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Essay about women in the bible
Depiction of women in movies
Women's status in the bible
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Arguably the first, most notable, account of womanhood in humanity, the portrayal of Eve in the Hebrew Bible has had a lasting effect on the place of women in society. Last in the string of creation in Genesis 2, Eve is portrayed as a lowly derivative and is often wrongly associated with temptation, lust and materiality. Further, the depiction of Eve has continued to impact the representation of women to this day. In modern day films like The Tree of Life and Noah one witnesses the damaging effects of this portrayal. The female characters in these films parallel the misconceptions particularly found in Genesis 2 and 3, which ultimately prove the detrimental effect of this text. Despite the fact that man was created in verse seven of the second
Throughout history, it is clear that men are usually seen to be advantaged by the logic of domination while females tend to be disadvantaged. Whether it be in the workplace, household, or even the bible men have always been inferior to women. Through history, cultural norms and stereotypes gender roles were created and have been present throughout society. Although it is believed that males are more advantaged than females the texts Eve and Adam: Genesis 2-3 Reread by Phyllis Trible and The Creation and Fall of Man and Woman explain how men and woman are in fact equal and maybe even disadvantaged by these cultural arrangements. Therefore, throughout history it is clear that gender discourses would allow one to believe that men are advantaged
Looking back through many historical time periods, people are able to observe the fact that women were generally discriminated against and oppressed in almost any society. However, these periods also came with women that defied the stereotype of their sex. They spoke out against this discrimination with a great amount of intelligence and strength with almost no fear of the harsh consequences that could be laid out by the men of their time. During the Medieval era, religion played a major role in the shaping of this pessimistic viewpoint about women. The common belief of the patriarchal-based society was that women were direct descendants of Eve from The Bible; therefore, they were responsible for the fall of mankind. All of Eve’s characteristics from the biblical story were believed to be the same traits of medieval women. Of course, this did not come without argument. Two medieval women worked to defy the female stereotype, the first being the fictional character called The Wife of Bath from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The second woman, named Margery Kempe, was a real human being with the first English autobiography written about her called The Book of Margery Kempe. In these two texts, The Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe choose to act uniquely compared to other Christians in the medieval time period because of the way religion is interpreted by them. As a result, the women view themselves as having power and qualities that normal women of their society did not.
In the Hebrew Bible, women are viewed as minor and inferior figures. Women are given a secondary place in society, nonetheless they play a crucial role and have a number of vital figures in the Biblical history.
Similar to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve like the many women in the Odyssey brings about pain and suffering for mankind. Contrary to the depicting of women as roots of evil, the reader sees the other traits of women that are most desirable. The roles
Meyers, Carol. "The Genesis Paradigms for Female Roles, Part I: Genesis 2-3 and Part II: Genesis 3:16" in Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context. Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 72-121.
In Book IX of Milton’s Paradise Lost, Eve makes a very important and revealing speech to the tree of knowledge. In it, she demonstrates the effect that the forbidden fruit has had on her. Eve’s language becomes as shameful as the nakedness that Adam and Eve would later try to cover up with fig leaves. After eating the forbidden apple, Eve’s speech is riddled with blasphemy, self-exaltation, and egocentrism.
The stories about women in the bible illustrate the importance of their role and contribution to society. Women were slaves, concubines, and child bearers; they were also wives, matriarchs, and prophets. Although, some women had less important titles than others each served a purpose. Even if the Bible does not explain God’s relationship with women as with Moses and other prophets, it illustrates the love and dedication women had for Him. The scriptures describe brave, nurturing, and God fearing women whose decisions impacted the existence of the Israelites.
In our present era, there is no doubt that the evolution of women's rights has come a long way. It is in the Western Culture that these values for which women have fought for generations, are in conflict with Genesis 1-3. The events that occur in this "creation story" are crucial in that it begins when God creates man in his own likeness and man is given domination over all living things. The significance is the prominence given to men; God is male and his most important creation is male. The biblical account underlines the supremacy of man while making it clear that women play an inferior role. Furthermore, the biblical account also describes how woman are disobedient and yield to temptation, the result of which is the expulsion of both Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. In the poem "How Cruel is the Story of Eve", Stevie Smith's castigation towards the biblical story of Eve demonstrates how women have been victims of despair and suffering since the beginning of time. She holds it responsible for cruelty towards women in history, she implies that the values derived from the story of Eve were forced upon women without choice, and finally, she challenges the authenticity of the religious tale on a whole. Without a doubt, women have fallen victim to an untrue, religious tale from the beginning of time, and the poem is an outcry representing the suffering of women throughout history.
