Gender Issues and Religion (especially Abrahamic Religions)
January 2, 2024 at 2:57 pm
(This post was last modified: January 2, 2024 at 2:57 pm by Leonardo17.)
Here is a very interesting (20 minute) on child brides in Malawi:
https://youtu.be/VaaSQteodLs?t=3
Most families sell their female children for a sum around 20-30 dollars usually to much older men. Officially the Malawi government prohibits that but state officials prefer to assume a policy of inaction toward such deeply embedded social practices.
This reminds me of the Far-East. South Korea and Japan are the world’s 3rd and 4th economies (as far as know of). Still there are those traditions that are so entrenched within society that in South-Korea being a woman with short hair is seen as an act of aggression against national identity. They have very strong prejudices against feminism in the same way a western conservative person might approach same sex couples raising their own children.
I’ve also heard that in India, the practice of leaving female babies to die in order to be able to have a male child next time is not so uncommon.
So first, let me study this in a scientific approach. Sexual dimorphism (stronger male individuals) is something that has begun around 3 million years ago at the time of the famous Australopithecus. The reason for this is that the procreation role of a typical male is limited to around 2-3 minutes while with the female individual that period was estimated to be around 8 or 9 months. So males were expandable. So they grew more in size and in physical strength.
In the 1981 movie “Quest for fire” about prehistoric times, you can see how the Neanderthals are trying to steal the female individuals of the groups they are attacking. That practice remained the same throughout history. It is assumed that as early as the Neolithic, women were traded as a commodity in return for other goods.
Also you can see that earliest deities were women giving birth (like “The Venus of Wİllendorf” or “the Mother Goddess of Catalhoyuk”. This was because procreation was very important. Your tribe or clan could be whipped out in one winter if the number of individuals in it were too low. Later, as nations emerged, more procreation still meant more workforce, more soldiers, more subjects etc.
So maybe, in the more primitive parts of our brains we came to associate women with that. In fact, even 500 years ago, a 30 year old woman was considered to be old. The main role of a woman was to be beautiful and attractive and then to procreate as many individuals as possible. And when this was done, well, her duty in this world was mostly accomplished. (There is a male parallel to that but I won’t go there).
Today, if you are a woman who has raised two kids, that’s just one of the many things you did. With our life expectancy stretching toward a three digit figure, both male and female individuals have many other things to offer that are other than breeding future generations.
In fast the shape of our sexual organs do not matter at all anymore. That’s something we are slowly but surely learning.
So what’s the spiritual perspective that is related to that?
Religious institutions have never backed any type of feminism or any approach of equality between the sexes until very recent times. But they will get there. I’m very confident of that.
On the other hand, the prophet Muhammad had female military leaders in his ranks. Jesus had many female disciples. When people were trying to stone a prostitute he said “may a sinless man throw the first stone” or something like this. He didn’t say “Put her on a stake and let her perish in the cruelest manner”. The figure of the Virgin also demonstrates that Christianity does (on some level) acknowledge feminine aspects of the Divine. In India and in Asia they have many Buddhist or Hindu saintly figures. They even have female holy figures (who are alive but are also venerated as enlightened individuals etc.). In my geography, we even have the tombs (that are also seen as sacred spaces) that belong to female enlightened individuals whose stories are being transmitted from one generation to the other.
So this whole thing was about todays IRI, Afghan of in more general terms middle-eastern approach to gender issues in the 21st century.
Meaning: In the Muslim Holy book there are stories about Noah before the flood, the tribe of Lut (Sodom and Gomorah in the Bible) and/or Egypt under Ramses II (and several other stories) that were about to be destroyed by the power of God. Each time, there is this debate between the Prophet and the Monarch or other representative of that tribe or nation. (Ex: The Young Abraham destroys all the statue of Gods in one place and then he says “The taller one destroyed all the others, I didn’t do it”).
Each time, nobody takes the prophets seriously and each time we are told something like “For they did not want to abandon the way of their ancestors” or “Their only certainty on that, was that their ancestors also did those things in that way before them”.
So I personally religious teachings (at their origin) as highly revolutionary reading material (back in the days and also in present times). I see People like Muhammad or Jesus or Buddha as true revolutionaries. You don’t get crucified in front of everyone for being “too spiritual”. Today and yesterday, you have to have been a Marthing Luther King Jr. or an Abraham Lincoln, or at least a Ghandi to make people want to murder you in that way. Only if you have made thing move will you be murdered in that way. Otherwise, nobody will care.
