Since the age of the pharaohs, women have gotten the short end of the stick. Read on and see how different cultures subdued and inflicted punishment to erring women.

• Surprisingly, in Tibet - land of the Dalai Lama - many years ago, the law required all women to engage in prostitution. This was seen as a way to gain sexual experience prior to marriage. In layman’s terms, they wanted to be sure the women would be able to satisfy their men.
• The Asiatic Huns punished convicted male rapists and adulterers with castration. Female adulterers were merely cut in two. Oh. No big deal.
• In 100 AD, the Teutons, a Germanic tribe, would punish anyone caught as a prostitute by suffocating them in excrement. Oh-kay, I think I got sick just thinking about it.
• The vow of a Roman vestal virgin lasted 30 years. If she engaged in sex before then, she was punished by being buried alive. Harsh, ‘no?
• In Pompeii, a special law was directed at prostitutes. They had to dye their hair either blue, red or yellow in order to be able to work. The colors probably signify rank or station.
• Six thousand years ago, Egyptians, the first to punish sex crimes with castration, would completely castrate a male convicted of rape. A woman found guilty of adultery would find herself without a nose, the thinking being that without a nose, it would be harder to find someone to share in her adulterous ways. Hmmm… I wonder if the same thing happened to the noseless sphinx.
• In India, adulterous women were punished by tying their limbs to two horses - hands to one and feet to another. Then the horses would be agitated so as to gallop in opposite directions. I don’t have to tell you what happens to the women after.

And just to even it up a little, for the men:

• The Romans would crush a first-time rapist’s gonads between two stones. Ouch.
• While not as extreme as the ancient Israelite punishment for adultery (stoning), Greek men still had their fair share of discomfort when their pubic hair was removed and a large radish was shoved up their rectum.

Ugh. Reading all these made my knees weak. I’m sure glad we’ve come a long, long from these. Although, there’s plenty more to change in this world, and hopefully within our generation.