Schottroff, Luise, and Marie-Theres Wacker, eds. Feminist Biblical Interpretation. Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2012. Print.
In the creation, Eve was creating from “the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man” (Genesis 2). From this context one can see that this society believes that males were created first and women are created from men. The writer of the creation also makes the women seem like the ignorant one since she is the one that is tricked by the snake to consume the forbidden fruit. Thus, we start to see a society that belittle women. This is confirm when God punish Even by stating, “yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3). Furthermore, this line directly tells all readers that the wife is submissive to the husband and the husband has control over his wife. The key component of Genesis is that it gives a religious reasoning to why women are less superior to men. Genesis tells the Hebrew society that women are not equal to men because they are made from men, therefore, they have to be controlled by their husband or else they will get tricked like Eve. This time period uses religion to give reasoning to certain societal
Ancient literature often is used as a lesson for future behaviors as it is filled with moral lessons. The Bible has been a source for definitions of gender and morality for centuries. In the Holy Bible: New International Version, the book of Genesis does a good job of showing how history told by men writing history ca...
Gay reminds us that, “womanhood feels more strange and terrible now because progress has not served women as well as it has served men” (Gay 2011, 132). In other words, women have been portrayed as degrading and inferior to men due to the inevitable consequence of patriarchal western societies, in which women have traditionally been correlated with a less status than men. Women’s Realities, Women’s Choices demonstrates this theory as a conventional view of sex and gender by emphasizing that “women have been associated with the body and nature and men with ‘self, ’soul,’ and culture, profoundly affecting how women have been valued, treated, and constrained in their opportunities and choices” (Hunter College Women 's Studies Collective 2014, 152). In addition, an origin myth for Christians is that Eve was made as a companion to Adam, and by defying God, eating the fruit from the forbidden tree of knowledge and convincing Adam to do the same, she brought evil into the world. This suggests that “it is men, not women, who engage in productive labor and that women deserve the pain of childbirth” (Hunter College Women 's Studies Collective 2014, 28).This myth originated from Christianity is generally held to be acceptable at the expense of individuality and has had influence on society, which has lead the authors to question views of sex and gender. Therefore, in the film Coffy, men played a role of dominance in demanding women to satisfy their sexual
The books of the Old Testament, and variations, are recognized by the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths. Each paint women as the temptress responsible for the mistakes of men. Women were the cause of the first punishment given to mankind. Eve persuaded Adam to eat the forbidden fruit, from the tree of knowledge. For this act, inspired by woman, mankind was forever punished and expelled from paradise.
The root of all gender issues which presently exist in society may be traced back to The Creation Story in Genesis. This crucial chapter of the Bible provides evidence supporting that God intended for man and woman to exist as equals, yet he assigned gender roles once Adam and Eve disobeyed him by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree of good and evil. Thus, men have been characterized as the “breadwinners” and women as “child bearers and housekeepers” since the beginning of humanity. The story of Lilith as Adam’s supposed first wife suggests Adam took on a patriarchal role from the beginning, yet Lilith refused to accept his assumed superiority. She initially challenges him, and then leaves him; she represents a rebellious, yet independent woman. Although these two stories on the first man and woman are significantly different, the two convey that men and women have been trapped in certain roles since the beginning of time, and have always had a power struggle between them. Gender issues have not evolved over time; they have always existed.
“Dream not of other worlds,” the angel Raphael warns Adam in Miltons’s Paradise Lost (VIII.175). Eve, however, dreams of another world in which she will gain knowledge and power, a wish that is superficially fulfilled when she succumbs to Satan’s temptation and eats from the Tree of Knowledge. Awakening in the Garden of Eden as though from a dream, Eve searches for her identity and her place in Paradise. Satan provides Eve with a chance to gain knowledge and to become god-like. As Eve is not an equal companion for Adam, she seeks independence from her husband. Shifting her loyalty away from God and Adam and towards Satan and the Tree of Knowledge, Eve strives to find her identity in the Garden of Eden, gain knowledge and godliness, and obtain independence from her unequal partnership with Adam.