This essay will outline and assess each approach in turn. Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that focuses on the hypothesis of patriarchy as a system of power that organises society into a complex of relationships based on the assertion that male supremacy oppresses women. With regards to religion, they see religion as serving the interests of men. The French feminist, Simone de Beauvoir provides an explanation about why gender inequality in religion exists. According to de Beauvoir, religion acts very similar to women as Marxists see it acting on oppressed classes.
Christians say that God is not to be described in terms of sex, yet they use a variety of masculine terms to describe God (Pagels). The Mother Mary is recognized for being the mother of Jesus Christ. However she is not believed to be divine in her own right (Pagels). It is almost as if Mary was important because she carried the son of God, but less important than God or Jesus due to the fact that she is still a women. Orthodox Christians of the time viewed women in a primitive manner.
To ensure that people continued to believe this concept the church used this verse from the bible as proof “woman in her greatest perfection was made to serve and obey man.” This belief put women in a state of being mentally isolated from men. Being second-rate citizens meant that few of them received any formal education; because they lacked schooling they became intellectually isolated from anyone whom had received any type of formal education. During this time period women were beaten into submission when they failed to instantly comply with the orders any male relative gave them. Shakespeare wrote about many of these Elizabethan beliefs in his play Othello. The play centralized around the lust for one very beautiful, young girl Desdemona.
For the way they interpret the guidelines conflict arises when men criticize women. Hindu scriptures are the heart of the Indian culture. It’s the way they express themselves in their way of life. Hinduism scriptures hold the highest authority towards woman positions and more importantly how they have to or choose to obey their husbands. Laws are enforced in the community which is to further let it be known that the husband is in total control over his wife.
This can be shown in the ‘Proof of Marriage’ source as the phratry must accept that a child is legitimate, otherwise property will not be given to the son. However it can also be said that it is in fact wives who fear their husbands and not the other way round. In the Eurastophenes’ murder case, Euphilites laughed at his wife when she suggested he ‘mauled the maid which could indicate women were in fear of how sexually controlling their husbands could be and how they could still get away with it. In the Naerea source is also shows men can be abusive to women with little to no consequence as Phrynion gets away with his abuse towards Naerea. You could also view the violence as a cry of fear and other controlling behaviour could emphasise that.
The source states that ‘God has put a different between the sexes’ suggesting that there is a biological basis as to why it was logical that women were to perform lesser and simpler tasks than men such as child rearing and cleaning. In this sense, women should be bound to the house, away from the busy and chaotic world of politics and business. Similarly, source 3 by John Williams states that women should ‘dismiss all ambition for anything higher’ suggesting that a woman’s sphere is below that of a man’s, further implying that as the home was women’s ‘natural domain’ they were seen to better qualified for domestic jobs. Although source 2 believes that neither men nor women are superior, it does state that women should not assert their equality to men and so suggesting that the two spheres implied that women were somewhat inferior to men. However, source 1 comes from The Christian Library and so the ideals of womanhood were heavily based on Christian faith which greatly restricted the role of women as through this faith women were seen as weak and so the source’s religious background indicates an underlying belief in women’s inferiority.
This is just one example of the way men misuse texts in the Koran to justify the repression of women. This also shows how women are not told of the dangers in this because they are just women who don’t need to be educated. The only thing the doctors who try to help these women can do is tell them the dangers against genital mutilation and proceed with the surgery even if they decide to go through with it. After generations of this practice, many women were taught to believe it made you more beautiful and kept you from becoming a prostitute. The more knowledge gained of genital mutilation led to different reasons of have the procedure done, such as “keeping their daughter’s chastity” (37).
Culture tends to divide sexes, based on our gender we automatically go into a category. The pattern of dividing gender and limit men and women to a certain way of living could be constructing some people into lifestyles they don't really enjoy. Women are expected to have children and raise a family and take care of her husband. What's wrong with a women not wanting to have children and spend her life traveling. There really isn't anything wrong with that but society frowns upon it.
The way an Iranian man and women communicate is much different from the way Americans communicate with their wives. In America the relationship between husband and wife usually is a based on mutual agreement and “equality”. Where as in the Muslim religion the “belief” is that women should be dominated by their men. Their belief allows them do such things such “As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them first, next refuse to share their beds, and last spank them lightly…” (Sura 4 Verse 34) , as stated in the Quran men are allowed physically discipline their wives. This belief is not shared by most Americans, but is shared by many Iranians as away of life and last resort mean.
However, scholars noted that there are many inconsistencies concerning this, seeing that though the Bible did say this, women were still treated as inferior to men, and that women were limited to the home. They still were seen as a means to produce children, more of an object for sexuality, and be silent while serving her husband (Ellwood 325). Some Christians even blamed women for “the sin of humanity that necessitated the death of the savior,” and they were referred to as “the devil’s gateway.” Celibacy soon became a choice of women because it soon became more holy than marrying someone (Ellwood 325). Because of these views of women, they became the popular blame for many problems, villages and towns were suspicious of women. This was seen in the Witch Trials of Salem, and these women were a woman who sinned or stepped out of their place t hat was put upon them.