Misogyny in Religion
I thought it was about time I reasserted my hatred for the misogyny that stems from the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) to pervade our culture.
The general scientific view is that genders are equal when it comes to intelligence. The highest recorded IQ was a woman – “Marilyn vos Savant is known as the person with the highest IQ ever recorded and has often been referred to as “the smartest person in the world.”
Due to the impact of hormones (testosterone in particular) males tend to be bigger, more muscular and stronger. In stone-age times this made them better at hunting and fighting off predators (though I wouldn’t mind betting there are a lot of women who would do a lot better at that than a lot of males). This lead to a division of labour and a male dominance.
Testosterone also leads to more aggressive behaviour. Males are generally more violent.
In the present day world this strength and aggression counts for nothing. We have technology to do the work. There is nothing women can’t do as good, or better, than men.
The problem lies with the hangover from stone-age culture. The three Abrahamic religions came out of a small region of the Middle East. They started up in Patriarchal nomadic Arab culture where women were highly controlled chattels, where chastity was a prerequisite and the culture was highly sexually repressive.
In the contemporary cultures women are still highly repressed because of this.
Christianity
Christianity underwent the enlightenment and lost its chokehold on culture. Along with science we found that women became freer. The suffragettes and women’s movements, along with reduced religious influence, have enabled women to strive for equality. They no longer are forced to wear headscarves and hide their natural form behind heavy robes. They now have the vote, take part in business and government. Technically they are equals though the reality is still far from that. But we are heading in the right direction (even if Christian cults still make women second-class and try to put them back in their place as chattels).
Judaism
Orthodox Jews still hold their women as second-class citizens. Long skirts, high necklines, covered arms and covered hair, separation in the synagogue, secondary roles – subservient to their men – though they are allowed professions.
Islam
Islam is the current worst offender when it comes to women’s rights – such horrors as genital mutilation, forced child marriage, depriving of education, depriving of professions, a strict dress code of Burqas and Niqabs so that women are either kept out of sight behind high walls (as in Oman) or shrouded in long robes and face coverings. They are meant to be obedient and there are draconian punishments for adultery (stoning to death) or breaking the dress code (whipping). It really is something out of the Stone Age.
The most obscene aspect of this barbaric sexually repressed patriarchy is that this Arab cult promises a heaven in which the men will lounge around being waited on by maidens with unlimited sex with virgins. Not sure where this unlimited supply of virgins is coming from, what’s in it for the women? (a paradise where they have an unlimited supply of well-endowed studs perhaps?) Or what the purpose of all that actually is?
This is the kind of obscene nutcase ideas being touted:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1273890658097467392
The Islamic purpose of life is endless sex with virgins?? Not exactly metaphysical.
The truth of the matter is that all three religions stem from the same heavy-handed patriarchal Arab society and share the same misogyny. In those primitive war-like nomadic cultures women were possessions, kept out of sight and traded for political/financial gain. The culture of those warring tribes is prevalent in the ‘holy’ books they base their prejudices on.
In the modern world women find it hard to gain their rightful equal place. Christianity might be presently better but is still far from perfect. Islam is currently way behind and still wishes to exist back a thousand five hundred years in the past.
In my opinion it’s about time that the world came together to enforce women’s rights as being equal to that of men!
It seems that the misogyny of nomadic Arab tribes from the Dark Ages rules. Has it ever gone away?
In Iran, the conservative clerics apply strict misogynistic rules.
The same in Pakistan, the Maldives, Saudi and now in the USA.
The war against women is gathering pace.
Sexism rules.
Women are not just second-class citizens. They are slaves.
What a depressing world we live in – ruled by masculine religious bigotry from the stone age.
.This is supposedly the 21st century but you wouldn’t know it!!
First allow me to make some statements from the viewpoint of my beliefs.
All violence is wrong.
Violence against women is abominable and should be eradicated.
Most men are not violent.
The minority who are violent either have reasons for their violence (psychological damage, upbringing, street culture) or are rewarded for their behaviour.
We live in a sexualised society where women are demeaned through pornography (I have nothing against eroticism or graphic sexual imagery – sex is normal – but most pornography depicts women as sluts being bebased and abused).
Sexism is as bad as racism and leads to misogyny.
Women should be free to go where they like, wear what they like and act what they like without fear of violence, rape or murder.
