Rebekah
The values in Genesis are disobeyed by yet another woman who does not conform to the female model of a fertile mother. While fertility is an overriding value in god’s human construct that women in Genesis threaten to undermine women also obstruct the “natural” course of history which god has set in motion as part of his ideal world. After god reconstructs the world through Noah and then Abraham, the divine element withdraws from the world slightly, and a natural historical course begins to play out through the momentum that god has initiated.
The incident in Genesis in which a woman interferes with this momentum involves Rebekah, who intervenes on behalf of her second born son, Jacob. As a result of Rebekah’s manipulative orders, Jacob, the younger son, inherits the divine blessing from Isaac, though it is clear from the text that Jacob’s brother, Esau, had been Isaac’s favored child. Rebekah’s actions are rebellious because they result in the violation of the law of primogeniture that seems to have been the standard practice of inheritance in the book of Genesis. And by reassigning the inheritance, Rebekah threatens to destroy the course of events god has anticipated en route to the creation of his select nation. While the text shows that Rebekah had received a prophecy that “the older would serve the younger” (25:23), whenever women in Genesis take assertive actions that ramifications, conflict always ensues. Just because Rebekah received a prophecy, there is no indication that she was in any position to actively seek its fulfillment. Jacob, as a result of his mother’s initiative, is forced to flee his home for fear that Esau will kill him. The hate between the brothers endures, and just as Sara’s infertility caused family conflict, Rebekah’s actions likewise cause disruption in the house of Isaac and its descendents. Unlike the instances where the men in genesis take the fate of their family’s lives into their own hands under open direction from god, the rare occasions when women, such as Rebekah, take aggressive action, the result is battles and feuds. As in the case of infertility, a women’s inheritance with the divine scheme can be seen as a multiple threat to the thematic framework of Genesis. Rebekah takes assertive, independent action with regard to her family’s development, and this action clearly crosses over the rigid boundaries of the prescribed female role.
Hesiod suggests that the arrival of womankind is the sole cause of the world’s strife—including the necessity for both hard labor and reproduction. Her one redeeming quality is portrayed through the hope that remains in the jar after Pandora closes the lid, entrapped in the “unbreakable container” (Lombardo 26). This remaining Hope in the jar is symbolic of a woman’s uterus and her ability to bear children, and in turn provide her husband with an heir to his property (Fantham et al. 39). Raising these children properly was the next crucial duty of a mother, so that they may go forth and fulfill their respective duties just as their parents had before them. In relation to this, the Hymn to Demeter demonstrates the attachment a mother had to her children, because once the children were old enough to marry, the mother’s sole purpose in life had been completed. Demeter’s grief over having her daughter snatched away from her shows how difficult the transition was for
Judith Plaskow, a Jewish feminist, searches for ways to incorporate her mostly male-based and male-interpreted faith with her feminist’s ideals in her book of essays, The Coming of Lilith. Her essay covers a wide variety of topics concerning contemporary Judaism and its possibility for flexibility, especially concerning unfair gender roles. Plaskow also discusses how religious traditions can perpetuate a hatred of the “other” religions and how that negatively affects both parties. Judith Plaskow challenges her religious tradition and contemporary culture that is a product of all religions by using sources of Jewish ethics such as the Torah and the Talmud to back up her feminist criticism.
In Genesis, the reader see the stories of Lot and Noah but don’t get any insight into their wives. Through closer examination of the allusions of Lot’s wife and Noah’s wife from the novel Housekeeping, readers are able to see another side of these women. The allusions are used to greater enhance the novel’s theme of critiquing a male dominated society, because we see in these Bible stories that these women were in the shadows of important men. However, they distort the original Bible stories by giving the women a voice with new characteristics and motivations for their actions that alter the initial message. In the novel, although there are many more biblical allusions, there are none of the stronger women from the Bible like Rahab or Deborah, which downplays the importance of women in the
In the Hebrew Bible, the conflict between the sinfulness of men and the weakness of women is often mediated by the divine. One such case is Genesis 19 and Judges 19, two similar narratives about rape. From a modern point of view, the writers of Judges 19 deliberately situated the characters in similar positions to those in Genesis 19, but they included their own interpretation of women’s destiny to illustrate the importance of God’s guidance in human lives. The two narratives together suggest that the social attitude toward women at the time allows people to see women as expendable objects, and the divine ought to serve as a protector to keep order in place. In particular, the stories’ contrasting endings show that women are protected in an environment where God watches over humans with his rightful mind of justice, but there are horrible consequences when people are separated from him.
