Origins of Sexism

How is it that the word defined as the attitudes or behavior base on traditional stereotypes of sexual business offices somehow became synonymous with en swell against wo hands? 1 When did this term adopt a negative con nonation? The handstal lexicon continues to describe the noun as disagree handst or devaluation based on a persons sex. 2 The definition implies that the discrimination applies to two sexes, non that champion is the dupe of the anformer(a)(prenominal). How ever, it is clear wo custody atomic bod 18 perceived as the inferior sex in our troupe, and app bently al focusing of lifes dumb bring been.Yet, although sexism is a relatively modern word, the bringing close together was created by berth-hungry workforce and spread by biblical writers. In the way that a t com handssurate is unstable if just one leg is fraction bothy horror, the way patriarchy and matriarchy are on a lower floorstood affects how sexism is viewed. If you were to reference a dicti onary in search of definitions, you would find al to the highest degree mirror images- merely, in a matriarchy it is the perplex who is head of the clan, not the father. However, Cynthia Leer, author of The Myth of matricentric Pre chronicle has a diametric take on this.She says, Matriarchy should be understood quite as the mastery of the Mothers way, or as, a realm where fe antheral thing are valued and where power is exerted in non-possessive, non-controlling and organic ship canal that are ruinous with nature. 3 Matriarchy has gotten a bad study through the years for being a term open to description due to its more meanings. The pure purpose of the word, in its simplest take a leak, is to describe a clip in which hands were not the dominant sex. Another set phrase greatly misunderstood is sex purposes.First, please disregard memories of your first variety teacher using the word gender instead of sex in order to defy laughter under control. Second, the two words a re utterly different apples and oranges. Gender is a not a biological characteristic it is not the label to explain which reproductive organs a person whitethorn comport. Instead, gender is a social characteristic that a family attaches to a biological sex to explain the expectations of behavioral norms and cultural significance. In to sidereal days colloquial language, gender divisions and sexism seem to be interchangeable. In actuality, gender roles serve as a mask for the greater travesty Of our period sexism. The line of business goes something bid this Sexism has always personifyed Women never hunted, because they were women and they were always confined to their homes. For the sake of argument, lets pretend this is an g all overnment minister statement. Even then, if women allwhere were confined to doing wholly feminine tasks and chores, the whole argument is sleek over completely backwards sexism has not always existed.In item, it is quite brutish to intrust that very early societies would have been able to arrive at the humour that one sex is superior to the other when every(prenominal) person was priceless to the clan they all relied on each other to survive. thither is no reason to believe that a matriarchal society ever existed, that an entire clan was ruled by a woman. plainly comparable to chimpanzee communities that we study today, it is very probable some(prenominal) hominids (two-footed pri mates) lived in a maternity essentially, women were central to the society. Families were formed around the mother figure the only known piece to the puzzle of childbearing in prehistory. When children were born, they were automatically judge into their mothers clan, named after her, and no wizard of illegitimacy lingered. 6 The mothers in last(prenominal) time were inclined to share provisions with their children and family members, and in time began nutrition the entire clan solidifying the idea that women Were important t o the arrival of a civilization.Fe manlys sustained the clan by congregation fruits, vegetables and grains viriles ga on that pointd as well, just now only enough to feed themselves and by chance a close male relative. Both sexes hunted lesser venture and male- womanish convocations hunted together with nets and spears. It is wide accepted, though, that only men hunted large game. When horticulture became prevalent, (some time riper- around 10,000 BCC) it is say to be the work of women. 7 Aside from gathering nutrient, providing about eighty percent of the nutrition received in a clan, women took on jobs that have advanced onto a stereotype that lingers in contemporary societies.Because early societies had in so far to discover the link between sex and maternalism, and because fatherhood was not a recognized position, men did not take on the responsibility of bringing up children. Until relatively recently in the spectrum of humanity, every child demanded two to thir d years of their mothers time to breastfeed, and m any(prenominal) an(prenominal) women had multiple children within this age group at one given up time. Regarding the aforementioned idea that every able body was necessary to the success of a developing clan, women could not concede to be del during childbearing years. It was in order to maintain society that women had to be care justy tasked with chores. The main concern was that every chore was compatible with concurrent child watching. Specifically women were given, assignments that did not require severe concentration, were easily interruptible, and most importantly, did not put children in danger, in a way that inquisition would. 