So that’s my position on misogyny in my own and in any other religion. The “Negative” components are usually superficial interpretation and/or deliberate misinterpretation that belong to human “scholars” not to the prophets or the religious teachings themselves.
https://youtu.be/VaaSQteodLs?t=3
Most families sell their female children for a sum around 20-30 dollars usually to much older men. Officially the Malawi government prohibits that but state officials prefer to assume a policy of inaction toward such deeply embedded social practices.
This reminds me of the Far-East. South Korea and Japan are the world’s 3rd and 4th economies (as far as know of). Still there are those traditions that are so entrenched within society that in South-Korea being a woman with short hair is seen as an act of aggression against national identity. They have very strong prejudices against feminism in the same way a western conservative person might approach same sex couples raising their own children.
I’ve also heard that in India, the practice of leaving female babies to die in order to be able to have a male child next time is not so uncommon.
So first, let me study this in a scientific approach. Sexual dimorphism (stronger male individuals) is something that has begun around 3 million years ago at the time of the famous Australopithecus. The reason for this is that the procreation role of a typical male is limited to around 2-3 minutes while with the female individual that period was estimated to be around 8 or 9 months. So males were expandable. So they grew more in size and in physical strength.
In the 1981 movie “Quest for fire” about prehistoric times, you can see how the Neanderthals are trying to steal the female individuals of the groups they are attacking. That practice remained the same throughout history. It is assumed that as early as the Neolithic, women were traded as a commodity in return for other goods.
Also you can see that earliest deities were women giving birth (like “The Venus of Wİllendorf” or “the Mother Goddess of Catalhoyuk”. This was because procreation was very important. Your tribe or clan could be whipped out in one winter if the number of individuals in it were too low. Later, as nations emerged, more procreation still meant more workforce, more soldiers, more subjects etc.
So maybe, in the more primitive parts of our brains we came to associate women with that. In fact, even 500 years ago, a 30 year old woman was considered to be old. The main role of a woman was to be beautiful and attractive and then to procreate as many individuals as possible. And when this was done, well, her duty in this world was mostly accomplished. (There is a male parallel to that but I won’t go there).
Today, if you are a woman who has raised two kids, that’s just one of the many things you did. With our life expectancy stretching toward a three digit figure, both male and female individuals have many other things to offer that are other than breeding future generations.
In fast the shape of our sexual organs do not matter at all anymore. That’s something we are slowly but surely learning.
So what’s the spiritual perspective that is related to that?
Religious institutions have never backed any type of feminism or any approach of equality between the sexes until very recent times. But they will get there. I’m very confident of that.
On the other hand, the prophet Muhammad had female military leaders in his ranks. Jesus had many female disciples. When people were trying to stone a prostitute he said “may a sinless man throw the first stone” or something like this. He didn’t say “Put her on a stake and let her perish in the cruelest manner”. The figure of the Virgin also demonstrates that Christianity does (on some level) acknowledge feminine aspects of the Divine. In India and in Asia they have many Buddhist or Hindu saintly figures. They even have female holy figures (who are alive but are also venerated as enlightened individuals etc.). In my geography, we even have the tombs (that are also seen as sacred spaces) that belong to female enlightened individuals whose stories are being transmitted from one generation to the other.
So this whole thing was about todays IRI, Afghan of in more general terms middle-eastern approach to gender issues in the 21st century.
Meaning: In the Muslim Holy book there are stories about Noah before the flood, the tribe of Lut (Sodom and Gomorah in the Bible) and/or Egypt under Ramses II (and several other stories) that were about to be destroyed by the power of God. Each time, there is this debate between the Prophet and the Monarch or other representative of that tribe or nation. (Ex: The Young Abraham destroys all the statue of Gods in one place and then he says “The taller one destroyed all the others, I didn’t do it”).
Each time, nobody takes the prophets seriously and each time we are told something like “For they did not want to abandon the way of their ancestors” or “Their only certainty on that, was that their ancestors also did those things in that way before them”.
So I personally religious teachings (at their origin) as highly revolutionary reading material (back in the days and also in present times). I see People like Muhammad or Jesus or Buddha as true revolutionaries. You don’t get crucified in front of everyone for being “too spiritual”. Today and yesterday, you have to have been a Marthing Luther King Jr. or an Abraham Lincoln, or at least a Ghandi to make people want to murder you in that way. Only if you have made thing move will you be murdered in that way. Otherwise, nobody will care.
So that’s my position on misogyny in my own and in any other religion. The “Negative” components are usually superficial interpretation and/or deliberate misinterpretation that belong to human “scholars” not to the prophets or the religious teachings themselves.
![[Image: 7151bc275de2d3d422106a4008215efe.jpg]](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/51/bc/7151bc275de2d3d422106a4008215efe.jpg)
