Patriarchy Part 2

Thursday, April 20, 2006

To those who celebrate...( I no longer do)

Happy 4/20!!


To resume my thoughts on patriarchy...

The establishment of hierarchical religious institutions marked what may be considered the codification of a male dominated society. The influence was marked primariliy because of the role religion played as a central and dominant theme in societies at large. As religious institutions grew, so did the perceived need to control...and that meant its becoming inextricably interwoven with the social and political fabric so that its reach was, to say the least, extensive. All social functions found themselves under the aegis of the Church which basically implied birth, marriage and death, and every thing in between, including initiatory coming of age celebrations and other specifically religiously oriented rites, eg Baptism, communion, confirmation, etc.

And, perhaps more insidiously, this control infiltrated political structures so as to maintain the Church's preeminence in all areas of life. The mindset that assumed priority for men and suborination for women became, essentially, institutionalized. We can see it from the very beginnings of the Christian era with the disenfranchisement of women disciples in favor of the dominant male disciples. Even though it is evident that Mary Magdalene played a primary role in the mystery of the resurrection, she is relegated to such a minor role that one must wonder at the strength the revisionists had and the power they wielded to completely redact and alter the course of history.

In fact, the church is responsible for entirely redacting religious history, in general. Even though many Christian rites and celebratory days were borrowed from "pagan" sources, the fact that those sources had a significant feminine element was purposely ignored and omitted. Obviously, they felt that any feminine influences or remnants would obviate their mission which was to sustain hierarchical elitism by men at the expense of women.

Even in the old testament, women who were menstruating were considered to be dirty or, as most commonly written, to be "unclean". This denigration evolved to the point where women were so devalued that midwives were considered to be witches and were summarily murdered by one means or another.

The role assigned to women became purely domestic...care for the home, and the bearing and raising of the children until they reached a specific age, at which time the education of the male children became a prime patriarchal pursuit. Of course...the reasoning is obvious...to sustain the male domination mindset one must indoctrinate the next generation so as to insure a smooth transitional control.

to be continued...

trickster108