We have been studying Ancient Athens, said to be the first democratic societies. We learned about how your class, status and birthplace affected your status in society. Only citizens were allowed to take part in voting and other decision making. To be a citizen you had to be a freeborn Athenian male over a certain age and both your parents also had to be born in Athens as well. Not only did this exclude all of the women but also anyone (Metics) who was born elsewhere or whose parents were born elsewhere. Slaves were also a part of Athenian society and were either owned by the City State or by private citizens.
Women were not only not allowed to take part in decision making, but they were also not allowed to leave their homes without a male relative. Girls didn't go to school and had less opportunities than boys.
Athens used Direct Democracy in their decision making. This meant that everyone had a say about what would happen. But as we already learned not everyone who lived in Athens was allowed to vote. Only about 1 in 10 Athenians were able to take part in decision making. So was Athens really a democratic society?
