A brief rumination on how women have been erased.

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Asking ChatGPT to tell me 12 historically researched reasons that women have been erased or reduced culturally and historically, I was curious to see how much truth I saw in the responses and how many points I had already raised in my ‘conversations’ (read rants) with my then 12-year-old son.

Hoping to be told that ChatGPT couldn’t fill the quota (ha!), I feel so much pity for the sad, fearful, and soulless men given to such scaredy-cat ravings and behaviours. I’m determined to raise a good man who understands what shitty issues women deal with.

Oh, what tangled webs have been woven to suppress little ol’ us.

In brief, 12 historical reasons women have been erased or reduced across time, culture, and systems.

Deep-rooted social, political, and structural forces that contributed to the invisibility of women:

1. Patriarchal Control of Knowledge & Literacy

Historically, education was restricted to men. In many cultures (from Ancient Greece to 19th-century Europe), women were explicitly barred from schools and universities, ensuring they couldn’t record or transmit knowledge, thereby erasing them from the narrative.

I mean, I’m sure this was just because the chisel and hammer to carve words into stone tablets were just a little too sharp and heavy for our delicate little hands to manage. Right?

2. Religious Structures That Defined “Virtue” as Silence

Major religious institutions often idealised female silence, obedience, and chastity. In Christian doctrine, for example, Eve was blamed for original sin, setting the tone for female mistrust and suppression. Speaking out became culturally “sinful”.

Shut up, Marjorie; there’s nothing wrong with Albert spending all the pennies on ale. The kids don’t need bread.

By the way, I heard an excellent take on the Eve thingy. She wasn’t ‘created’ yet when God gave Adam all the goss and told him not to eat apples from the tree. Adam chose not to pass that particular rule on to Eve, and not only that, he watched as she reached out, picked the apple, and took a bite. Maybe he was being ‘virtuous’ in his silence. Or maybe he was waiting to see what would happen to Eve before he ate an apple himself. In essence, he used her as a guinea pig. Virtuous Adam. And without a boot on his neck either!

3. Legal Erasure Through Coverture Laws

Under Australian, British, and American common law, married women had no legal identity. Their rights were absorbed by their husbands. They couldn’t own property, sue, or sign contracts. They were legally invisible.

You only have to go ancestry hunting to find this. I was constantly hitting roadblocks in finding only the first name of many female ancestors, not even finding marriage certificates so I could figure out their birth name. Sorry Mary-Ann.

The thing I find most galling is that women are punished for turning to ‘sin’ to earn. Oh, I’m sorry, Jeffrey. My drunken husband has pissed off and left me alone with 5 children under 8, no money or home, and no way of supporting my family. Thank you for your offer of assistance. You want me to do what?

And just FYI, there is no sex work without customers. Tossers.

4. Medical Gatekeeping & Mislabelling

For centuries, women’s physical and emotional experiences were pathologised as “hysteria” or “female madness”. This kept them out of decision-making in health care and dismissed their pain, often literally institutionalising them into silence.

I really should investigate which incredibly talented and inspired male doctor came up with such diagnoses. I’m sure he was just being screamed at by an utterly fed-up wife or mother who was just exhibiting justified female rage. We can’t help it if our voices climb in pitch until we are screeching!

Oh, by the way, Kevin, having your insides twist like vices on the regular can make you feel a little nuts.

5. Exclusion from Historical Record-Keeping

The majority of recorded history was written by men, about men. Women’s contributions were often oral, domestic, or communal and therefore not documented in traditional historical archives. “His-story” was not a metaphor; it was literal.

That’s why I like movies like ‘Hidden Figures’. The stories are out there, and those of us who are literate should be looking for them and telling them. Light ‘em up!

6. Economic Dependency

Women were systematically kept out of economic power structures: denied land ownership, inheritance, and access to capital. Without economic autonomy, their social roles were confined to dependency, reducing visibility and influence.

As above, Jeffrey, put your money back in your pocket, or use it to fund places for ‘these’ women to stay and learn skills. What the hell are they supposed to do for money? Oh, that’s right.

7. Gendered Language & Symbolism

Language has historically positioned men as the default (“mankind”, “he”) as neutral and women as “the other”. Even in literature and media, women were often defined by how they served male protagonists — not their own interiority.

As Reese Witherspoon puts it, most movies and TV shows inevitably reach a point where the female cries, “What do we do now?” It’s like bathing in turmeric; you’ll come out all yellow. We are bathed systematically in helplessness and ‘otherness’, but I’ve gotta say I don’t give a thought to terms like ‘mankind’. If we get too hung up on what is and put all our effort into changing minutiae like that, the big things get left behind.

You can wash the car, but if it’s got a busted radiator, it just won’t go.

8. Systematic Removal from Art, Science & Innovation Credit

Many inventions and scientific contributions by women were either stolen, dismissed, or credited to men. Rosalind Franklin (DNA structure), Ada Lovelace (early computing), and countless female artists were minimised or forgotten.

Einstein’s wife was definitely no slouch; she tutored him. That’s apparently how they met. Curiously once she died, apparently so did his output… Don’t come for me too hard for my lack of knowledge; that’s kind of my point. I could look her up, but I really shouldn’t have to if she were as integral to his work as I once read a snippet mentioning. Cue artists, scientists, and philosophers. I mean, Socrates had a female teacher, for god’s sake.

9. Colonization & Cultural Erasure

In colonised nations, indigenous and matriarchal structures were overwritten by Eurocentric patriarchal systems. Women who were once spiritual, political, or tribal leaders were pushed into domestic roles and stripped of status.

You can’t be in charge, Lorraine; you aren’t strong enough to beat him in an arm wrestle. Lucky for you, these strong fellas have come along to ‘fix’ your broken system that’s been successful for centuries. Why live in peace and prosperity if you can’t defend yourselves? Weaklings.

10. Media & Beauty Industrialisation

The rise of 20th-century advertising, film, and media reduced women to objects of male gaze. Visibility was allowed only if it served beauty, desirability, or domesticity — reducing women’s personal worth to appearances.

Well, appealing to the masses is always a mug’s game. Made by men, for men. And it’s not as if there were an alternative. But there’s always an outlier who runs their own race. Katherine Hepburn, huzzah!

11. Political Disempowerment

For centuries, women had no voting rights, representation, or civic voice. Even now, the underrepresentation in politics and public leadership contributes to systemic invisibility and policies that don’t reflect their realities.

I think the saddest thing right now is that many women don’t appreciate the sacrifices our matriarchs made in order to gain the vote. Conversely, that actually makes me a little misty.

The idea that it is now so normalised, so intrinsic, that young women in particular, who have had that right their whole lives, don’t even think about it ever being any different. And take it for granted.

12. Violence & Fear-Based Silence

War, domestic violence, rape culture, and systemic abuse have always been tools to keep women silent. Speaking out was, and often still is, met with threats, shame, or exile. Many women learned invisibility as a survival mechanism.

I think you know my thoughts on this.