The realities about menstrual or sexual prohibitions and education are issues that are very gendered. The lives of all Jews regardless of gender is guided and controlled by mitzvot, which is equally applied to both genders. Though this is true there are two specific mitzvot that will be focused on that of menstruation and the education of women.
In regards to the impurity of menstruation is an area in which a change from biblical to rabbinic law happens (Wasserfall pg. 60). Holiness Code in Leviticus twice states the absolute prohibition of sexual intercourse of a married couple while the wife has her menstrual period (Wasserfall pg.60). This innovation is the invention of the rabbi as an expert on menstrual blood, as the authority to be consulted by women thus displacing women as authorities over their own bodies (Wasserfall pg. 61).
In the story of Yalta she brought the blood before Rabbah bar bar Hana and he declared it impure (Wasserfall pg.62). Instead of stopping there she consults a second rabbi Rav Yizhaq, who declares it to be “pure” (Wasserfall pg.62). Leviticus, chapter 15, defines menstrual bleeding by a simple time line, which a woman has a fixed menstrual period, that is presumed to occur regularly (Wasserfall pg.62). If she bleeds during that period, she is considered to have her menstruation and is in a status of ritual impurity for seven days, regardless of how long she bleeds (Wasserfall pg.62). Any bleeding beyond this fixed period or any bleeding for several days outside this period constitutes the abnormal impurity of what is called a zavah (Wasserfall pg.62). During this time of zavah or ritual impurity this state remains until the bleeding has stopped. The abnormality is marked by adding ...
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...were taught only what they needed for their daily life (Biale pg.35). Yet the controversy as to whether or not women may engage in study of Torah for its own sake continued in the post-talmudic sources (Biale pg.35).The Sefer Hasidim calls for teaching women the legal aspects of Torah so that they gain comprehensive and detailed command of the Halakhah (Biale pg.36). The Shulhan Arukh begins by acknowledging that a woman who studies Torah gains some reward form heaven, so there can be no question of a transgression (Biale pg.37). A woman's reward is lesser than a man's because when she studies Torah she does it of her own choice, presumably for some personal gain or satisfaction, while a man does it because he is commanded (Biale pg.37).
In both the prohibitions on menstruation and sex, and ritual life and education it is something gendered very strictly to women.
The role of women in learning and education underwent a gradual change in the Afro-Eurasian world and the Americas between the 11th and 15th centuries. As societies in Africa, Middle East, India, China, Europe, and America grew more complex they created new rights and new restrictions for women. In all regions of the world but the Middle East, society allowed women to maintain education in order to support themselves and their occupations. Women slaves in the Middle East were, however, prized on their intelligence. In Africa, women were trained in culinary arts. In India, women learned how to read and write with the exception of the sacred verses of the Vedas.
...er knowledge as Rubruck when describing the women and how they were supposed to act, women were to act with strict decorum and if they do go out to places, it must be to a respectable one such as a temple with the company of there mother’s.
“It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are” (Emma Watson). Since the beginning of time, Eve was portrayed as the first sinner and this could be the reason why women are still paying for her sins to this day, from either education to jobs and look to stereotypes. Though now women are crawling out of the hole of inequality faster than before and soon women will be able to reach the light they have been waiting to grasp.
Women in the early days of America, even the world, were not shown the same treatment as a man would have been given, they were beneath them. Women were always seen as the care giver and food preparer of the house, while the man would find work or get an education at a university. According to Susan Cruea, “Women had the opportunity to attend female seminaries and colleges, the curriculum at these schools was limited to religious instruction and basic "book learning" which would enable a mother to later educate her children. Intellectual pursuits were strongly discouraged; instead, a True Woman was expected "to fulfill herself in the 'instinctive' arts of child rearing, domestic pursuits, and spiritual comfort".” So women could attend school to help their children, but could not take their education any higher because of being a woman and that would make the...
The role and status of women in any religion in the word is known to be controversial.
Amelia Bloomer:Amelia Bloomer was born in Cortland County, New York, in 1818. She received an education in schools of the State and became a teacher in public schools, then as a private tutor. She married in 1840 to Dexter C. Bloomer, of Seneca Falls, New York. Dexter C. Bloomer was editor of a county newspaper, and Mrs. Bloomer began to write for the paper. She was one of the editors of the Water Bucket, a temperance paper published during Washingtonian revival. Mr. Bloomer lived in Seneca Falls in 1848, but did not participate in the Women’s Rights Convention. In 1849, Bloomer began work with a monthly temperance paper called The Lily. It was devoted to women’s rights and interests, as it became a place for women advocates to express their opinions. The paper initiated a widespread change in women’s dress. The long, heavy skirts were replaced with shorter skirts and knee-high trousers or undergarments. Bloomer’s name soon became associated with to this new dress, and the trousers became known as Bloomers. She continued to new dress and continued advocating for women’s rights in her paper. In 1854, Mrs. Bloomer began giving numerous speeches and continued to fight for equal justice for women.
