Editing Celts (section)

===Gender and sexual norms===
[[File:Celtic.warriors.garments-replica.jpg|thumb|upright|Reconstruction of the dress and equipment of an Iron Age Celtic warrior from [[Biebertal]], Germany]]
{{see also|Ancient Celtic women}}

Very few reliable sources exist regarding Celtic views on [[gender role]]s, though some archaeological evidence suggests their views may have differed from those of the Greco-Roman world, which tended to be less [[egalitarian]].<ref>{{cite book |first=J. A. |last=MacCulloch |title=The Religion of the Ancient Celts |publisher=Morrison & Gibb |date=1911 |pages=4–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Evans |first=Thomas L. |title=Quantified Identities: A Statistical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern France 600–130 BC, BAR International Series 1226 |publisher=[[Archaeopress]] |date=2004 |pages=34–40, 158–88}}</ref> Some Iron Age burials in northeastern Gaul suggest women may have had roles in warfare during the earlier ''La Tène'' period, but the evidence is far from conclusive.<ref>{{cite book |last=Evans |first=Thomas L. |title=Quantified Identities: A Statistical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern France 600–130 BC, BAR International Series 1226 |publisher=[[Archaeopress]] |date=2004 |pages=34–37}}</ref> Celtic individuals buried with both female jewellery and weaponry have been found, such as the [[Vix Grave]] in northeastern Gaul, and there are questions about the gender of some individuals buried with weaponry. However, it has been suggested that the weapons indicate high social rank rather than masculinity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Sarah M. |title=Gender in archaeology: analyzing power and prestige: Volume 9 of Gender and archaeology series |publisher=[[Rowman Altamira]] |date=2004 |page=119}}</ref>

Most written accounts of the Ancient Celts are from the Romans and Greeks, though it is not clear how accurate these are. Roman historians [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] and [[Tacitus]] mentioned Celtic women inciting, participating in, and leading battles.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tierney |first=J. J. |title=The Celtic Ethnography of Posidonius |series=Proceedings of the [[Royal Irish Academy]] |volume=60 C |pages=1.89–275}}</ref> [[Plutarch]] reports that Celtic women acted as ambassadors to avoid a war among Celtic chiefdoms in the [[Po valley]] during the 4th century BC.<ref name="Ellis">{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Peter Berresford |title=The Celts: A History |pages=49–50 |publisher=Caroll & Graf |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-7867-1211-3}}</ref> Posidonius' anthropological comments on the Celts had common themes, primarily [[primitivism]], extreme ferocity, cruel sacrificial practices, and the strength and courage of their women.<ref>
{{cite book |title=Celts and the Classical World |last=Rankin |first=H. David |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=1996 |page=80 |isbn=978-0-415-15090-3}}</ref> [[Cassius Dio]] suggests there was great [[sexual norm|sexual freedom]] among women in Celtic Britain:<ref name="Dio Cassius">[[List of Ancient Rome-related topics|Roman History]] Volume IX Books 71–80, Dio Cassiuss and Earnest Carry translator (1927), [[Loeb Classical Library]] {{ISBN|0-674-99196-6}}.</ref>

{{blockquote|...&nbsp;a very witty remark is reported to have been made by the wife of Argentocoxus, a [[Caledonians|Caledonian]], to [[Livia|Julia Augusta]]. When the empress was jesting with her, after the treaty, about the free intercourse of her sex with men in Britain, she replied: "We fulfill the demands of nature in a much better way than do you Roman women; for we consort openly with the best men, whereas you let yourselves be debauched in secret by the vilest". Such was the retort of the British woman.}}

Barry Cunliffe writes that such references are "likely to be ill-observed" and meant to portray the Celts as outlandish "barbarians".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cunliffe |first1=Barry |title=The Ancient Celts |date=2018 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=236}}</ref> Historian Lisa Bitel argues the descriptions of Celtic women warriors are not credible. She says some Roman and Greek writers wanted to show that the barbarian Celts lived in "an upside-down world&nbsp;... and a standard ingredient in such a world was the manly warrior woman".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bitel |first=Lisa M. |title=Land of Women: Tales of Sex and Gender from Early Ireland |url= https://archive.org/details/landofwomentales00bite |url-access=limited |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |date=1996 |page=[https://archive.org/details/landofwomentales00bite/page/212 212] |isbn=978-0-8014-8544-2}}</ref>

The Greek philosopher [[Aristotle]] wrote in his ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' that the [[Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe|Celts of southeastern Europe]] approved of male homosexuality. Greek historian [[Diodorus Siculus]] wrote in his ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' that although Gaulish women were beautiful, the men had "little to do with them" and it was a custom for men to sleep on animal skins with two younger males. He further claimed that "the young men will offer themselves to strangers and are insulted if the offer is refused". His claim was later repeated by Greco-Roman writers [[Athenaeus]] and [[Ammianus Marcellinus|Ammianus]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Percy |first=William A. |title=Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |date=1996 |url= https://archive.org/details/pederastypedagog00perc/page/18 |page=[https://archive.org/details/pederastypedagog00perc/page/18 18] |isbn=978-0-252-06740-2 |access-date=18 September 2009}}; Rankin, H. David; ''Celts and the Classical World''; p. 55.</ref> H. David Rankin, in ''Celts and the Classical World'', suggests some of these claims refer to bonding rituals in warrior groups, which required abstinence from women at certain times,<ref>Rankin, p. 78.</ref> and says it probably reflects "the warlike character of early contacts between the Celts and the Greeks".<ref>Rankin, p. 55.</ref>

Under [[Early Irish law|Brehon Law]], which was written down in [[early Medieval Ireland]] after conversion to Christianity, a woman had the right to divorce her husband and gain his property if he was unable to perform his marital duties due to impotence, obesity, homosexual inclination or preference for other women.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Law in Ireland {{!}} The Courts Service of Ireland |url= https://www.courts.ie/history-law-ireland#:~:text=In%20many%20respects%20Brehon%20law,punishment%20was%20prescribed%20for%20wrongdoing. |access-date=26 June 2024 |website=www.courts.ie}}</ref><ref name="Cáin Lánamna (Couples Law)">University College, Cork. '' Cáin Lánamna (Couples Law) ''. 2005.{{cite web |url= http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G102030.html |title=Cáin Lánamna |access-date=20 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081216104108/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G102030.html |archive-date=16 December 2008}} Access date: 7 March 2006.</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2022}}