This author is troubled by the endless spate of maltreatment and violence perpetrated against women and girls, most often by men they know well. In fact, most of the violence suffered by females comes from the woman’s or girl’s own family. While it is possible that the all of the perpetrators sprang up as brutal and insensitive beasts entirely on their own, that strains the bounds of credulity—too many coincidences. It is more likely—and almost self-evident—that there is a sub-cultural societal acceptance of females as lesser creatures. They are not as bright, important, useful, or as worthy of decent civility, respect, or even protection of their persons as males. The male—and every one of the males in the sub-culture that allows mistreatment of females—considers himself to be the Alpha Male. He is born to dominate, to judge, to criticize, to make and enforce the rules of her conduct. In that sub-culture, she must submit, be docile, quick to obey, be impervious to criticism and never to criticize however egregious the Alpha Male’s behavior. The whole point is that such behavior on the part of both males and females is learned, and it is high time that a new paradigm of discourse and behavior be introduced into civilized society. In this blogpost, the author is not going to deal with Middle-Eastern or Indian sub-continent quasi-religious based maltreatment of women, but rather to address an audience from the civilized world—the world that purports to recognize the worth of women and their inherent rights to life, equality in all aspects of society, and to happiness.
Christianity is certainly no exception to the concept of women and girls being inferior to males, and many Alpha Males take the New Testament biblical references to heart to dominate and oppress women. Consider the summary by Steve Rudd, Bible.ca website. Note-italicized emphases are Mr. Rudd’s:
10 Bible reasons why a wife must submit to her husband regardless of culture:
- Creation order: Man was created first, woman second. “For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.” 1 Timothy 2:13
- Creation origin: Man and all creation was created by God directly out of dust, whereas woman was created through the man’s rib. “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7. Woman is the only creature not made from dust. Woman derives her origin from Man. “The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.” Genesis 2:22. “For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man” 1 Corinthians 11:8.
- Creation purpose: Woman created for man: “for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.” 1 Corinthians 11:9.
- Man named woman: Adam named the animals and was to rule over them. “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.” Genesis 2:19. “rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28. When Eve was brought to Adam, he named her, showing he was to rule over woman as well. “The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” Genesis 2:23.
- Delegation principle: God commanded directly to Adam alone. The prohibition to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, was made directly by God to Adam. Adam, in turn relayed what God said to Eve. Eve had not yet been created when God told Adam about the forbidden tree. Eve never actually heard God say this direct, but had to trust Adam’s word on the matter. “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:16-18.
- Woman sinned first: The devil tempted Eve and she, not the man, was first deceived. Because of this, man put Eve under the headship of Adam. “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” 1 Timothy 2:14; “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Genesis 3:1.
- God rebuked Adam first after they ate the forbidden fruit: Although Eve was the logical person for God to rebuke first, God went to Adam, showing that God considered Adam the “head of the family” for both. “Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9.
- Man is the glory of God, woman is the glory of man: “For a man is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.” 1 Corinthians 11:7.
- Paul pointed Christians to the Mosaic Law that was 1500 earlier and a different culture: 1 Corinthians.14:34,
- Peter pointed Christians to Sarah, 2000 years earlier and a very different culture: 1 Peter. 3:5-6.
Both respect and disrespect, kind and courteous treatment and abusive behavior, are learned. You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught from year to year,
It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a different shade,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You’ve got to be carefully taught!
–You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught,
Lyrics from the musical South Pacific,
Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1949–
