Post by beloved on May 10, 2008 23:57:18 GMT -5
Generally men hold women in contempt.
Here are some common beliefs held concerning women in society, and although I agree that there are women who hold the same ideas to be true, it's not those women who hold other women in bondage to contempt, although they certainly don't help. All of these beliefs and contempt have been passed down from generation to generation. But just because it's tradition to teach and believe these things, doesn't make them right. To deny these things doesn't solve them either. These are not godly beliefs, but sinful ones.
1. God created women as inferior beings, designed to serve their husbands.
"Take up a stick and beat her, not in rage, but out of charity and concern for her soul, so that the beating will rebound to your merit and her good." Friar Cherubino in his "Rules of Marriage", on what a medieval husband should do if his wife does not obey his verbal correction
"Woman must neither begin nor complete anything without man: Where he is, there she must be, and bend before him as before a master, whom she shall fear and to whom she shall be subject and obedient." Martin Luther
"Women with a violent spouse have believed that the Bible actually says what they have been taught it says- that women are inferior in status before husband and God and deserving of a life of pain." Boston University Theology Professor Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
"Woman in her greatest perfection was made to serve and obey man." John Knox (1505-1572)
"[Short hair] is a symbol of the wicked fashion of rebellion of wives to their husbands' authority or of wicked daughters who rebel against their fathers. Men war short hair as a sign that hey take their responsibilities as made in the image of God and as rulers over their households. Women are to wear long hair as symbols of their submission to husband and father, taking their place with meekness as women surrendered to the will of God and subject to the authority God places over them." Fundamentalist Evangelist John R. Rice
2. Women are not equipped to assume leadership roles; neither in the world, the home, on the job, in politics, or in religion.
"Even the single woman is not to make any decision without a male head." [this disgusting contempt is stated by a woman] Letha Scanzoni, Author of the 1974 book, All We're Meant to Be"
"A woman's intellect is normally more feeble and her curiosity greater than those of a man... Women should not govern the state or make war or enter the sacred ministry. Thus they can dispense with some of the more difficult branches of knowledge which deal with politics, the military arts, jurisprudence, philosophy and theology... Their bodies as well sa their minds are less strong and robust than those of men." Francois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fenelon, In "The Education of Females" published in the late 17th Century
3. Women who exhibit strong leadership qualities pose a serious threat to femininity, and the men they will exercise authority over. In the world or church.
"As long as woman is for birth and children, she is different from man as body is from soul. But if she wishes to serve Christ more than the world, then she will cease to be a woman and will be called man." Jerome, A revered monk of the fourth century
Don't think this is still a cultural norm?
"We don't believe there's a place for women elders in the church. When the apostle Paul said that a woman should not "teach or exercise authority over a man" (See I. Tim. 2:12) (which is somehow been mistranslated because if you study things out Paul did actually put women in authority over men), "he did not follow that statement with a cultural argument. Rather he went all the way back to creation to show that women weren't intended to dominate men. The reasons he gave are that the woman was created after the man, and that she was deceived when acting independently of his leadership." California Pastor and Author John MacArthur, in a statement on women posted on his "Grace to You" website. [Apparently, "Grace to You" only means men for him.]
4. Women are weak because they express their emotions.
" is more carnal than a man, as is clear from her many carnal abominations. And it should be noted that there was a defect in the formation of the first woman, since she was formed from a bent rib, that is, a rib of the breast, which is bent as it were in contrary direction of a man. And since through this defect she is an imperfect animal, she always deceives... Since [women] are feebler both in mind and body, it is not surprising that they should come under the spell of witchcraft." Domican Inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger in a 1486 Tract in which they argued that women are the source of all witchcraft.
5. Women are more easily deceived.
"Woman was evil from the beginnings, a gate of death, a disciple of the servant, the devil's accomplice, a fount of deception, a dogstart to godly labors, rust corrupting the saints; whose perilous face hath overgrown such as had already become almost angels. Lo, woman is the had of sin, a weapon of the devil, expulsion from the Paradise, mother of guilt, corruption of the ancient law." From a collection of views on women compiled by Salimbene, a 13th century Franciscan Monk (1221-1288)
"Men should not sit and listen to a woman.. even if she says admirable things, or even saintly things, that is of little consequence, since they came from the mouth of a woman." Origen (A.D. 185-254)
6. A woman can't be fulfilled without a husband and children. Therefore she is inferior to men, even though most men want a wife and children. And therefore, she should make this her role in life, never seeking anything else in addition to those things.