9 This is how women fell into step with chores such(prenominal) as preparing daily food and spinning, weaving, and sewing clothes.It takes several hours of spinning yarn to create enough to tramp in n hour, so women spun go they watched children and young girls spun while they tended to livesto ck. 1 0 With menstruation and pregnancy constantly present in these civilizations, and with game meat only sporadically appearing meat was very valuable to the women, who were always on the verge of anemia. 1 1 The anemia created other barrier between women and hunting in addition to the already-present complications of hunting during pregnancy or with children. Their bodies were too physically weak.Also, female bodily fluids are more than potent to an animal therefore the women would be more easily perceive by their prey, ma family unitg it almost counterproductive for a female to go on a hunt. 12 Some may argue that it still is indeed the femaleness of a woman that pr make upts her from a hunt. It IS not her name as a woman that supports her from participating in male activities, it is the fact that a womans body has different functions, abilities, and limits than a mans. In a working(a) society every person plays a special role and no role is more important than other eve ry single role is require for the society to thrive. Asking a man to breastfeed so that a woman could attempt to cut down a guide was and still IS irrational. ) It is to sexist for communities to fall into a way of life that allows every individual to contri moreovere to their fullest potential, thus creating a highly productive and efficacious society. There was a time when the femaleness of a woman was not seen as a disadvantage by men, but rather it was venerable and honored. Forty thousand years ago, in advance words could be compose down, prehistoric peoples represented concerns, rituals, sacrifices, and more with cave art and carvings.It comes as no surprise that many of the oldest carved figurines found evince admiration for a womans body her fetidness and ability to produce and feed hillier. 13 These figurines, called Venues, typically depict women who are fat, healthy, with giant breasts. 14 It might seem odd to a present-day woman how carving women as fat could possibly be flattering, let alone venerating. But a thin figure, something many women strive for today, would have been very troubling her children would have gone hungry. We withal kick to old preserved cave paintings for ideas of what culture was kindred before writing.In a remote part of central India, paintings of South Briar tribes from 8000 BCC to 2500 BCC were found on rock shelters. Like many others, they epic animals, hunting, dancing, and symbolic designs. 1 5 In these special paintings, there are more women drawn, and they are more detailed than the stick figure men. The women are multicoloured as strong and capable women hunting and taking care of children all the while. To keep the traditions alive, South Briar women still partake in ritual hunting. 16 Sir Leonard Woolly called Cretan art the most inspired in the quaint world. 6 Paintings always lay down priestesses in the foreground with men behind them. Women in Crete were portrayed as merchants, farmers, chari ot drivers, and hunters. Wall paintings show the women performing unearthly rituals. It does not appear that Crete was an equal society -? in a painted scene Of female dancers, the males and females have segregated seats, but the women had better accommodations. 17 Several tombs that belonged to women were filled with riches such as jewelry, gold, and precious stones. In comparison, no male grave has been found with equal value.The Cretan world seems to have been able to develop and advance as a female-centered community without abandoning recreation and pleasure-18 There is some scholarly inquiry as to whether there were female-centered clans in the neolithic ere as well. There are very few images of males from this time period and the few that have been uncovered show men in situations inferior to women. 19 This leads to the theory women in Neolithic times held a higher status than women of later generations. The corpses found in Neolithic grave were buried with shells and pain t arranged in a way to tally female reproductive organs. 0 It is believed these art works indicate latria or glorification of the females in their clans. Fertility seems to be the basis of their reverence and it often reinstated into prayer for healthy crops and animals. Does this mean goddess idolise appeared in Neolithic culture, or did they only worship females? Was their worship equivalent to women having social power and dominance? As many myths rarely offer facts, they cannot be apply to set history in stone however, they do shed light On what might have been happening during the time periods in which they were created.Several myths show warring between men and women in which the men always take over power from the defeated females. 21 These motifs appear in Central and westward Desert Australian Aborigine, Panda of New Guiana, Sumerian, and Greek mythology . 22 mixer charter myths appear to justify why men took over female ruling, suggesting women committed some sort of sin or were naturally weak. If men had always existed as the controlling power, myths of former female powers would not exist. If men had always restrained women, their dominance would seem natural and it would be needless for them to write explanations.Powerful women in mythologies are astoundingly universal . 23 patriarchy was an come down started by one meager realization men had a role in procreation. Suddenly, their female-driven jealousy was uprooted. By giving the children their fathers clan name instead of their mothers, the men had proof of ownership. With offspring essentially attached to the men of the clan, labor was excessively controlled by the men-24 Anthropologists insist that when large game hunting began during the Stone Age, men mat up that hunting was their natural function in society. 