Many men feel the same fear. They too are preyed on by these violent individuals.
Minority groups and gay men are also victimised.
How To Deal with this culture.
The main problem is that this attitude is firmly entrenched in most human societies.
In many parts of the world women are treated as second-class citizens, possessions or chattels. They are controlled by men, made to dress in certain ways, have FGM performed on them, have subservient roles, are kept from power and kept in the home performing menial tasks and producing babies.
Female education is a battle. Equality is a dream.
Even in liberated western countries there is little equality. Our CEOs, Politicians and Religious leaders are predominantly men. Women only recently were given the vote. Their status is still lower than that of men.
We still, as a culture, value macho male decisiveness and posturing over female intellect. Hence we elect macho fools with abusive misogynistic attitudes over sensible women and excuse their sexism and abuse of women. So Trump, Johnson, Bolsonaro, Erdogan and Modi are elected.
The performance of these macho men is lamentable – one only has to look at the pandemic and compare the death-rates with that of female leaders such as Jacinda Ardhern.
Yet still we take macho sexist arrogant males over sensible females.
I spent thirty-six years in education, including head of the pastoral system and as headteacher, attemping to eradicate bullying, sexism, racism and macho culture (with great success).
It is not easy and cannot be achieved by tagging on a few lessons into a crowded curriculum. It has to be a pervasive culture.
The trouble is that many boys come from backgrounds and cultures which are sexist and misogynistic. They are brought up without respect for women. Women must be masked, covered up, consigned to cooking, housework and babies, have no power, are segregated and given secondary roles. They already have a negative view of women and do not see them as equal. Many cultures – particularly the Abrahamic ones – Islam, Judaism and Christianity, subjugate women.
Many boys come from streets where if you do not fight and stand up for yourself you become bullied, beaten up and ostracised. Gang culture values macho posturing and misogyny.
Some females encourage misogyny. They call each other sluts. They bully and they deliberately incite violence against other women.
Macho boys are rewarded with respect from their peers for their ripped bodies and violent ways. They gain status from being tough, rough, violent and sexist.
Macho boys are rewarded with sex. It is the tough hardnuts who get the girlfriends and sex while the kind, considerate boys are considered geeks and given low status.
Time and again I have had to deal with violent incidents and watched videos of these tough kids beating someone to a pulp. Very often the incident was incited by a girl and has a bunch of baying girls demanding even greater violence.
Our justice system and policing are sexist. Girls who dress immodestly or get drunk are said to be asking for it and are not taken seriously. Girls who are walking alone at night or going through dangerous areas are considered foolhardy and asking for it. In rape cases, girls who are sexually active are considered almost as if they can’t be raped and it is no big deal.
How to deal with it.
I do not think it is as simple as education or even getting males to take responsibility. Most males do. Most males are victims of this macho culture themselves. They do not support sexism or misogyny but if they stand up against the macho minority they become victimised, labelled as weak and bullied.
So:
I really do not think this is easy to solve. I think that Trump and Brexit have given power to violent groups of macho fascists, racists and misogynists. It has put back the climate of racial and sexual harmony a few decades. We were making good progress but the condoning of Trump’s misogyny, Johnson’s philandering and the open racism that underlies both leaders is all part of the same problem.
Until we change our culture, systems and voting patterns we are stuck with endemic racism, sexism and misogyny. It comes from both the top and the bottom.
Time for radical change!!
There should be no place for violence against women!!
Barely Begun
We’ve landed on the moon,
Flown past all the planets and close to the sun
But when it comes to tackling racism
We’ve barely begun.
We’ve crossed every ocean
And pounded our feet into every shore
But when it comes to settling arguments
We still go to war.
We’ve got super computers
And every conceivable machine,
But when it comes to gender equality
Nobody knows what it means.
It seems that the economic model
Works well for the few,
But when it comes to dealing with poverty
It’s something they don’t want to do.
It is time we started to address
All these issues that keep us oppressed.
For when it comes to elections
You’ll find you’ll hit the acid-test!
Opher – 22.6.2020
Emmeline believed in equality and wanted the vote for women. She believed in justice so strongly that she was prepared for civil disobedience and even damage to property to force people to take notice. She was prepared to suffer and go to prison for her beliefs. She was a woman of great courage.
