Christian wives were instructed to obey their husbands. Hinduism, known and the world’s oldest known religion, is largely patriarchal. The Ramayana was used to support the notion that women were men’s property. The ideal woman as the one who does not strive to break the bonds of control of men. The happiness or salvation of woman is a function of her faithful devotion to her husband. Likewise, women who have committed sati (burning themselves) on their husbands' funeral pyres are acclaimed as goddesses and honored with shrines and rituals (although this is not mentioned in the Ramayana). A Hindu husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife. If she violates her duty towards her husband, a wife is disgraced in this world; (after death) she enters the womb of a jackal, and is tormented by diseases (as punishment) of her sin. Sita is regarded as a model of a good wife in the Ramayana. She willingly follows her husband into exile and remains faithful even when threatened with death. Even in these female traditions, however, the husband's regard for and duties to his wife are only rarely discussed. And in the textual traditions passages stipulating that men should treat their women well are rare. But, the best wife (Sita) will still worship her husband even when she is abused. Sexual assault, however, is a criminal offense.
In Judaism, the ideal women is never bad to her husband, provides for her household and speaks wisdom. When married, she became her husband’s property and from that time she was forbidden to other men until she was divorced or widowed. However, the husband is obligated to provide her with fod, clothing, medical care in sickness, ransom if she was abducted, marital satisfaction and burial cost...
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...pendence and sexual exploitation by their male counterparts. In comparison, Zhou dynasty religions, it was illegal for a man to beat his wife. A wife can defy husband and seek redress in the law for his physical abuse-suggests equal status. Many stories in early Chinese texts talk about the chaste widow who goes to extreme lengths to ensure loyalty to her dead husband. This is done on a voluntary basis and may include self-mutilation, intended to decrease her attractiveness to any other man, and even suicide. While men were the formal head of the household in African religions, women had control over the family and domestic decision making. An Ancient African woman was her husband’s help-mate and advisor on important domestic and community related issues. Notion of a patrilineal family was foreign to most Japanese before the introduction of Chinese religions
Common in premodern China was the heavy discrimination of women and a strict social role that they were obligated to follow in order to survive. Women were assigned a limiting job at birth: be a good and faithful wife. For thousands of years, women were portrayed more as employees of their husbands than lovers or partners, and this is prevalent in imperial Chinese literature.
In China, girls are seen as a possession or a “cheap commodity” (Yen Mah 100). Sons, especially the eldest, are given far more attention and praise. Families that are well off keep their daughters and marry them off to prominent families’ sons through a marriage broker (“mei-po”). Rich daughters often had their feet bound, a process by which the “four lateral toes of the foot are forced with a bandage under the sole so that only the big toe protruded. (It was) tightened daily for a number of years (so as to) permanently arrest the foot’s growth in order to achieve tiny feet so prized by Chinese men” (Yen Mah 11). Their inability to walk with ease is a symbol of submissiveness, weakness, and wealth. This tradition is becoming more rare, but still many older women bear its pain today. Adeline’s grandmother went against these traditions by not torturing her own daughter i...
Women's oppression in the Jewish society works strongly in the system of marriage, but, ironically, the oppression is acquiesced in by women themselves. For example, the father's kind look is enough to make the mother happy: "His kind look was like the sun shining on her" (11). Therefore, even though she keeps complaining about his not taking care of his family, Sara's mother can even say to the father, "I'm only a sinful woman . . . I'm willing to give up all my earthly needs for the wine of Heaven with you" (12).
In the household codes of the New Testament the traditional patriarchal social order is reaffirmed, not simply for secular society, but for Christian community. The concept that children are to obey their parents, wives their husbands and slaves their masters is restated in no fewer than five places in the New Testament: Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, Titus, and 1 Peter. Conversely all subjugated persons can be viewed as relations of wives to husbands, children to father, and servants to masters. Patriarchalism refers to the total structure of society in all theses types of relations of domination and subjugation; sons to father, wives to husband, and slaves to masters. Also, there is delegated domination and subjugation within the paternal
Domesticity was what a “good woman” was out to be and obedience was obeying to the husband in everything he said or asked to be done. In the 1820’s and 1860’s, women were resided to four characteristics in piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. “The Cult of Womanhood”explained these four characteristics. First, Piety the modern young woman of the 1820s and 1830s was known for their workings with their religion. In the nineteenth‐century society believed that women had a particular propensity for religion to bring the world out of sin through her suffering, through her pure, and passionless love. Second, Female purity was also highly revered. Without sexual purity, a woman was no woman, but rather a lower form of being, a ʺfallen woman,ʺ unworthy of the love of a man and unfit for their company. Third, Men were the submissives and doers‐‐the actors in life. Women were to be passive bystanders, submitting to fate, to duty, to God, and to men. Women were warned that this was the order of things. A true woman knew her place, and knew what qualities were wanted of her. Fourth, domesticity Womanʹs place was in the home. Womanʹs role was to be busy at those morally uplifting tasks aimed at maintaining and fulfilling her piety and purity. The Cult of Domesticity is mostly based on the time of pre civil war, woman in that time era were expected to keep the household a peaceful from the evils of the
