GwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwD G G w _____ ____ 1 000 333 "The 'Genesis' of Feminism" w D // | \ 11 0 0 3 by Priest D * || ____ | || | 1 0 0 333 * G || || \ / | || | 1 0 0 3 issue #103 of "GwD: The American Dream G w \\___// \/\/ |____/ 111 000 333 with a Twist -- of Lime" * rel 06/11/01 w D D GwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwD --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- Genesis, chapter one, verse one says that, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." In Genesis, also, began the birth of feminism. In a time when women were persecuted and sometimes killed for little or no reason, Christianity began teaching radical new ideas on equality. The bible, the holy doctrine of Christianity, spells out again and again its exact views concerning the treatment and role of women in the church, the family, and to an extent, society. Genesis is the basis for the bible's support and teaching of equality between men and women, and the beginning of the feminist movement's greatest ally, Christianity. Feminism on a large scale is a relatively new idea. Only within the past several decades have women managed to make radical advancements forward. However, feminism began a long time ago, at the very least, with the creation of Christianity. When the Old Testament was written, women's place in society, large scale, was the social doormat. In the Islamic faith, women have no place whatsoever, and having a daughter is considered even today to be a curse. In two verses of the very first chapter of Genesis, Moses explicitly denotes God's view of women as having personal equality with man as an image- bearer of God. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Gen. 1:27-28) This is a break from traditional classicism in which women had no real role. Moses goes on to begin the teaching of women's role towards man in the second chapter of Genesis. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Gen. 2:7) "And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make for him a helper. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them...but for Adam, there was found not a suitable helper. .And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam 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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." (Gen. 2:18-24) We see here, how, although man is created first, this does not make him greater than woman. Woman was created to be a helper for man, but this is not a demeaning role by any means. The later verses of the same chapter show Adam saying that woman is, "bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh," and therefore of same value. In the very last sentence, Moses says that to be complete, man has to leave his family, join with his wife, and then the two shall be one. This begins the idea that woman will provide that which is lacking in man, making them complete only when together. The third chapter of Genesis deals with fall of man and woman and begins the battle of the sexes. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Gen. 3:1) Here clearly the fall begins with the woman. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Gen. 3:6) Although the fall begins with the woman, it is only complete through the actions of both. When God discovers what has occurred, he questions Adam, and finds that Eve convinced him to eat through the beguiling of the serpent. He punishes them both saying, "Unto woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field." (Gen. 3:16-18) Here, God gives woman childbirth. He also begins the race between man and woman here by saying that her desire will be to thy husband, but that husband will dominate over wife. In Hebrew this was meant to say that her desire would be to dominate over her husband, but that he would over her. He punishes the man more so than the woman and in greater depth, in spite of woman's initiation of the fall, thus establishing man's role of protector of woman. This same verse also shows that although woman came from man, man could only further his lineage through woman. This may sound as though Moses was trying deflate the importance of woman, but in actuality, he was pointing out that man and woman alike had been given specific roles and power over one another, therefore establishing the beginning of equality. The bible expands on this idea and goes on to spell out specifically the role of man and woman in the church and the family in such chapters as Ephesians, Corinthians and even Timothy. It gives no mention whatsoever to the role of woman in society and the workplace. This is in such stark contrast to its detailing of church and family that one would most likely surmise that it had no specific role in mind. Thus, Christianity establishes the equality of man and woman in the work environment. In the New Testament, the idea of equality takes an even larger view through Jesus' treatment of women. When He is resurrected, He shows himself to a woman first. There is the episode of the washing of feet between Jesus and a prostitute, a woman thought unworthy by the society of the time. The bible brought such new and radical ideas forth that it was often thought of as revolutionary literature. Behold, the birth, or "genesis," of feminism. --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- -- - -- --- Issue#103 of "GwD: The American Dream with a Twist -- of Lime" ISSN 1523-1585 copyright (c) MMI Priest/GwD Publications /---------------\ copyright (c) MMI GwD, Inc. All rights reserved. :RIGHT AND TASTY: a production of The GREENY world DOMINATION Task Force, Inc. : GwD : Postal: GwD, Inc. - P.O. Box 16038 - Lubbock, Texas 79490 \---------------/ FYM -+- http://www.GREENY.org/ - editor@GREENY.org - submit@GREENY.org -+- FYM GwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwD