Slavery is directed towards "others." Subjugation of women seemed like protection of one's own women, the women who were mistreated were "other."
Agreed. We adapt our morality to our social context: first we created rules to ease life within the family, then within the clan, then within the group of clans, later for small nations, still later for larger nations. Gradually and painstakingly, it is evolving to govern conduct in a community of nations.
Morality is not innate, but the specific drives that make it necessary for humans to create morality - the drive to associate, and as you say, the drive to protect and rear one's offspring - are.
If the desire for fairness, for example, were innate, would the notion of divinely appointed royalty have lasted as long as it did? If children see, from the very beginning, that one kid is always treated as superior, always given the biggest slice of pie, they will accept this as natural. |