Although the purpose of the Bible is to teach us the right way to live with its numerous rules, the book “The Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs, exposes the less publicized rules and how contradictory some of them can be. The main propose of the author of this book is not to criticize or make fun of religion in his quest to “follow the Bible as literally as possible”, but to demonstrate that he enjoys the learning experience. A.J. Jacobs suggests that people claim to be religious when in fact, they only take the rules and ideas they want, this is the reason why I think gender inequality continues to penetrate society today.
Among her arguments she used an analysis of Genesis to argue that men and women were created as equals and that the unequal conditions of the sexes was the product of a fallen state. She argued that the moral and intellectual duties of women to god precluded men from being a superior or intermediate. The forces which acted to place women as inferior, deny them their equal right act as moral and intellectual beings, and deny them participation religion, education, public matters, and professions, were unjust and should be corrected. She proclaimed the system of gender relations to be “derogatory to men and women as moral and intellectual beings”. The subjecting of women is a problem of condition that keeps people from fulfilling their potential and keeps moral ideals from being lived, so we must recognize our divine obligation and work to rectify it.
Elizabeth A. Johnson draws attention to how, despite being considered equal in Genesis, women had their worth ignored “Consistently subordinated and demeaned in the theories, symbols, rituals,
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.
The opening epigraph, Genesis 30:1-3 denotes how women within the biblical era were used as surrogates as Bilhah, a handmaid, was used to birth children for Rachel. She infers greatly how demeaning and objectifying the treatment of women was not only then, but also as it is now in today’s society and further could be in the future. Within the story there are numerous biblical influences understood. Names and titles for instance, men are known as “Commanders of the Faithful, “Guardians of the Faith”, “Angels” or “Angels of the Apocalypse,” these men are soldiers and fight in the name of God. The women are referred to by their grade of service as well; “Marthas” work in the kitchen as did the actual Martha in the Bible (New International Version, Luke 10:38-42) “Handmaid” was used to distinguish women who were used for their fertility skills as was Bilhah in the Bible. Additional biblical references were noted in objects and institutions, the area in which the Handmaids were trained, was known as the “Rachel and Leah Center,” cars were referred to as “chariots”. All of these changes be it ever so small, are ways in which the Republic of Gilead could control and submerge and condition its people into their doctrine of
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.
Women break the rule and cause trouble for their husband. In Genesis, God created a
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.
The role of women in religious scripture dictates an inferior position in society. Beginning with the creation of Adam and then Eve, as his helpmate. Her purpose was that Adam would not be lonely. This origin provides the ground work for inequality of genders on the basis of religious scripture. The roles prescribed determined that women should be in a subordinate position to man. The female role and relationship with God is defined by the various books of the Old and New Testaments, the reported actions of Jesus Christ, and finally the Qur'an.
Psychologically, this can also be seen by how the Id, or the instinctual reptile complex responsible for the survival structure of the brain, will act on impulse, always taking what it wants and needs. Not only will early man's needs depend upon this primitive functioning, but would have included undoubtedly his divine equal, woman. Their need, drive, and connection as primordial partners. Within the context of human life alone, the idea of man and woman would have completed the cycle of life, and therefore been held as sacred. The worship of the energy of nature and the natural world would have no doubt included the immensely important role of woman as the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. This central idea of the cycle of life can be seen throughout history in almost every religious view. We must view the context of these figures with unbiased Pre-Christian eyes. The Divine Feminine encompasses all aspects of womanhood: sexuality, divinity, and completion of the life
Women around the globe have suffered death by stoning, excommunication, beatings, and much more all by the hand of religion and those who misinterpret religious teachings. For centuries women have been treated as second class citizens in religion. The major world faiths that seem to be the worst offenders are Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. After conductioning a student survey 70% of high school students believe there is still women in oppressed by religion. Discrimination of women in religion is alive as ever, and booming in today’s religion based world.