"Women are ashamed to admit this, but Scripture and life reveal that the only one woman in thousands has been endowed with the God-given aptitude to live in chastity and virginity. A woman is not fully the master of herself. God fashioned her body so that she should be wit a man, to have and to rear children... No woman should be ashamed of that for which God made and intended her." Marin Luther, i a letter he wrote in 1524
"Woman has no call to the ballot-box, but she has a sphere of her own, of amazing responsibility and importance. She is the divinely appointed guardian of the home.. She should more fully realize her position. is the holiest, most responsible, and queen like assigned to mortals; and dismiss all ambition for anything higher, as there is nothing else here so high for mortals." -Fundamentalist Leader Jon Milton Williams, in "Women's Suffrage" (1893), which used the Bible to oppose women the movement to give the right to vote.
7. Women shouldn't work outside the home.
"Men have broad shoulders and narrow hips, and accordingly, they possess intelligence. Women have narrow shoulders and broad hips. Women out to stay at home; the way they were created indicates this, for they have broad hips and a wide fundament to sit upon, keep house and bear and raise children." Martin Luther
"Nowhere was the power of divine healing ever given to be administered by any woman. Women have their rightful places but when you put one in the pulpit it is unscriptural." Rev. Dallas Billington of Akron Baptist Temple, in his 1952 attack on Evangelist Katheryn Kuhlman
8. Women must acknowledge their husband's leadership and obey his authority, because she is inferior to him in mind and body, and therefore he must take on this role of "leadership", or "head" of the household.
"The woman is subject to the man, on account of the weakness of her nature, both mind and body. Man is the beginning of woman and her end, just as God is the beginning and the end of every creature. Woman is in subjection according to the law of nature, but a slave is not. Children out to love their father more than their mothers." 13th Century theologian Thomas Aquinas
9. Women are good for nothing but sex, house keeping, bearing children.
"What is the difference whether it is in a wife or a mother; it is still Eve the temptress that we must be aware of in any women..... I fail to see what use women can be to a man, if one excludes the function of bearing children." St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
10. Women aren't as intelligent or capable as men.
"Women have no creative power, inventive genius or originality. Rather [they are] creatures of instinct and imitation, beautifully adapted to what nature intended." Anonymous British doctor, in an 1869 pamphlet opposing women medical students.
"God maintained the order of each sex by dividing the business of life into two parts, and assigned the more necessary and beneficial aspects to the man and the less important, inferior matters to the woman." Early church father John Chrysostom (A.D. 347-407)
"It is an ascertained physiological fact that the actual capacity of the average male brain is considerably greater than that of the female." M. Burrows, in a 1869 article that argued against women to attend college in England.
11. Women are inferior to men physically (and therefore in every way).
"When a man is drowning, you don't send a lady out to rescue him. You send out a great, big he-man." [Triple meaning here of physical/mental/spiritual] American Fundamentalist Leader Fred Smith, Spokesman of the Men and Religion Forward Movement of 1912
"The female is more imperfect than the male. The first reason is that she is colder. If, among animals, the warmer ones are more active, it follows that the colder ones are imperfect." Galen
"Woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active power in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex, while production of woman comes from defect in the active force." Thomas Aquinas
12. Women should not teach or preach in churches, synagogues, or otherwise.
"The creational pattern of male headship requires that women not hold the formal position of the authoritative public teaching office in the church, that is, the office of pastor." 1985 Statement of the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod
"Out of respect to the congregation, a woman should not herself read in the law. It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard among men. The voice of a woman is a filthy nakedness." From the Jewish Talmud
I could go on but these are the basic things women are held in contempt for by many in society. The words used to express these beliefs may [or in some cases may not] have gotten milder and more smooth tongued, but the beliefs, message, and attitudes are still the same.