I have a very vivid memory of discussing my classes to my mother before this first semester began, and whenever I listed off my Women and Gender Studies class I remember my mother asking me, “What do you think you are going to learn about in there?” I recall opening my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I stopped, and looked at her and said, “You know, I’m not really sure. I guess we will find out!” I knew going in to this class I was excited, but for what I had no clue. However, looking back on my experiences, discussions, and the knowledge I have gained from this course, I know exactly why I was excited. There is an entire world out there that the media and politics had hidden from me, but now my eyes are opened. I can see everything.
The main social issue in education is the differential treatment implemented in regards to the basis of gender. Men are consistently viewed as more grounded and powerful than females and women are always looked at as suppressive and viewed to be the weaker and divine sex when contrasted with men. Separate spheres are a belief system that characterizes men and women. Women stay at home and look after children while men connect with the nature of work and legislative issues. Mary Wollstonecraft's primary thesis in "The Rights of Woman" is if were women to be properly educated, they would prove themselves to be morally and intellectually equal to men. Wollstonecraft emphasizes this through an argument that spans the domestic sphere and the public sphere and is foundational to educational thought in society
Men were encouraged to pursue careers and academic interests, whereas women were tasked with caring for the needs of her husband, their household, and their children. Men were allowed to pursue activities for individual pleasure, whereas women were not. Because women were trained from a young age to be housewives and mothers, a woman getting an education was seen as a threat to the current system. During this time, men and women were commonly viewed as fundamentally different and unequal. People such as Rousseau thought it was unnecessary to educate a woman not only because she is too dumb to understand scholarly ideas, but also because she has no interest in learning them
Skipping over the Abbasid period we come to the Mamluk period of the Middle Ages, here Jonathan P. Berkey represents this women's advances in society through the educational system. Here Berkey shows to what extent women of this time period were involved in education. For the most part they benefactors helping to establish madrasas or women sometimes played a supervisory role in the madrasas but did no participate in the teachings at the schools. Even though women of this period were not active students of these schools they did seem to be fairly educated in the matters of the Quran and Hadiths.
If a woman decided to become a priest, they first had to be a scribe, and to become a scribe you had to be many years studying. Female doctors were respected in Egypt, and in the medical schools in Alexandria came students from different countries to study there. Women were regularly employed as, weavers, bakers, brewers, sandal makers, basket weavers, or as a housewife. If a women’s husband died or the divorce, the women had the right to stay with the house.
It was not until 1956 that women were allowed to be educated in private institutions. It wasn’t until a small group of progressive men advocated that educated wives better supplement the family that the government funded its first female school in 1960. Unfortunately, these were only small steps. According to traditionalist’s interpretation of the Qur’an and Sharia law, education was only meant to prepare women to become better wives, not active members in society. Therefore, the course content for females was rudimentary in comparison to the curriculum for males (112). Government funded programs offered a repetitive curriculum that focused on memorization and discouraged critical thinking (Grant 1). At that time, women could not study specific majors such as engineering or law (Alsuwaida 112). So yes, women had access to education. However, it was segregated from the males and the curriculum emphasized their role as females rather than supporting personal growth and
Since the world was created, women have been thought to be inferior to men. The female sex has been given less of a chance to succeed in a variety of fields based on their lack of physical prowess and other characteristics. They have been considered people who cannot do as much as men can do and people who are supposed to take care of the household instead of necessarily working a "real" day job. These ideologies may have a modest amount of validity to them; however, though they are capable of doing many of the same activities that males can do, women have struggled over the years to gain deserved influence in a world that is very favorable toward men.
Since the very beginning of time, women had been put into a specific position where they could not simply escape. Especially religious attempts to “categorize” or match them into a certain classification has a long tradition. Elaine T. Lawless explains in her work that the biblical story
Unlike men, women’s education was subject to specific contents. For instances, women were taught to sew, paint, dance but not introduced to socially important field like history, philosophy, economics and others. The main focus on women education was on how to dress and behave and finally find a good husband rather than allowing them to think. They were encouraged to give more attention to their bodies rather than their minds. As a result of which, the body and behaviour became the main basis of which women were