Elizabeth Cady Stanton stated (1898) it so well in the introduction of The Woman's Bible—for centuries the Bible has been used to hold women in their "divinely ordained sphere"—the introduction is well worth the read. Although much has changed, in many instances women are still regarded as inferior to men. Even in good marriages women are expected to be subservient to her king, priest and profit.
"When, in the early part of the Nineteenth Century, women began to protest against their civil and political degradation, they were referred to the Bible for an answer. When they protested against their unequal position in the church, they were referred to the Bible for an answer. This led to a general and critical study of the Scriptures."
Genesis 1: 26-28 "And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness: and let them have … So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female image, created he them. And God blessed them …" (emphasis added) Stanton and committee argue, is "the sacred historian's first account of the advent of woman; a simultaneous creation of both sexes, in the image of God. It is evident from the language that there was consultation in the Godhead, and that the masculine and feminine elements were equally represented" (emphasis added). This piece of scripture, they argue is "the elevation of woman to her true position, as an equal factor in human progress" and that nothing about a "woman's subjection can be fairly drawn from the first chapter of the Old Testament".
Then follows a detailed explanation why the second creational tale cannot be taken seriously—worth the read—and this section is concluded with the words that it "cannot be maintained that woman was inferior to man even if, as asserted in chapter ii, she was created after him without at once admitting that man is inferior to the creeping things, because created after them".
There, members of my gender, acknowledge your woman as your equal or take your place as inferior to creeping things.
Comments