Here are some common beliefs held concerning women in society, and although I agree that there are women who hold the same ideas to be true, it's not those women who hold other women in bondage to contempt, although they certainly don't help. All of these beliefs and contempt have been passed down from generation to generation. But just because it's tradition to teach and believe these things, doesn't make them right. To deny these things doesn't solve them either. These are not godly beliefs, but sinful ones.
1. God created women as inferior beings, designed to serve their husbands.
"Take up a stick and beat her, not in rage, but out of charity and concern for her soul, so that the beating will rebound to your merit and her good." Friar Cherubino in his "Rules of Marriage", on what a medieval husband should do if his wife does not obey his verbal correction
"Woman must neither begin nor complete anything without man: Where he is, there she must be, and bend before him as before a master, whom she shall fear and to whom she shall be subject and obedient." Martin Luther
"Women with a violent spouse have believed that the Bible actually says what they have been taught it says- that women are inferior in status before husband and God and deserving of a life of pain." Boston University Theology Professor Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
"Woman in her greatest perfection was made to serve and obey man." John Knox (1505-1572)
"[Short hair] is a symbol of the wicked fashion of rebellion of wives to their husbands' authority or of wicked daughters who rebel against their fathers. Men war short hair as a sign that hey take their responsibilities as made in the image of God and as rulers over their households. Women are to wear long hair as symbols of their submission to husband and father, taking their place with meekness as women surrendered to the will of God and subject to the authority God places over them." Fundamentalist Evangelist John R. Rice
2. Women are not equipped to assume leadership roles; neither in the world, the home, on the job, in politics, or in religion.
"Even the single woman is not to make any decision without a male head." [this disgusting contempt is stated by a woman] Letha Scanzoni, Author of the 1974 book, All We're Meant to Be"
"A woman's intellect is normally more feeble and her curiosity greater than those of a man... Women should not govern the state or make war or enter the sacred ministry. Thus they can dispense with some of the more difficult branches of knowledge which deal with politics, the military arts, jurisprudence, philosophy and theology... Their bodies as well sa their minds are less strong and robust than those of men." Francois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fenelon, In "The Education of Females" published in the late 17th Century
3. Women who exhibit strong leadership qualities pose a serious threat to femininity, and the men they will exercise authority over. In the world or church.
"As long as woman is for birth and children, she is different from man as body is from soul. But if she wishes to serve Christ more than the world, then she will cease to be a woman and will be called man." Jerome, A revered monk of the fourth century
Don't think this is still a cultural norm?
"We don't believe there's a place for women elders in the church. When the apostle Paul said that a woman should not "teach or exercise authority over a man" (See I. Tim. 2:12) (which is somehow been mistranslated because if you study things out Paul did actually put women in authority over men), "he did not follow that statement with a cultural argument. Rather he went all the way back to creation to show that women weren't intended to dominate men. The reasons he gave are that the woman was created after the man, and that she was deceived when acting independently of his leadership." California Pastor and Author John MacArthur, in a statement on women posted on his "Grace to You" website. [Apparently, "Grace to You" only means men for him.]
4. Women are weak because they express their emotions.
" is more carnal than a man, as is clear from her many carnal abominations. And it should be noted that there was a defect in the formation of the first woman, since she was formed from a bent rib, that is, a rib of the breast, which is bent as it were in contrary direction of a man. And since through this defect she is an imperfect animal, she always deceives... Since [women] are feebler both in mind and body, it is not surprising that they should come under the spell of witchcraft." Domican Inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger in a 1486 Tract in which they argued that women are the source of all witchcraft.
5. Women are more easily deceived.
"Woman was evil from the beginnings, a gate of death, a disciple of the servant, the devil's accomplice, a fount of deception, a dogstart to godly labors, rust corrupting the saints; whose perilous face hath overgrown such as had already become almost angels. Lo, woman is the had of sin, a weapon of the devil, expulsion from the Paradise, mother of guilt, corruption of the ancient law." From a collection of views on women compiled by Salimbene, a 13th century Franciscan Monk (1221-1288)
"Men should not sit and listen to a woman.. even if she says admirable things, or even saintly things, that is of little consequence, since they came from the mouth of a woman." Origen (A.D. 185-254)
6. A woman can't be fulfilled without a husband and children. Therefore she is inferior to men, even though most men want a wife and children. And therefore, she should make this her role in life, never seeking anything else in addition to those things.
