Soraya Chemaly has a powerful message to girls. It tells them, in essence, when girls are told by men (usually under the guise of religion) that they are shameful or sacred, but, in any event, must use or not use their bodies in a particular way; it’s because these men fear them.
Maybe it’s fear. Certainly I get a fearful, self-loathing vibe from St. Augustine underlying his hang ups about sex. But, if I had to give my gut reaction to why patriarchal cultures oppress women, I’d go for greed, not fear, as the primary emotion. Greed for domestic control, sexual control, getting more and doing less – imposing more burdens on women so there are less burdens on themselves. Hunting is more fun and more rewarding than hauling water. Taking what she wants out of the domestic equation makes life easier.
But, that’s just my gut reaction. I’m a privileged white male and so don’t spend a great deal of time thinking about such things. Aside from the “God told me so” explanation, what’s the reasoning -if not fear- behind imposing cultural distinctions between men and women beyond what they (particularly the women) might freely choose for themselves?
Must be something in the water…We both blogged about women’s rights this morning! And of course I agree with you!
Well, from a Christian- egalitarian standpoint, I interpret a lot of these messages as “stop being so selfish.” Women can be bossy, men can be abusive. “Women, obey your husbands, and husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church” is kind of a counterpoint to those tendencies.
I do think the patriarchy in general is a relic of an earlier time when women were slaves, property, uneducated, etc and unfortunately some modern religion teachers, elected officials, and others wish to keep it that way. I wish they were more aware of all the research that educating women is one of the best ways to improve living standards, especially notable in the developing world.
I don’t think “egalitarian” really fits a model where the woman is obligated to “obey” and the man is obligated to “love.” Obeying is fairly direct and a failure can be readily declared. Love is a much more malleable concept.
I found the article very instructive and well presented. We really are seeing a line drawn by the Catholic Church. The Right-Wing Fundamentalist variety that the American Bishops lead, and other Catholics that decry the rightwing shift or have abandoned the Church altogether.
It strains credulity that the Church is investigating the Girl Scouts because non-existent or at beast tenous relationships with reproductive freedom groups. One expects a far-right clown like Rep. Bob Morris to make absurd and unspupported claims. But the leadership being wagged by these dogs?
I agree that greed and control are the reasons for patriacrchal oppression. If one looks back through monarchies and societies that devolve power through primogeniture, the womb and the birth canal swimmers must be tightly controlled for “Pa’s” DNA to rule from the grave. So strong proscriptions against pre-and extra-maritial sex can be understood. And cloister of competing women can also be understood.
Carlito,
Have you been reading the National Catholic Reporter? The comments sections to the articles about such matters are blistering. There are some very angry Catholic men and women over this so-called leadership regime.
No, I have not read it. I will check it out.
The Catholic Church’s and others objection to the Girl Scouts association with Planned Parenthood actually predate the Bob Morris controversy by a few years. It’s gotten a lot more publicity since however.
Paul,
I did see that there is a bit of a history with the issue. Morris was just the chump to dredge it up.
Doug, religious people do not limit their restrictions to women. I am male, went to Catholic schools, and remember being told many times by priests and others that I was not to partake in certain actions as well. Sure, girls generally receive more of a stigma for breaking sexual rules (unfairly I might add), and “girls” are the only ones that can physically receive an abortion, but my understanding is that religion does not differentialize between “girls” and “boys”, both are told not to perform certain actions.