Evaluate the role of women in two societies, each from a different region.

The question requires that candidates make an appraisal of the role of women in two societies, referring to both societies throughout. The two societies must be from different regions but they may or may not have been contemporaneous with each other. Candidates may refer to the roles of female leaders such as Isabella of Castile or Elizabeth I of England, or women such as Chinese empresses Ma and Xiaozhuang, who supported their husbands. There may be reference to women’s position in the European workforce, especially in domestic service, or their legal status in patriarchal societies, such as China. Candidates may refer to the role of women in the slave system in the Americas, their role as farmers and traders in Africa, or the wide variety of roles, sometimes of high status, of women in Arab society. Both strengths and limitations must be clearly indicated but there does not need to be an equal focus on each.

The question required candidates to make an appraisal of the role of women in two societies, each chosen from a different region. Some responses were seen to this question but, for the most part, these lacked detailed knowledge of the examples that were chosen.