"Women are ashamed to admit this, but Scripture and life reveal that the only one woman in thousands has been endowed with the God-given aptitude to live in chastity and virginity. A woman is not fully the master of herself. God fashioned her body so that she should be wit a man, to have and to rear children... No woman should be ashamed of that for which God made and intended her." Marin Luther, i a letter he wrote in 1524
"Woman has no call to the ballot-box, but she has a sphere of her own, of amazing responsibility and importance. She is the divinely appointed guardian of the home.. She should more fully realize her position. is the holiest, most responsible, and queen like assigned to mortals; and dismiss all ambition for anything higher, as there is nothing else here so high for mortals." -Fundamentalist Leader Jon Milton Williams, in "Women's Suffrage" (1893), which used the Bible to oppose women the movement to give the right to vote.
7. Women shouldn't work outside the home.
"Men have broad shoulders and narrow hips, and accordingly, they possess intelligence. Women have narrow shoulders and broad hips. Women out to stay at home; the way they were created indicates this, for they have broad hips and a wide fundament to sit upon, keep house and bear and raise children." Martin Luther
"Nowhere was the power of divine healing ever given to be administered by any woman. Women have their rightful places but when you put one in the pulpit it is unscriptural." Rev. Dallas Billington of Akron Baptist Temple, in his 1952 attack on Evangelist Katheryn Kuhlman
8. Women must acknowledge their husband's leadership and obey his authority, because she is inferior to him in mind and body, and therefore he must take on this role of "leadership", or "head" of the household.
"The woman is subject to the man, on account of the weakness of her nature, both mind and body. Man is the beginning of woman and her end, just as God is the beginning and the end of every creature. Woman is in subjection according to the law of nature, but a slave is not. Children out to love their father more than their mothers." 13th Century theologian Thomas Aquinas
9. Women are good for nothing but sex, house keeping, bearing children.
"What is the difference whether it is in a wife or a mother; it is still Eve the temptress that we must be aware of in any women..... I fail to see what use women can be to a man, if one excludes the function of bearing children." St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
10. Women aren't as intelligent or capable as men.
"Women have no creative power, inventive genius or originality. Rather [they are] creatures of instinct and imitation, beautifully adapted to what nature intended." Anonymous British doctor, in an 1869 pamphlet opposing women medical students.
"God maintained the order of each sex by dividing the business of life into two parts, and assigned the more necessary and beneficial aspects to the man and the less important, inferior matters to the woman." Early church father John Chrysostom (A.D. 347-407)
"It is an ascertained physiological fact that the actual capacity of the average male brain is considerably greater than that of the female." M. Burrows, in a 1869 article that argued against women to attend college in England.
11. Women are inferior to men physically (and therefore in every way).
"When a man is drowning, you don't send a lady out to rescue him. You send out a great, big he-man." [Triple meaning here of physical/mental/spiritual] American Fundamentalist Leader Fred Smith, Spokesman of the Men and Religion Forward Movement of 1912
"The female is more imperfect than the male. The first reason is that she is colder. If, among animals, the warmer ones are more active, it follows that the colder ones are imperfect." Galen
"Woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active power in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex, while production of woman comes from defect in the active force." Thomas Aquinas
12. Women should not teach or preach in churches, synagogues, or otherwise.
"The creational pattern of male headship requires that women not hold the formal position of the authoritative public teaching office in the church, that is, the office of pastor." 1985 Statement of the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod
"Out of respect to the congregation, a woman should not herself read in the law. It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard among men. The voice of a woman is a filthy nakedness." From the Jewish Talmud
I could go on but these are the basic things women are held in contempt for by many in society. The words used to express these beliefs may [or in some cases may not] have gotten milder and more smooth tongued, but the beliefs, message, and attitudes are still the same.