5 With this new sense of identity came power- their dangerous work gave them status. It also created a sort of club or community between the male members of a tribe or clan . 26 Hunting required great teamwork, cooperation, ND lack of competition- these men had to work together. Most likely, men felt legitimated by their exclusiveness and their us-versus-them pride . 27 Of course, women hunted small game, but more in a means of opportunistic kills. Indeed, many ritualistic tools used during hunts were forbidden for women to see. 8 So when horticulture, a exercise mainly performed by women, became popular around 5000 BCC, and large game began to run in populated civilizations, men had to jump on the band big dipper and begin farming as well. 29 With men farming a very isolated activity in imprison to hunting they felt they lost everything fundamentally male. Young boys were not being taught the solidarity that came with hunting, so the men of the clan developed a new idea of group pubescence rites. 30 These ceremonies did not occur before a horticultural society was established.The men began reinforcing gender roles in their society by teaching th eir sons what it took to be a man, something they felt should have been natural. Marilyn French, author of From Eve to wrap up a History of Women in the World, explains, Male solidarity was and remains a function against women. The first political movement, it arose, like all solidarity movements, to counter a sense of powerlessness and oppression, that had dissipated with the loss of a hunter-gatherer society. 31 The main muscularity of these puberty rites was to abnegate their mothers which led the oppression of women, including emotions they associate with them.Soon boys were taught disdain towards feminine emotions like love, compassion, and softness. Feelings were replaced with a tall(prenominal), cool attitude and submission to elder males. 32 Thus, a form a sexism that still exists today (and many people ignore) was created en are not to show feminine qualities. Dominance over children created another form of sexism. Now that males were aware of their part in procreation, they had to assure that the children their mates produced were theirs. In order to do this, they had to keep women under strict surveillance.Many women were captives from other villages, raped so as to be claimed as a mate, and given no rights they were virtually slaves. 33 To bolster mens paternity roles, rules and laws were created that only applied to women. Females were the first criminals adultery suddenly became a crime. Even Hough men always had the right to infanticide, women were not allowed to abort their children. Paternalism groups were founded on this domination. At this point, females were considered an prey of the males possession. Contrary to matrilineal, potentiality required force, and brutality towards women was often encouraged in their society. S When dominance started to shift towards the males, clans left their matriarchal marriages and began existing in parasitical marriages women were no longer surrounded by male kin (stronger than she) and lost their pr otection. In a patriarchal marriage, the omen were taken and squeeze to live with their husbands families who very likely did not speak the analogous language. 36 In some patriarchal communities women were allowed to leave. However, due to the fact that children were property of men, the women had no right to take children with them, and many stayed. 37 Without women protesting, patriarchy was born.Another vessel for some(prenominal) patriarchy and the idea of sexism was religion. Even in the beginning Of the Old Testament, the intelligence provides very different roles for men and women. When God punishes Adam and Eve in Genesis, he describes Adam (man) as the breadwinner, and Eve (woman) as someone who necessary a tight leash . 38 This tight leash takes the form of her husband and uterus. Women were limited by this elemental plot for centuries after both Judaism and Christianity enforce further constraints on women. In Leviticus, it claims that everything a woman touches whi le she is foul from menstruation is impure. 9 Taken out of context, this can be seen as a terrible sexist act, but there are also conditions in which a man is unclean. Even so, women cannot control what makes them unclean while men can. The biblical impurity of a woman outlasts her menstruation, even during childbirth-40 The women were secluded from the group for two weeks while they were impure and usually stayed with other women in menstrual huts. When they were allowed to grace the sanctuary and men again, they fulfilled their marital duties (the two weeks in which they saw their husbands they were most likely to conceive). 1 When a woman gave birth she had to seclude herself for seven days as if she were menstruating. 5th do by was a male, she could return to the group on the eighth day for the babys circumcision and tribal ironies before completing her thirty-three days of blood purifying. If the baby was a female, there Was no ceremony to welcome her arrival and her mother was required to purify for sixty-six days. 42 Consider this if a woman is in constant impurity, constantly forbidden from the sanctuary, how often could a Hebrew wife appear in public?A scarce rabbi or community leader does not make for a good one how would she be able to fulfill the responsibilities? In addition to underlining the uncleanness of a women, the Old Testament shows violent themes against women. In Deuteron 2213 t shows that if a brides virginity is challenged by the groom, the whole community plays a part in verifying the speculation through the custom of bloody sheets. If their suspicion is square(a) (or they agree she did not bleed enough) the male population is permitted to stone her to death.Later in Deuteron, there are examples of rape and tread with only small financial penalties. 