Another big cause was mass infantry warfare - you can see in low-density sedentary societies and nomadic pastoral societies (which generally had strong traditions of mass horsemanship, rather than infantry combat) that oftentimes (though not always) women can still hold very high position.

It's when the norm of warfare changes from "Who's better with a sword" (in which women can very much remain competitive with men) to "What massive group of human meat on foot can roll over the other" that women begin to be pushed out of military roles (due to the triple-problem of women being shorter and lighter on average, women having less dense bones, and such stage 1 societies prioritizing ridiculous birth rates to maintain or gain advantages over neighboring societies). And, as the saying goes, power flows from the barrel of a gun. Or, in this case, the edge of blade!

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 4 points 2 months ago

I just watched a YouTube video about the history of Carhartt and the host made a really amazing point: Almost all of men's fashion is either derived from military uniforms or work wear. Cardigans, T shirts, men's suits, field coats, wristwatches, bomber jackets, and trench coats are all based on military clothing.

Just thought this fact dovetailed neatly into your point about how toxic masculinity grows out of warfare.