Women in the Americas, who had once seen power and almost equality to men, were now going to lose respect in religious, legal, and cultural ways that they never saw coming. Religion in the Americas before the Spanish arrived was based a lot off of cosmology. In Inca religion, the men worshipped the sun, and women worshipped the moon. They were separate but both just as important as the other. There were priests that ruled the men organization and priestesses that ruled the women organization.
Cultural and social beliefs saturate faiths and work to oppress female followers, and certain religious practices keep many women from fulfilling their potential or from living with privileges that other women may have. Patriarchal religions revolve around a male god, and superior beings are created through the union of a divine male and a mortal female, thus creating a hierarchy of gender. This almost automatically places women in a position of disrespect and helplessness. In this paper I will consider Kambili and Beatrice from Purple Hibiscus by Adiche, Margo from The Bridge Stories, to support my thoughts that, religion, being a patriarchal institution, acts as an oppressor to women and contributes to the loss of women’s identity. To begin I would like to define patriarchy and religion.
Throughout the course of the play, the female characters are seen as powerful figures who are more ruthless than the men. For example, Regan and Goneril are often portrayed as strong and controlling figures, not letting anyone stand in their way of achieving their aims. They see their father as an obstacle, preventing them from getting what they want, and they treat him like this also. Although he was kind enough to give up his kingdom to be shared between two of his daughters, this wasn’t enough. Both Goneril and Regan wanted to grasp all of Lear’s powers, and take them away from him.
Women are mentioned relatively few times in Iliad in comparison with the books devoted solely to the men. Women treated as an object: The Iliad began with an argument between Achilles and Agamemnon over Briseis, who was considered a war prize. Agamemnon's prize was Chryseis, the daughter of a priest of the god Apollo. Achilles' reward was a maiden named Briseis. Both women were taken against their will.
Some people believe that Shahrazad's stories are the beginning of feminism while others not. The work is contradictory since it has extremely misogynist parts and feminist parts. The purpose of this essay is to find out can this text be viewed as a feminist text or not. 1) We can notice Shahrazad’ feminist views in some places. For example, there are many cases in the first several stories of Arabian Nights when women are disloyal and evil, but there are also stories about the wrong of men.
Or is she simply playing the role and dumbing herself down purposefully as women throughout history (and even currently) have done to appease her man? If Eve really was the weaker sex why did God make Eve so powerful and give her the ability to ruin it for all of mankind? Eve is portrayed as meek and oblivious. When we are first introduced to her we are told, “Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed” (Book 4, 296). Milton lets us know from the very start that she is not equal to Adam.
The overall judgment of women, as seen by the furies is that they are a powerful force, not to be reckoned with, but not exactly knowable or rational either. The sky gods, such as Zeus, use the spitefulness of the furies to rebuke the actions of men, particularly when they allow a woman to have more strength than they ought to posses. This is seen with Helen, who is not seen as a mere pawn (which she “ought” to be by the standards of the day), but somehow a deceitful woman for being beautiful, and having men going to war for her. (74 – 80). This misplacement of power and station is also seen with Clytemnestra.
And if a woman succumbs to acts adultery, this is seen as a great threat for the Oikos as the women can no longer be seen as honourable or chase, casting doubt on children’s legitimacy. It suggests that women tend to be seen as weaker and therefore potentially victims in need of protection through the law. Athenian men such as Ischomachus thought women were physically weak to an extent, believing ‘work.. indoors are women’s tasks’ and the ‘outdoors are the mans’. However, he justifies this indoor role he has given to his wife by different characteristics the gods have given to the sexes including women’s physical weakness however through the bee analogy he stresses the requirement for women to be assertive and strong in management in the internal roles of the oikos which makes her distinct from other women through her superior expertise she gains from managing the oikos. This suggests that Athenian men thought women were weak because of what they believe or what they’ve been taught to believe rather than see what women might be able to do.
Leto who is one of Zeus’ wives is the mother of the great god. “But they trembled greatly and were afraid, and non dared to receive Phoibos, even the more fertile ones, until indeed queenly Leto came to Delos” (HHAp47-49).Several prosperous lands refused Leto based on a rumour that Apollo will be “brutally violent and tyrannical” (Clay 35).Essentially, Leto has to make a deal with Delos; which is a poor island before it
They began bickering until they finally asked Zeus to settle the matter. Zeus, not wanting to get involved, sent the goddesses and their problem to a prince named Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy. Some say he chose Paris because he was the most honest person on earth, but others say it was because he was not smart enough to know not get involved with fighting between goddesses. Each goddess tried to bribe Paris in her own way. Athena, goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and skill, promised to help him lead Troy to victory against the Greeks.