The wife 's desires for a girl also can be unselfish in their eyes by saying they are protecting them from a life of poverty since they had not yet had a son who could provide their prosperity. “Dowry deaths” are also an age old tradition that is a custom for the religion. But with the heavy problem of gendercide, the government outlawed the use of a dowry. But since tradition is so heavy and rich it still happens. The families want to live up to expectations and even if it is not “required” it still looks good for a family to compensate the other in a social standing. The problem with this is that they still see females as burdens even though there is no requirement to provide a dowry. It is the age-old tradition to give a dowry that is hurting the females. The old ways need to be adapted, and the culture itself needs to understand that it is okay not to provide a dowry. This is the only way change for females can come and ensure them a success and longevity in their
The duties of husband and wife were explicitly defined and expected to be followed by both men and women. The role of the husband is one of authority and dominance. Women were seen as inferior in their abilities to run a household and make moral decisions. A woman’s role as wife is also clearly defined. In the marriage contract, “. . . the wife must obey the husband. This obedience or submission extends not only to the performance of duties required by the husband, but also to the abstinence from those activities which are displeasing to him. Women who chose to become wives, which is the majority of the female population, agree to submit themselves to total control by their husbands. They move from living under the control of their fathers to living under the control of their
“Don’t forget the ladies,” are the words that Abigail wrote to her husband John Adams during the drafting of the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, her words went ignored because 130 years after that document was signed, women were still not given basic rights in America. During this period, female writers began to make themselves known on the dramatic stage through works such as the Yellow Wallpaper, and The Awakening. Glaspell, a 20th century feminist writer, wrote Trifles and A Jury of Her Peers to express her criticism for women’s rights; she also based it off a true story that she reported. She uses these writing pieces to examine the treatment of women and how she opposes the gender stratification that has hindered women during her time. This paper will attempt to analyze the role of women during the early 20th century, to compare and contrast how the men and women of the story examined the crime scene, and Glaspell’s opposition on the gender stratification.
South Asian women engage in patriarchal values and normative structure established more than two thousands years ago, continue to be oppressed by a dominant group of men. These women suffer further oppression through the strict adherence to cultural garb. Still today, media and educational system portray South Asian women as self-sacrificing, faithful to the family, and submissive to men.
Recently, within the past few decades, the role of women in Judaism has dramatically improved. The rippling effect of the Women’s Rights Movement empowered Jewish women to push for widespread reform of Judaic law. Since Biblical times, women in general were held to an inferior level compared to men, and this was no different for Jewish women. However, big strides have been made within the past century to elevate the status of the Jewish woman in the public sphere as well in the privacy of their homes.
In the primordial times of the Heian period, Japan procured and practiced matrilineal systems within their isolated society for over 2,000 years. During the Heian period, situated in 12th century A.D., women were given the privileged of inheriting, managing, and retaining property of their own (Kumar, 2011). It was not until Japanese culture adopted the Confucian ideas of China that the society began to integrate a patriarchal system. Confucian ideals had a prominently drastic impact and influence in Japanese society. The Confucian ethical system stressed the utopian idea of a society in which a hierarchal structure is maintained. The hierarchal structure’s foundation is based upon the subservient and submissive idea of subordinates’ obedi...
Gender hierarchies have been a central pillar of social orders almost since its inception. However, the balance has not been remotely even throughout history, with patriarchies far outnumbering matriarchies. Despite the large dominance held by men, it was not all black and white in East Asian societies. Even though Tang and Song China were all patriarchal, they were very different in their application and influences of gender hierarchies.
To many cultures the purpose of women is to be the wives and baby makers, while the purpose of men are too bring in the food and money. This principle of being the means of well bringing for a family is what determines the value of a person to society. The man has a large responsibility, by caring materially for the family, including food, shelter, and other belongings. The woman continues to produce offspring, and is mostly vulnerable through out the year, especially during pregnancy. This power difference brings about an abused amount of force enough to break the spirit of another. “What is the conqueror’s wife, if not a conquest herself?” A woman is not worthless. Truly both sexes are equal. What is different, what actually affects the actions of others is how a person is treated. If a person is treated inferior, then the person becomes inferior. Often what we are is not determined by us as many hope and believe. What we are is predetermined by society. It does not matter if it is right or wrong. The popular belief is the only belief.
Examples of cultural constructions can be seen throughout history in several forms such as gender, relationships, and marriage. “Cultural construction of gender emphasizes that different cultures have distinctive ideas about males and females and use these ideas to define manhood/masculinity and womanhood/femininity.” (Humanity, 239) In many cultures gender roles are a great way to gain an understanding of just how different the construction of gender can be amongst individual cultures. The video The Women’s Kingdom provides an example of an uncommon gender role, which is seen in the Wujiao Village where the Mosuo women are the last matriarchy in the country and have been around for over one thousand years. Unlike other rural Chinese villages where many girls are degraded and abandoned at birth, Mosuo woman are proud and run the households where the men simply assist in what they need. The view of gender as a cultural construct ...
In doing research for this paper, it can be noted that the women played the same type of role in all of these religions. Women were expected to be the homemakers and caregivers. They were expected to bear the children and be submissive to men.