The Early Roots Of Modern Day Misogyny 🍎

The story of the Biblical first woman, Eve has always given me a twinge of uneasiness. In fact, I think the two most visible female characters of the Bible, Eve and Jesus’ mother Mary provide a distinct contrast of Christianity’s narrative on femininity.

What annoys me about Eve’s portrayal is how the story illustrates how it was she who was deceived by the devilish snake, seduced by his cunning words into ‘sin’. She then made a bad situation even worse by giving Adam some of the fruit, which of course then lead to their banishment from the paradisal Garden of Eden. The story ends with Adam being cursed with lifelong hard labour, and Eve being cursed with painful childbirth and subordination to her husband.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that this creation story laid a foundation for Church doctrine, and shaped the behaviour and customs surrounding women in Early Modern Europe. Perhaps, if the story is to be taken literally, Eve’s curse of subordination to her husband was the dawn of the oppression and persecution that has plagued women for millennia. Subordination means that you are inherently inferior, and thus we have seen women being treated as such.

The idea that women needed the governance of man encompassed almost every aspect of feminine existence until quite recently. In its essence it is a deeply misogynistic idea, and has deprived women of the ability to work, learn and be treated as autonomous individuals.
I see this creation story as a key part of why early philosophers and Church doctrine purveyed misogynistic suspicions; the consequences of which have been far reaching in the oppression of women’s rights.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Jesus’ mother Mary is eulogised as being a virgin. I see Mary as the antithesis of Eve. She personifies the idealisation of virginity and purity. Where Eve ushered humanity into darkness and sin, Mary was the pure vessel that brought a saviour into the world. There could not be a more stark contrast! While it is never explicitly stated, I think these women represent the subconscious idea that females are innately weak, and so we must aspire towards absolute purity and look to men for guidance.

At this point, I want to note that I do believe we have made huge progress in building equality, respect and a great understanding of gender rights. However, having a sensitivity towards how today’s religions have been used as tools of oppression is really important. Women are certainly not the only victims of this! It’s also important to consider how these subconscious beliefs of inferiority are still insidiously common. It’s not politically correct to be overtly misogynistic, racist or homophobic anymore, but these destructive belief systems are still a prevalent issue.

I believe the European witch hunts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries perfectly exemplify the worst of the Church’s deep distrust of women. It was pretty much exclusively women who were persecuted, tortured and murdered for this ‘crime’. I will always remember learning in school about how one medieval test was to throw the accused in the river and if she floated, she was a witch and condemned to die. However, if she sank and drowned, well she wasn’t a witch, even though she’d already died for just the suspicion of it.

A massive problem was how these women were targeted. An interest in nature, healing and herbs was enough to render you a target. What a way to cleanse Europe of what could have been some of the most beautiful healers of the time! It's often a distinctly feminine attribute to be in touch with nature, to love flowers and gardens, which just makes the whole purge even more ludicrous.

I also don’t think it is any coincidence that the Salem witch trials were set against the backdrop of a deeply Puritanical community, that was ripe with fear of the Native Indians, outsiders and the Devil himself. Puritanical Church doctrine tends towards a very strict interpretation of Biblical scripture, and a deep oppression of its followers, male and female alike.

Interestingly, there is modern research to suggest that a possible cause of the illness afflicting the ‘witches’ of Salem was the fungus ergot, that is found in rye and wheat. Toxicologists have shown that this fungus can produce delusions, vomiting and muscle spasms. Tragically, these symptoms could have been among the signs that were misinterpreted as evidence of witchcraft by the Salem Puritans.

I learned about coverture in my first year at law school. It is the historical legal status of a married woman, who is under her husband’s protection and authority. What that meant is that women could not own property, run businesses or sue in court. Over time this morphed into the horrible idea that women were actually the property of their husbands. Coverture did not apply to spinsters or widows, although the negative societal repercussions for these women were not small. Just the term ‘spinster’ carries quite a different set of connotations to the male ‘bachelor’, but I digress!

In contrast to the Western societies that have their religious roots in Christianity, ancient civilisations such as the Norse, the Egyptians and the Indians had comparably progressive gender roles to the Ancient Romans and Greeks. Norse women had the same rights as men to conduct business as early as the 800s! Anglo-Saxon law also recognised women’s right to own property both before and after marriage.

This is a topic that is ripe for debate, with so much to discuss. I’ve tried to keep this post as brief as possible, so I’d like to offer you some further reading, if you’re interested. The Guardian posted a really interesting timeline about women’s right and their money as part of their Money and Feminism series. It’s a great read, that I will link in the comments.

That’s all from me now. Thanks so much for stopping by, let me know your thoughts in the comments :)