43 Even though religion is not to blame for men first seeking control over women, it plays a large role in the spread of sexual discrimination because many people looked to these ancient scriptures as a guide for their lives. It is believed by some biblical scholars that yea was originally conceived as androgynous. 44 He is characterized by the word compassion, which in the Hebrew language is rooted in the word womb. He is draw as giving birth to Israel, suckling and watching over his children. 5 But as the Bible transitions into the book of Numbers, Yeah is not only male but patriarchal. In Numbers 12, God punishes only Miriam and not her brothers for the same act- the story teaches that women shall not challenge men. 46 Some argue that it is thorny to accuse the Bible of sexism hen several other verses describe such different ideas. For example, Galatians 338 adequately removes all justification for discrimination Of any kind by saying, There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Pay close attention to the wording there is no longer male and female. Moreover, religion is described as a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects. 47 The Bible (and the religion that follows it) is a text assembled by men and was prone to their social biases of the time period. Sexism very well did exist in the Hebrew Bible and it is impossible to erase history. It is not universally accepted that fruitfulness held more weight and value in society before the Bible was written.Cynthia Leer, shares her view on the idea of matrilineal societies and goddess worship (something that dissipated long before the Bible) Prior to the Neolithic revolution, we have every reason to believe that prehistoric peoples, like contemporary hunting and gathering peoples, were more interested in restricting their fertility than enhancing it. Contraception, abortion, and infanticide are all practiced in uniting and gathering groups, and in horticulture societies as well, with infanticide rate ranging from 1 5 to 50 percent.Skeletal evidence suggests that childbirth was dangerous for mothers and children alike. child mortality rates were high at Actualyk, for example, and women there and elsewhere died very young by our standards (on average in their late twenties, earlier than men) in part because of high maternal mortality. It seems unlikely under these conditions that pregnancy and childbirth we invariably regarded as miraculous and welcomed as the clothe of a munificent goddess. 48 Leer also geared the genus Venus figurines and points out the biggest dispute with establishing them as worship of fertility.The figures rarely show signs of pregnancy, lactation, or childbirth. 49 If Paleolithic artists were concerned in depicting pregnancy and fertility there are many ways to have done that but these figures lack evidence of childbearing and most are simply voluptuous. They could show the clans concern regarding hunger, which explains why they have fuller shapes communities valued healthy and full bodies. 50 However, if you were to drop the notion that Venus figures represented omen and their fertility and ability to reproduce, why are there only women figures?The complication with pinpointing the origins of sexism is the implicit in(p) question which came first? Gender or sexism? Returning to overburdened language, it is because gender exists that sexism exists. Gender allows men to dominate women it provides a biological excuse. Unfortunately many feminist matriarchies suggest that women are women because we hold secondary status to men. The engagement Woven is neither a gender, nor a biological sex, but a category that people are placed into.This category seems to form the parameters in which women have experiences, yet women are only the byproduct of the category humans (in the same way my mother insists I had a bad time because my attitude was terrible to begin with, and not that my attitude was terrible because I had a bad time). 65 So long as this present category exists, sexism will exist. The femaleness of a woman is defined by Leer as the experience of being perceived to be a woman and being treated as women are treated. This extends to any specific way women were treated in different cultures whether good or bad. The only femaleness that can be attached to any woman of any time period in any place of the world is this woman. It is hard to speak for the men and women from a time before they themselves could speak, but dont believe it was ever intended for footmen in the kitchen to be a derogatory term. The mentality that one biological sex is of higher-rank than another is derived from the simple fact that indisputable bodies are more able for specific tasks. Intended or not, men felt oppressed. This sparked a very deliberate and violent revolution. Men take control and power long before rating was established and history was preserved.Indeed it was history looking back to biblical times, the pictures that stories paint of their communities and culture show male-domin ance. With the spread of Christianity, the secret of a more peaceful and equal past was locked up and it became widely accepted that the husbands and fathers should be the head of the household. Christianity and the men in the Bible certainly did not initiate all of the suffering and abuse against women that appears today but they did Set the precedent that has seemed to excuse men for centuries. Bibliography Advisor, J. M. , Olga Softer, and Jake Page.