It is stated in chapter 9, that men and women in early Islam are seen as equals in the Quran. However, this is only true from a spiritual perspective. "Those who surrender themselves to Allah and accept the true faith…and are ever mindful of Allah-on these, both men and women, Allah will bestow forgiveness and rich reward"(426). If women acted in a proper way, they were equal to men in the eyes of Allah, but in the eyes of men, they were not considered equals at all. They were viewed as inferior and subordinate to their husbands. The Quran set strict guidelines on how Muslim women could live their lives. "Women were given control over their own property, particularly their dowries, and were granted rights of inheritance, but at half the rate of their male counterparts" (426). While women did have some rights, they were not close to obtaining the same benefits as men.
"The boy leads the girl, the girl follows the boy; the duty of husbands to be resolute and wives to be docile begins with this" (371), states scholar Sima Guang highlighting the divide between men and women. In the past, men's masculinity was judged on their athletic ability. In this chapter however, we see that in the Song Dynasty, there was more of an emphasis on "calligraphy, scholarship, painting and poetry" (371). That was what was expected from men, but when we take a look at the roles of women, not much has changed. Women were seen as distractions to men's studies, and subordinate to their husband's. One of the hardest things to read about in this chapter was the practice of foot binding. This example of tightening patriarchy, spread heavily among the elite, but eventually extended to the larger part of Chinese society. Foot binding involves the "tight wrapping of a young girl's feet, usually breaking the bones of the feet and causing intense pain" (371). The practice emphasized the frailty of women and served to keep them in their "inner quarters" where Confucian tradition insisted they belonged. 
