strauss
        • S2E22: Were French women willing participants or collateral damage in imperialism? with Dr. Jack Gronau
        • S2E23: Was Joan of Arc a heretic? ​With Jacqui Nelson
        • S2E24: What changes did the upper class ladies of SC face as a result of the Civil War? with Annabelle Blevins Pifer
        • S2E25: Were Soviets more open to gender equality? ​With Jacqui Nelson
        • S2E26: Why Womanpower in the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948? with Tanya Roth
        • S2E27: What role did women play in the Vietnam War? with Dr. Barbara Tischler
        • S2E28: Why were women drawn into the Anti-Vietnam Movement with Dr. Jessica Frazier
      • Women in World Religions >
        • S2E34: Women and World Religions: How did Confucianism’s enduring impact affect women in China?
        • S2E35: What precedent is there for female Islamic leaders? with Dr. Shahla Haeri
        • S2E36: Were Islamic Queens successful? with Dr. Shahla Haeri
        • S2E37: Is there space for female Islamic leaders today? with Dr. Shahla Haeri​
        • S2E38: Were Protestant women just wives and mothers? with Caroline Taylor
      • Women in Queer History >
        • S2E39: Queer Women in History: How did one woman legalize gay marriage?
        • S2E40: Was Title IX just about sports? with Sara Fitzgerald
        • S2E41: Was Hildegard de Bingen gay? with Lauren Cole
        • S2E42: What crimes were women accused of in the 17th and 18th Century? with Dr. Shannon Duffy
        • S2E43: How should we define female friendships in the 19th century? with Dr. Alison Efford
        • S2E44: Were gay bars a religious experience for gay people before Stonewall? with Dr. Marie Cartier
      • Women and Business >
        • S2E45: Women and Business: Do We still have far to go? With Ally Orr
        • S2E46: How did 16th century English women manage businesses? with Dr. Katherine Koh
        • S2E47: How did free women of color carve out space as entrepreneurs in Louisiana? with Dr. Evelyn Wilson
        • S2E48: Who were the NH women in the suffrage movement? with Elizabeth DuBrulle
        • S2E49: What gave Elizabeth Arden her business prowess? with Shelby Robert
        • S2E50: End of Year Two
        • BONUS DOBBS v. JACKSON WOMEN'S HEALTH
    • S3E1: Mahsa "Jani" Amini and the Women of Iran
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    • World History >
      • 1. to 15,000 BCE Pre-History
      • 2. to 15,000 BCE Goddesses
      • 3. 10,000 BCE Agricultural Revolution
      • 4. 4,000-1,000 BCE City States
      • 5. 800-400 BCE Rome's Founding Myths
      • 6. 800-300 BCE Asian Philosophies
      • 7. 100 BCE - 100 CE Roman Empire
      • 8. 100 BCE - 100 CE Han Empire
      • 9. 0 CE Monotheism
      • 10. 100-500 Silk Roads
      • 11. 300-900 Age of Queens
      • 12. 700-1200 Islam
      • 13. 1000-1500 Feudalism
      • 14. 900-1200 Crusades
      • 15. 1200-1400 Mongols
      • 16. 1300-1500 Renaissance and Ottomans
      • 17. 1000-1600 New Worlds
      • 18. 1000-1600 Explorers
      • 19. 1450-1600 Reformation
      • 20. 1500-1600 Encounters
      • 21. 1500-1600 Slave Trade
      • 22. 1700-1850 Enlightenment
      • 23. 1600-1850 Asia
      • 24. 1850-1950 Industrial Revolution
      • 25. 1850-1950 Imperialism
      • 26. 1900-1950 World Wars
      • 27. 1950-1990 Decolonization
    • US History >
      • 1. Early North American Women
      • 2. Women's Cultural Encounters
      • 3. Women's Colonial Life
      • 4. American Revolution
      • 5. Republican Motherhood
      • 6. Women and the Trail of Tears
      • 7. Women in the Abolition Movement
      • 8. Women and the West
      • 9. Women in the Civil War
      • 10. Women and Reconstruction
      • 11. The Rise of NAWSA and NACWC
      • 12. Women and Expansion
      • 13. Women and Industrialization
      • 14. Progressive Women
      • 15. Women and World War I
      • 16. Final Push for Woman Suffrage
      • 17. The New Woman
      • 18. Women and the Great Depression
      • 19. Women and World War II
      • 20. Post-War Women
      • 21. Women and the Civil Rights Movement
      • 22. Women and the Cold War
      • 23. Reproductive Justice
      • 24. The Feminist Era
      • 25. Modern Women
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