The Romans. Those bastards. It’s all their fault:
Research coordinated by Carlos III University in Madrid (UC3M) analyzes the images of women in Roman mosaics and their impact on the collective consciousness of feminine stereotypes. In many cases, the research concludes, the images pointed to the female as the cause of wars and other evils.
Read more at History of the Ancient World.
I’m guessing they didn’t have this kind of thing in mind:
Wikimedia Commons
It’s from the Villa Romana del Casale, early 4th century. You should go look at the other photos.
Nicola Griffith 
I didn't realize roman women played volley ball! Interesting that the artist put them in bikinis instead of showing them naked. Roman censordhip? In any event, how do you find this stuff? I love it.
I put on my suspicious face whenever there is a science journalism report about gender– double suspicious face when it confirms what we already “know to be true.”
Gee, I didn't realize that the Romans had such an impact on Chinese and Japanese cultures.
barbara, this one came via a medieval blog I follow.
mordicai, the whole thing is, well, not what I would call sound :)
Terry, yep, no sweeping generalisations here!