 Even the most respectable citizen women emerged on ritual occasions (primarily festivals, sacrifices, and funerals), where they would have interacted with men. The Thesmophoria, an important festival to Demeter which was restricted to women, was organised and conducted by Athenian citizen women. Athenian women also ventured outdoors socially. David Cohen writes, "One of the most important activities of women included visiting or helping friends or relatives", and even wealthy women who could afford to spend their entire lives indoors probably interacted socially with other women outside in addition to the religious and ritual occasions when they were seen in public. According to D. M. Schaps (citing Cohen), the ideology of separation in classical Athens would have encouraged women to remain indoors but necessary outside activities would have overridden it.
