Though much advocacy for women’s rights outlines the ways that women have been oppressed in history and the need for them to attain equality with men, a look at the timeline reveals a more complex development regarding care roles.
It is apparent that women had more recognition for their care roles in some early cultures, and recognition of the vital role they played in the household and in the continuation of society.
A timeline also reveals differences between cultures at any given era. At some points primitive or more indigenous cultures valued the care roles while more developed nations were starting to devalue them.
A timeline traces growing concerns about formally stating of rights of children, the elderly and of women. The surge in such interest over the past century has however mainly been about equality in paid work.
Recognition of the traditional care role has been slower, often with the role itself devalued and penalized as an obstacle to equality for paid work.
The complex history is outlined here:
Equality and Caregiving 