European View of Others

The early and, in some cases present Europe, discrimination was not only common but a typical characteristic among the people. There were many different kinds of segregation occurring, such as the idea that men were the dominant sex and Caucasian the dominant race. The Europeans (Caucasians) had been raised to believe that they were the dominant race of the world. To them, they were the humans, and any other race was just another part of their world, like animals or plants, but to a higher degree. Their area of living was basically isolated from the rest of the world, so they were seldom were exposed to the foreign cultures outside of their domain.

For example, if a new race of man was suddenly discovered, and they were green midgets who worshiped carrots as their gods, how would you feel towards them? Probably very similar to how the Europeans felt towards Native Americans who had different colored skin and worshipped the dirt that they walked on. Since the Natives were not a part of the European world, they looked down upon them. They were also raised to think that their religion was the ONLY religion, and didn't understand how these new people worshipped other gods besides theirs. It might have made them think that god looked down on these people. The same went for the Africans and Indians, who also had different colored skin and didn't worship Christ. The Europeans felt that they absolutely had to convert these people to the "correct" religion, and that made the other race cultures seem more like chores to them instead of human beings who shared the same planet.

European views of sex segregation were equal if not stronger then those of outside cultures. The vast majority of European countries believed that men were the dominant of the two sexes. The women could not vote, own land, and in some cases, even work outside of the house. The men were the breadwinners, therefor, the house leaders. Women were to be the caretakers, they were to prepare food, and be the housekeepers. Women in general were obedient and would do what the man wanted. No particular events occurred in that century to my knowledge to cause this overview, but it was taught throughout the ages. No matter their place, however, both men and women had an equal amount of responsibilities in their age.