"Why did freedom for women expand at some times and places in the ancient world but..."?

You should look into the end times of the Greek, Roman and Islamic empires and now the end of American Capitalism.

Sexual liberation and women's liberation came at the peaks before the falls for some reason.

For instance, a typical Muslim duet from the Andalusian times would have the female as the protagonist and the male calling to her submissively in the background. Quite hedonistic times from what I've been told.

Perhaps life has to become less of a struggle before liberation can happen, for instance...

Women in the West could not be released from the domestic role until modern conveniences progressed enough to allow a tax payer to maintain themselves with ease without a back up person in a supporting role. The fact that work became less physical meant that women could join the tax system too, and so it was. In this case technological advancements freed women.

Another area to look at might be the end of Hitler's campaign, his staff became quite liberated sexually after they realised the war was lost.

I think it has to do with the quality or ease of life.

Patriarchy is a system that enhances competitive ability of a group. It requires sacrifices from both sexes and places them in the necessary roles that they are suited for. When a group is struggling to survive, they do not have the luxury of deciding how they want to behave.

Perhaps as populations grew larger than small bands, different groups came into conflict more often with each other over limited resources. Life became more difficult and personal freedoms became more of a luxury.

One of the best questions I have ever seen in GWS. Don't mind people with a chip on their shoulder. It's there permanently and cannot even be surgically removed. I don't know how to answer it, but I star in the hopes that some of my contacts will be able to. Also, it deserves about 10 stars.

It depends on the society , throughout the past and even today there were many different views. Some where woman were truly oppressed, some where woman were treated equal, there were even some where woman oppressed men.

"If only they had feminists in the ancient world, all would be equal"

when civilzation declines so does the treatment of women?